During the Second World War, shortly after the bombing of Darwin, Katherine was attacked by nine "Betty" bombers from the Japanese Navy, dropping around 90 high explosive bombs popularly known as "Daisy Cutters".

The Japanese targeted the Katherine airfield, dropping most of their bombs in and around the site, where the Katherine Museum is located today.

There was one fatality, an Indigenous man called Dodger Kodjalwal, and two other Indigenous people were injured.

RAAF Tindal Senior Officer Wing Commander Shane Smith said the attack on Northern Australia escalated defence forces to the north.

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"The attack sparked a rush of defence assets to the north and re-equipping of new squadrons," he said.

"The real link for RAAF Tindal to the bombing of Katherine is that within weeks of the attack, 75 Squadron was raised in the north to deal with the Japanese coming in.

"75 Squadron then returned to RAAF Tindal when it got established and is the resident fast jet squadron in Tindal now."

The Japanese bombed right across the Top End from Broome in Western Australia, down the east coast to Townsville in Queensland, targeting a lot of small towns across the Top End.

Katherine was targeted by the bombing raid due to the large numbers of military personnel stationed in the town during the war.

Wing Commander Smith said RAAF Tindal would be commemorating the 80^th anniversary on March 22 at the Katherine Museum at 9.30am.

"RAAF Tindal works closely with the Katherine RSL, Katherine Town Council and Katherine Museum each year to commemorate the anniversary of the bombing.

"This year being the 80^th it is a special occasion for us and I believe the administrator will be attending as well.

"The event will include laying of wreaths, a few short speeches and there will be a large contingent from the base this year."

Wing Commander Smith said if events were to be repeated, Northern Australia was in a much stronger situation to react to a potential threat.

"We are much more prepared. Absolutely, I think there is no secret that Northern Australia bases are a lot more secure then what they were 80 years ago," he said.

"Also moving forward, in the next two to four years both the northern bases including Tindal are having major upgrades to make them more resilient and work better from them with increased forces."

RAAF Tindal has also recently commemorated the 80^th anniversary of the death of Wing Commander Archie Tindal, which the base is named after. He died in the first bombing of Darwin.

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