Atlas of Battles

battle, interwar and Second World War

Raid on Darwin

Raid on Darwin was a battle fought in 1943 at Darwin, in what is now Australia. It was part of the Pacific War, which ran from 1941 to 1945. The recorded result: Indecisive. Recorded strength: 27 Zero fighters; 25 bombers against 33 Spitfire fighters; Darwin anti-aircraft guns.

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Fought1943
WhereDarwin, Australia12.450S, 130.833E
OutcomeIndecisive
BelligerentsEmpire of JapanagainstAustralia; United Kingdom
Part ofPacific War1941 to 1945

Where it sits in the Pacific War

Bombing of Tokyo, 1940Bombing of South-East Asia, 1940Japanese invasion of French Indochina, 1940Battle of Guam, 1941Bombing of Bangkok in World War II, 1941Shelling of Johnston and Palmyra, 1941Axis and Soviet air operations during Operation Barbarossa, 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941Philippines Campaign, 1941Battle of Hong Kong, 1941Battle of Wake Island, 1941Dutch East Indies campaign, 1941Bombing of Singapore, 1941Battle of Prachuap Khiri Khan, 1941Japanese invasion of Batan Island, 1941Attack on Clark Field, 1941Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse, 1941Japanese invasion of Aparri, 1941Japanese invasion of Vigan, 1941Battle of Jitra, 1941Japanese invasion of Legazpi, 1941Battle of Gurun, 1941Battle of Borneo, 1941Japanese Invasion of Davao, 1941Battle of Piis, 1941Battle of Kampar, 1941Solomon Islands Campaign, 1942Burma Campaign, 1942Battle of Savo Island, 1942Battle of Rabaul, 1942Battle of Corregidor, 1942Invasion of Tulagi, 1942Battle of Java, 1942Battle of Tarakan, 1942Japanese invasion of Cotabato, 1942Bombing of Mandalay, 1942Battle of Slim River, 1942Battle of Bataan, 1942Battle of Manado, 1942Battle of Kuala Lumpur, 1942Battle of Muar, 1942Battle of Gemas, 1942New Guinea campaign, 1942Battle of Balikpapan, 1942Battle of Ambon, 1942Marshalls–Gilberts raids, 1942Battle for Australia, 1942Battle of Port Moresby, 1942Battle of Makassar Strait, 1942Battle of Singapore, 1942Battle of Kranji, 1942Battle of Sarimbun Beach, 1942Battle of Bukit Timah, 1942Battle of Palembang, 1942Battle of Pasir Panjang, 1942Battle of Badung Strait, 1942Bombing of Darwin, 1942Battle of Timor, 1942Air raids on Australia, 1942–43, 1942Bombardment of Ellwood, 1942Wake Atoll raid, 1942Battle of Los Angeles, 1942Battle of the Java Sea, 1942Battle of Sunda Strait, 1942Second Battle of the Java Sea, 1942Attack on Broome, 1942Operation K, 1942Bombing of Sukabumi, 1942Battle of Tjiater Pass, 1942Invasion of Salamaua–Lae, 1942Invasion of Sumatra, 1942Indian Ocean raid, 1942Battle of Christmas Island, 1942Doolittle Raid, 1942air raids on Japan, 1942Japan Campaign, 1942Ogu Air Raid, 1942Japanese invasion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, 1942Japanese invasion of Zamboanga, 1942Battle of the Coral Sea, 1942Aleutian Islands Campaign, 1942Battle of Midway, 1942Battle of Dutch Harbor, 1942Attack on Sydney Harbour, 1942Shelling of Newcastle, 1942Bombardment of Fort Stevens, 1942Action of 5 July 1942, 1942Operation Fischreiher, 1942Attack on the Dureenbee, 1942Guadalcanal campaign, 1942Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo, 1942Makin Island raid, 1942Battle of the Tenaru, 1942Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 1942Battle of Milne Bay, 1942Battle of Isurava, 1942Battle of Mission Ridge – Brigade Hill, 1942Battle of Edson's Ridge, 1942Actions along the Matanikau, 1942Lookout Air Raids, 1942Battle of Cape Esperance, 1942Battle of Goodenough Island, 1942Battle for Henderson Field, 1942Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 1942Koli Point action, 1942Matanikau Offensive, 1942Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 1942Kokoda Track campaign, 1942Battle of Buna–Gona, 1942Battle of Tassafaronga, 1942Arakan Campaign 1942–1943, 1942Carlson's patrol, 1942Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse, 1942Bombing of Rabaul, 1943Operation Python, 1943Operation Ke, 1943Shelling of Port Gregory, 1943Battle of Rennell Island, 1943Battle of Wau, 1943Battle of the Bismarck Sea, 1943Battle of Blackett Strait, 1943Battle of the Komandorski Islands, 1943Operation I-Go, 1943Operation Vengeance, 1943Salamaua–Lae campaign, 1943Battle of Mubo, 1943Battle of Bobdubi, 1943Raid on Darwin, 1943Battle of Attu, 1943Japanese evacuation of Kiska, 1943New Georgia Campaign, 1943Operation Chronicle, 1943Battle of Lababia Ridge, 1943Operation Cartwheel, 1943Battle of Wickham Anchorage, 1943Landings on Rendova, 1943Battle of Viru Harbor, 1943Battle of Kula Gulf, 1943Landing at Nassau Bay, 1943Battle of Enogai, 1943Battle of Kolombangara, 1943Battle of Mount Tambu, 1943Drive on 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1944, 1944Battle of the Philippine Sea, 1944Battle of Noemfoor, 1944Battle of Driniumor River, 1944Action of 17 July 1944, 1944Battle of Tinian, 1944Operation Crimson, 1944Battle of Guam, 1944Operation Boomerang, 1944Battle of Sansapor, 1944Battle of Lone Tree Hill, 1944Battle of Angaur, 1944Battle of Morotai, 1944Bombing of Okinawa, 1944Battle of Leyte, 1944Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, 1944Battle off Samar, 1944Battle of Cabo Engaño, 1944Aitape–Wewak campaign, 1944Burma Campaign 1944, 1944Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands, 1944Bombing of Singapore, 1944Action of 10 November 1944, 1944Battle of Ormoc Bay, 1944Battle of Peleliu, 1944Battle of Wide Bay, 1944Battle of Pearl Ridge, 1944Battle of Okinawa, 1945Battle of Manila, 1945Borneo campaign, 1945Battle of Tarakan, 1945Bombing of Osaka, 1945Bombing of Macau, 1945Bombing of Hamamatsu in World War II, 1945Bombing of Kure, 1945Action of 8 June 1945, 1945Bombing of Kyoto, 1945Bombing of Nara, 1945Bombing of Tsu, 1945Battle of Sulu Islands, 1945Bombing of Ujiyamada, 1945Bombing of Kagoshima, 1945Bombing of Kushikino, 1945Bombing of Taira, 1945Bombing of Hikone, 1945Bombing of Fujisawa, 1945Bombing of Kamakura, 1945Operation Sunlag, 1945Bombing of Kuwana, 1945Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, 1945Battle of Luzon, 1945Battle of Ramree Island, 1945Battle of Camotes Islands, 1945Battle of Tsimba Ridge, 1945South China Sea raid, 1945Battle of Hill 170, 1945Raid at Cabanatuan, 1945Battle of Bataan, 1945bombing of Kobe in World War II, 1945Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations, 1945Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign, 1945Bombing of Yonamoto, 1945Battle of Baguio, 1945Battle of Balete Pass, 1945Raid on Los Baños, 1945Battle of Corregidor, 1945Invasion of Palawan, 1945Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay, 1945Battle of Lashio, 1945Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina, 1945Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945), 1945Battle of Mindanao, 1945Bombing of Kuala Lumpur, 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Hodojima, 1945Bombing of Shimada, 1945Bombing of Matsuyama, 1945Bombing of Kure, 1945Bombing of Aomori in World War II, 1945Oyamaguchi train air raid incident, 1945Bombing of Hamada, 1945Bombing of Yonago, 1945Bombing of Ōgaki, 1945Nakagawa iron bridge air raid, 1945Bombing of Nagaoka in World War II, 1945Bombing of Toyama, 1945Bombing of Hachiōji, 1945Bombing of Mito, 1945Bombing of Maebashi, 1945Bombing of Saga during World War II, 1945atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 1945Battle of the Sittang Bend, 1945Bombing of Toyokawa in World War II, 1945Bombing of Fukuyama, 1945Chikushi Station Train Air Raid Incident, 1945Soviet–Japanese War, 1945atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945Bombing of Ōminato, 1945Bombing of Hanamaki, 1945Bombing of Tosu during World War II, 1945Bombing of Kurume during World War II, 1945Bombing of Kajiki, 1945Bombing of Nagano, 1945Bombing of Ōtsuki, 1945Bombing of Akita in World War II, 1945Bombing of Kumagaya in World War II, 1945Bombing of Odawara, 1945Bombing of Isesaki, 1945Seishin Operation, 1945Philippines campaign of 1944–1945, 1945Operation Jurist, 1945Operation Tiderace, 1945Operation Agas, 1945UN Offensive Campaign, 195019401950Raid on Darwin, 1943
415 placed engagements of the Pacific War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1943 (year precision)
PlaceDarwin, Australia
12.450S, 130.833E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Strength27 Zero fighters; 25 bombers33 Spitfire fighters; Darwin anti-aircraft guns
Casualties and losses6–10 aircraft destroyed; 8 aircraft damaged2 pilots killed; 1 soldier killed; 14 Spitfires destroyed or damaged; Minor damage to buildings
Commanders
  • Clive Caldwell
Raid on DarwinRaid on DarwinBombing of DarwinBombing of DarwinAdelaide River100 km12.450S, 130.833E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1943

Raid on Darwin is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 19 in present-day Australia.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1740133, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Raid on Darwin (2 May 1943), revision 1374986984, read 2026-11-15, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.