During World War II, Australian territory was directly threatened by Japanese invasion, and Japanese forces attacked Darwin in Northern Australia and Sydney Harbour.

On 19 February 1942, at 9:57 am, during World War II, 188 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves.

The entire wing intercepted a force of over 40 Japanese bombers and fighters that attacked Darwin on 15 March, shooting down eight raiders but losing four Spitfires and three pilots.

On that day, 33 Spitfires intercepted a force of 27 Japanese fighters and 25 bombers after they attacked Darwin.

On 19 February 1942 at 0957, 188 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves.

The same moral revulsion was expressed by the novelist Samuel Butler (1835-1902), who wrote a series of books and articles attacking Darwin, beginning with his Evolution Old and New of 1879.

Owen bitterly attacked Huxley, Hooker and Darwin, but also signalled acceptance of a kind of evolution as a teleological plan in a continuous "ordained becoming", with new species appearing by natural birth.

The formations which attacked Darwin, however, were in general much larger than those which attacked Port Moresby.

The Japanese 7th Air Regiment encountered a more disciplined opposition when it next attacked Darwin on 20 June.

In the lead-up to the Japanese invasion of Java a force of 242 carrier and land-based aircraft attacked Darwin on 19 February 1942.