As Australia commemorated the 76th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin, Top End Health Service took a moment to acknowledge the frontline health service staff involved during the wartime effort.
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At 9:58am today, the same time the first Japanese bombs fell on Darwin, Royal Darwin Hospital held a small commemoration event to remember the lives lost during the bombing and acknowledge the health effort preceding the raids.
While half of Darwin’s population fled interstate after the bombing, a dedicated group of medical staff remained. These doctors, nurses and volunteers played a crucial role in aftermath of the bombing, delivering emergency medical care to soldiers and civilians under extenuating circumstances.
Sadly over 240 lost their lives and up to 400 people were injured in the raids. A number of defence aircraft and naval ships were lost and much of Darwin’s infrastructure was damaged, including the newly built Darwin Hospital. Six bombs fell on the Darwin Hospital at Myilly Point during the first raid.
According to Don Christophersen, Senior Aboriginal Cultural Advisor at Royal Darwin Hospital, the efforts of local health staff were like nothing ever experienced in Australia’s wartime history.
“The Bombing of Darwin was the first time Australia saw war on it’s on soil and the first time Darwin had experience a medical emergency of such magnitude,” he said.
“Darwin was a very small town in 1942, with a small hospital and small health workforce. The Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper reported that the first list of casualties, which included a leg amputation, reached the operating room only a few minutes after the first bomb fell. It was followed by a large number of cases of all degrees of severity overwhelming the small hospital. The difficulties medical staff faced in those initial hours were accentuated as the electricity was cut and the staff had to resort to lamps and hand torches.
“Over the next week all patients and staff were relocated to two Army hospitals at Adelaide River and Katherine where dedicated Darwin Hospital staff spent months working alongside defence personnel.
“Today we are acknowledging all of those dedicated doctors, nurses and volunteers and taking time to reflect on how far we have come as a health service.”
The air attacks on northern Australia continued until November 1943, by which time the Japanese had raided the Top End over 200 times. The last enemy plane was shot down in Australia in June 1944.
Today, the Top End Health Service provides acute and primary health care to 195,550 people across a significant geographic region and in unique and sometimes challenging conditions.
