Peter Stanley - Invading Australia: Japan And The Battle For Australia 1942

INVADING AUSTRALIA

Dr Peter Stanley became Head of the new Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia in 2007. He had been Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, where he had worked since 1980 and where he curated the Second World War Gallery that opened in 1999. Peter is one of Australias most productive historians in the areas of military, social and medical history. His books include Tarakan: An Australian Tragedy; For Fear of Pain: British Surgery 17901850 and Quinns Post, Anzac, Gallipoli, and he is well known from his media appearances. Invading Australia is his nineteenth book.

Australia, showing places mentioned in the text

INVADING AUSTRALIA

JAPAN AND THE BATTLE FOR AUSTRALIA, 1942

Peter Stanley

VIKING
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PENGUIN BOOKS

VIKING

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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2008

Text copyright Australian War Memorial 2008

The moral right of the author has been asserted

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ISBN: 978-1-74-228485-9

To valued colleagues at the Australian War Memorial, 19802007

Part I: Should foreign foes eer sight our coasts:
The idea of a Japanese invasion before 1942

Part II: The nearness of our peril:
Australia and the threat of invasion, 1942

Part III: A historical fact which never existed:
Invasion in history and memory after 1942

I have tried to keep abbreviations to a minimum, but have used the following, mainly in notes.

I have converted most imperial measurements to metric units to make them intelligible to modern readers.

My first debt of gratitude is to Ms Valerie Heyes, whose approach resulted in my writing this book, and to Mr Robert Sessions of Penguin Books, whose confidence enabled it to emerge from a different proposal. I particularly thank my former colleagues at the Memorial, especially Dr Steve Bullard, Ms Anne-Marie Cond, Dr Karl James, Dr Peter Londey, Dr Robert Nichols and Dr Garth Pratten, for their stimulating interest in this idea over several years. My senior colleague Mr Craddock Morton, director of the National Museum of Australia, has generously supported my research.

Mr Barrie Virtue and Dr Craig Wilcox performed the most valuable service of reading and commenting in detail on the entire manuscript, often saving me from myself; for their frank advice I am profoundly grateful. I am also grateful to Dr Nicola Young of Penguin for her careful and sensitive editing and her colleagues Ms Claire Wilson and Ms Anne Rogan.

I also thank all those people (whether they agreed with me or not) who responded to various papers, articles and media appearances over the past five years or who otherwise helped me to think about the idea of invasion. They include Ms Ryoko Adachi, Professor Ian Adie, Mrs L. G. Anderson, Mr Chris Baker, Mr Stephen Barton, Mr James Bowman, Mr Claude Bradley, Mr Albert Caines, Major R. F. C. Campbell, Mr H. L. Cannon, Ms Carol Cartwright, Mr Kanga Coghill, Mr Reg Cummins, Dr Mickey Dewar, Professor Brian Dickey, Mr Tim Egan, Mr Peter Engelman, Ms Jennifer Evans, Mr Peter Evans, Mr Dereck French, Mr R. Geddes, Mr Peter Griffin, Mrs Jean Hardiman, Dr Jacqueline Hollingworth, Dr Mark Johnston, Mr Les Kick, Mr Brian Lardi, Mr John Lewis, Ms Margaret Lothian, Ms Trish McBride, Mr Keith McGilvery, Dr Michael McKernan, Mr Andrew McKay, Mrs Ruth Mackinnon, Mr Humphrey McQueen, Mr Jim Mair, Mrs C. Mamantow, Mr Peter Masters, Mr Richard Miles, Mr Bruce Miller, Mr Charles Mills, Mr Theo Moody, Mr Clive Morton, Mr John Norman, Dr Bruce Pennay, Dr Dawn Peel, Mr Bruce Peterson, Mr Marc Podsky, Dr Peter Provis, Dr Libby Robin, Mr James Rogers, Mrs Jean Salisbury, Mr Leo Scheps, the late Mr David Sissons, Mr Phillip Skelton, Mr Lionel Smith, Mr Robert Smith, Mr James Stevenson, Mr John Tansell, Mr Craig Tibbitts, Mr Gilbert Tippett, Mr Alexander Turner, Dr Sandra Wilson, Mr Stephen York and Dr Bart Ziino.

I am grateful to the staff of several libraries; of the Australian Defence Force Academy Library, the Memorials Research Centre, the National Library of Australias Petherick Reading Room (where much of this book was written over the summer of 200607), the Museum and Gallery of the Northern Territory (especially Dr Mickey Dewar and Ms Andrea McKey), my colleagues in the Library of the National Museum of Australia, the staff of the Northern Territory Library, Mr Roger Lee and his colleagues in the Army History Unit, and Ms Gaye Gericke at the National Library of Australia.