History and culture
A city rebuilt twice
Bombed in 1942, flattened by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, and standing here anyway. Darwin's history is not background reading. It explains the buildings, the streets and the attitude.
The bombing of Darwin, 19 February 1942
On the morning of 19 February 1942, Japanese aircraft attacked Darwin in the largest assault ever made on Australian soil. Ships burned in the harbour, the post office was destroyed, and the town emptied. Raids on the Top End continued for well over a year. It is a heavier story than most visitors expect and it is told carefully here.
Where to encounter it:
- Defence of Darwin Experience at East Point, the main interpretive centre, beside wartime gun emplacements above the water
- WWII oil storage tunnels beneath the Esplanade, dug into the cliff and cool enough to be a relief in the middle of the day
- Darwin Military Museum and wartime airstrips along the Stuart Highway south of the city
- The Cenotaph and Esplanade memorials, best walked early in the morning
Cyclone Tracy and the city that followed
On Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy crossed Darwin and destroyed most of it. Tens of thousands of residents were evacuated and the city was rebuilt to far stronger building codes, which is why so much of Darwin looks like it was constructed in the late seventies and eighties. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory holds the Tracy gallery, including a small dark room where you can stand and listen to a recording of the storm. Most people come out quiet.
Museums, galleries and open-air cinema
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Fannie Bay is the anchor: Aboriginal art, Top End natural history, maritime galleries and Tracy. Fannie Bay Gaol tells a harder civic story. The city's commercial galleries carry serious Aboriginal art from across the Top End, and Deckchair Cinema on the Waterfront runs Dry season screenings under the stars with the harbour behind the screen.