Air raids on Australia , 1942 – 43 Between February 1942 and November 1943 , during the Pacific War , the Australian mainland , domestic airspace , offshore islands and coastal shipping were attacked at least 97 times by aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force . These attacks came in various forms ; from large - scale raids by medium bomber s , to torpedo attacks on ships , and to strafing runs by fighter s . In the first and deadliest attacks , 242 aircraft hit Darwin on the morning of 19 February 1942 . Killing at least 235 people and causing immense damage , the attacks made hundreds of people homeless and resulted in the abandonment of Darwin as a major naval base . ( See the main article : Bombing of Darwin . ) These attacks were opposed by , and often aimed at , units and personnel from the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) , Australian Army , Royal Australian Navy , United States Army Air Forces , United States Navy , British Royal Air Force and Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force . Japanese aircrews also targeted civil infrastructure , including harbours , civil airfields , railways and fuel tanks . Some civilians were also killed . Early Japanese air raids . The Japanese conducted a series of air raids on Australia during February and March 1942 . These raids sought to prevent the Allies from using bases in northern Australia to contest the conquest of the Netherlands East Indies . The first air raid on Darwin . The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 was both the first and the largest attack mounted by Japan against mainland Australia , when four Japanese aircraft carrier s ( , , and ) launched a total of 188 aircraft from a position in the Timor Sea . These 188 naval aircraft inflicted heavy damage on Darwin and sank eight ships . A raid conducted by 54 land - based bombers later the same day inflicted further damage on the town and RAAF Base Darwin and resulted in the destruction of 20 military aircraft . Allied casualties were 235 killed and between 300 and 400 wounded , the majority of whom were non - Australian Allied sailors . Only four Japanese aircraft were confirmed to have been destroyed by Darwin ' s defenders . The attack on Broome . On 3 March 1942 , nine Japanese A6M3 Zero fighter s attacked the town of Broome , in northern Western Australia . Although Broome was a small town , it had become a significant air base and route of escape for refugees and retreating military personnel , following the Japanese invasion of Java . During the attack , which consisted of strafing runs only by the Zeros , at least 88 Allied civilians and military personnel were killed and 24 aircraft were lost . As Broome was almost undefended , Japanese losses were light , with only a single Zero being shot down over Broome and another one failing to reach its base . Attacks on north Queensland , July 1942 . Japanese naval flying boats conducted four small air raids on the north Queensland towns of Townsville and Mossman in late July 1942 . Townsville , which was an important military base , was raided by Japanese Kawanishi H6K 5 " Mavis " flying boat s operating from Rabaul on three nights in late July 1942 . On the night of 25 / 26 July , the town was attacked by three flying boats but did not suffer any damage as the six bombs dropped by these aircraft fell into the sea . Townsville was attacked for the second time in the early hours of 28 July when a single flying boat dropped eight bombs which landed in bushland outside the town . Six P - 39 Airacobra s unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the Japanese aircraft . The third raid on Townsville occurred in the early hours of 29 July when a single flying boat again attacked the town , dropping seven bombs into the sea and an eighth which fell on an agricultural research station at Oonoonba , damaging a coconut plantation . This aircraft was intercepted by four Airacobras and was damaged . The fourth raid on north Queensland occurred on the night of 31 July when a single flying boat dropped a bomb which exploded near a house outside of Mossman , injuring a child .