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British Warship Recognition: Cruisers 1865-1939
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Leading Seaman Francis Emms, hero of the Darwin harbor attack
CONTRARY to popular opinion, the initial battle of the 19th February 1942, commemorated for the 74th time this week, did not commence at the Darwin wharf, but at the boom net which defended the harbour, several kilometres away near East Point. Nine Zero fighters, detached from the main incoming Japanese carrier force of 188 aircraft, had shot up a heavy twin engine aircraft on Bathurst Island, nearly inadvertently hitting Missionary Father John McGrath, sending a warning message from his nearby radio hut. The fighters, then left behind the main force, tracked direct for the target of the town of Darwin rather than trailing behind in the big planned circle route, designed to catch the defenders by surprise by attacking from the south. They arrived over the boom net and its tending ships a few minutes before the main attack commenced. Leading Seaman Francis Emms, a cook on board HMAS Kara…
