World War II history

Travel to the Northern Territory and uncover how deeply this region is embedded in Australia’s World War II history.

On 19 February 1942, the Bombing of Darwin became the largest single attack ever mounted on Australia by a foreign power, yet many Australians remain unaware of the scale of what happened here on home soil.

As a strategic Allied base, Darwin was heavily targeted by Japanese air raids from February 1942, with more bombs dropped on the city than on Pearl Harbor. The sustained threat triggered a major military build-up across the region, including at Adelaide River, 113km south of Darwin, which became a key Australian and American headquarters base.

Today, this legacy remains visible across the Northern Territory. From airfields and ammunition bunkers to oil storage tunnels and coastal defence sites, visitors can experience history where it happened and begin to plot their course through history.

Plot your course through history

Ready to explore Australia’s World War II story on the ground? Use our AI Military Trip Planner to map key sites and experiences across the Northern Territory.

Experience history where it happened

The Northern Territory played a pivotal role in Australia’s World War II story. Much of this history remains physically visible today, preserved in the very places where events unfolded.

Military sites in the NT

Royal Flying Doctor Service Darwin Tourist Facility

The Darwin History and Wartime Experience

$25 – $125

Darwin Military Museum & Defence of Darwin Experience

$55 – $65

$59 – $69

$145

Royal Flying Doctor Service Alice Springs Tourist Facility & Museum

WWII RAAF Explosive Storage Area, Darwin

WWII Quarantine Anti Aircraft Battery Site

WWII Pell Airstrip Camp A 4RSU Workshop, Adelaide River

WWII Noonamah Railway Siding and Stores Depot

WWII Noonamah Cricket Pitch and Oval, near Strauss Airfield

WWII Navy Oil Storage Tunnels 5 & 6, Darwin

$220

World War II Manbulloo Airfield Operations Centre and Abattoir

$59

$155

$155

An Extended Military History Tour of Darwin, Batchelor, Adelaide River and Coomalie Airfield

Batchelor Airfield and Anti-Aircraft Battery

Adelaide River Railway Siding and Railway Bridge

Make your history trip go further

Planning a military heritage journey in the Northern Territory? Explore current travel deals to help you stay longer and experience more while you’re here.

Explore the Territory’s wartime routes

World War II history extends well beyond Darwin. Across the Top End and Red Centre, key sites and stories reveal the scale of the Northern Territory’s role in Australia’s wartime effort.

3-day Alice Springs itinerary: Military history, heritage & the Red Centre

This 3-day Alice Springs itinerary is ideal for travellers interested in military history, communications, and outback heritage, combined with iconic Red Centre landscapes and wildlife experiences. It balances guided touring with free time and is well suited to first-time visitors.

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Top End Military & History: A 4-Day Itinerary

This military history itinerary focuses on Darwin and the Top End, covering key World War II sites connected to the Bombing of Darwin and Australia’s northern defence history. It is designed for travellers who want to delve into the Northern Territory’s rich military history.

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Go deeper into the history

Want to better understand the events, people and places that shaped the Northern Territory during World War II? Explore the Territory’s wartime stories.

Darwin’s military history

Target Darwin <span>The Bombing of Darwin</span>

Target Darwin The Bombing of Darwin

In a speech given on 17 February 1942 Prime Minister Curtin called the fall of Singapore “Australia’s Dunkirk”; 2 days later, mainland Australia was attacked for the first time.

Darwin Harbour in WWII

On 9 February 1942, the Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sent a top-secret order to Admiral Chûichi Nagumo, Commander of the 1st Attack Fleet, to ‘annihilate the enemy strength in the Port Darwin area. For the surprise attack on Port Darwin on 19 February, the task force will advance to the Arafura Sea’.

Up the track: the Stuart Highway

Locally known as ‘the Track’ or ‘the Bitumen’, the Stuart Highway is the Territory’s most valuable legacy of World War II.

Alice Springs in WWII

In 1939, Alice Springs was a small, tight-knit community of less than a thousand people whose livelihoods depended upon supplying the outlying pastoral industry.

Darwin’s role in World War II hits home

For the past nine months, they’ve travelled 35,000km aboard their chariot, a gleaming white Fiat Ducato with an Avan Ovation home on the back. Paula calls it the ‘Hilton’ with a cheeky smile and says the best thing about it is climbing in the cabin and having a wonderful sense of freedom without a worry in the world.

Adelaide River in WWII

As the Stuart Highway pushes toward Darwin, the now quiet townships of Adelaide River and Batchelor still show signs of the intense wartime activity in the region. Adelaide River became a major Australian and American centre of operations, crucial to the infrastructure needed to fight the war in the North.

Katherine in WWII

The town of Katherine marks the southern most point of Japanese bombing raids on the Northern Territory in World War II. It was bombed once in the early afternoon of 22 March, 1942. Dorothy Hall was preparing lunch for her family that day. Ann Cox also witnessed the attack, and later wrote of her experience.

Australia’s Air War

One of the most vivid images of the Territory in wartime remains the roadside airstrips. Flat tracks carved out of the tropical bush; home to the courageous pilots and aircrews who fought the Air War over Northern Australia and the enemy to the North.

World War II history in the Northern Territory