Yesterday's talk at the National Maritime Museum on our bilingual English/Japanese book 'The Battle of Sydney Harbour: Night Attack' was a successful event.
The one hour performance was brilliantly presented by the museum's Matt Lee with more flair and interesting content that a night at the Oscars. The venue was the museum's main cinema, a beautiful, comfortable environment with acoustics so good that a hand-held microphone was not necessary in the robust Q&A session that followed the talk. A stimulated audience was happy to form a line at the conclusion to buy a copy of the book, signed by Peter Grose and me. And now our pioneering seven minute video is playing down on the wharf in the museum's ultra wide-screen 'Action Stations' cinema. Japanese subtitles help tell a story to Japanese visitors that has never been told in Japan. It is retrospective and impartial; the view from both sides by former enemies, now the best of friends. |
THE BATTLE OF SYDNEY HARBOUR: NIGHT ATTACK, 1942
This seven minute video (click on either image) is now playing at the Australian National Maritime Museum's 'Action Stations' cinema on the wharf between HMAS Vampire and HMAS Oberon. The screen is unusually large: floor to ceiling and more than 15m wide. 'Night Attack' tells the story of the unsuccessful May 31 1942 attack on ships in Sydney Harbour by Japanese submarines. Six young Japanese sailors in three midget submarines entered the harbour with a plan. Things didn't go as the Japanese hoped. Twenty seven men lost their life that night; twenty one of them Allied sailors sleeping on board an old wooden ferry. Six of the twenty seven were the Japanese midget sub crews. Not one of the three two-man crews achieved their objective. This was no suicide mission, but all six Japanese crew perished. Only one of the three midget subs left the harbour ... after missing its target with both torpedoes. Where it ended up was a mystery for 65 years. The story is told in English, with Japanese subtitles adding a new other-side dimension to the remarkable story. |
BUY THE BOOK
A valuable asset in any History classroom making a major contribution towards intercultural understanding, Six Lesson Program for Teachers
The failed surprise attack by submarine on an unsuspecting Sydney is an indelible part of our history, brilliantly covered in a valuable teaching resource titled The Battle of Sydney Harbour 1942 by Peter Grose, with illustrations by Gary Jackson. The ground-breaking book is unique in the way it presents both the Australian and Japanese perspectives. It is written in parallel texts, making a major contribution towards intercultural understanding. For this reason alone, it is a valuable asset to any History classroom. The text and illustrations are a portal to the past. Things went wrong for the Japanese from the moment the first midget sub entered Sydney harbour. Over the next 12 hours, things only got worse. Every Australian should know the full story, the historical context, the aftermath and the lessons learnt. History teacher Bernie Howitt has prepared, with the book's authors, six structured lessons with guidance to teachers on how to present them. The sixth lesson involves a site visit to the Australian National Maritime Museum and a re-enactment harbour cruise. Investigating this event in a classroom gives teachers an extraordinary opportunity to turn the learning over to the students. The content fits neatly into any study of Australia at War or World War II. These innovative lessons are designed to help teachers present a complete unit of work that not only enhances students' knowledge and understanding of the Battle of Sydney Harbour, but teaches them how to develop and apply the key historical skills. In this way, students not only have the opportunity to master essential Stage 5 content, but also enhance their skill level, and take a significant step towards achieving an understanding of the requirements for success in senior history. This remarkable book and the lesson program, including a copy of the book, is available exclusively through ATOM's Education Shop. This is genuine history, giving all readers the opportunity to not only time travel back to a very different time and place, but also reflect on the journey. It is a very important book, poised to make a major contribution to historical and cross-cultural understanding. Two former enemies have completed their journey from enemies to close allies in the Quad alliance linking Australia, Japan, the United States and India in a strategic security alliance. This book will enable you to understand the beginning of that journey in the Australian Navy's decision to honour the Japanese minisubmariners for their bravery. |
Although this was no suicide mission, the reality was that the chance of survival was slim to zero.
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"Mr Jackson, You and Peter Grose have done a wonderful job and I commend you both. I was deeply impressed by the extent of the new (to me) illustrative material you have unearthed. The anti-Japanese propaganda posters are dreadfully racist but of course, very much in keeping with the spirit of the times. I will read the book cover-to-cover with the greatest of interest. - Yours sincerely, Bruce Stannard AM"
"Gary Jackson great effort Gary. That’s a fantastic book. My dad was in the navy then. He joined at age 18. He was assigned initially to the HMAS Miramar, a patrol boat on Sydney Harbour. Miramar was tied to the dock, behind Kuttabul when she was torpedoed and 21 sailors were killed. Dad wasn’t on board at the time. I have some photos somewhere. He told me he was a bit shaken by the attack at the time." - Stephen Connelly AUTHOR'S NOTE
Peter Grose writes: "One of the pure joys of writing this book has been working with Makoto Ito, our Japanese translator. Makoto is a Japanese academic and television producer. Having met him in Japan in early 2019, I can vouch for the fact that Makoto’s English is fluent, accurate and subtle. "We asked Makoto if he would like to contribute his own afterword to our book. His response was both touching and brilliant. This is what he wrote: 'This book praises the bravery of the six Japanese sailors who perished in their midget subs attack on Sydney Harbour. This should be acknowledged. In an historical context; they duly and determinedly did the duties expected of them at the time (albeit under influence from wartime policies and ideologies).' "In Makoto’s view, as Joseph Heller wrote in Catch 22, the Japanese officers and the Japanese political leaders of the six submariners were as anxious to kill them as their Allied enemies in Sydney. They were killed as surely by the fascist government of Japan as they were by any Allied depth charge or self-inflicted pistol shot." THE BOOK HAS ARRIVED!
"It deserves the upper case. Looks wonderful and so good to see the inclusion of the Japanese text." - Customer Mim McCune "It is superb, Gary. An inestimably important historical contribution of extraordinary originality and an artistic tour-de-force. My congratulations to you and Peter." - John Lenn, Social History Teacher "We will make most of your efforts to look back on history and to promote the story of reconciliation and cooperation since then." - Kiya Masahiko, Japan's Consul General in Sydney "Any interest in History is a bit like time travel. You read about a time and place and your imagination can often help you visualise what it must have been like. This remarkable, lavishly illustrated book has done the heavy lifting for your imagination this time. It has provided a wonderful collection of primary sources, high-tech recreations and a rich, information packed text to recreate the 1942 battle of Sydney Harbour. "This book is poised to make a very special contribution to our understanding of the battle of Sydney Harbour. It was the moment World War II became very real to Sydneysiders. It occurred in the context of rising fear about a Japanese invasion. As always happens in war, propaganda stereotypes the enemy as the face of evil. Simplistic racial profiling helps create that enemy, and those suspicions can linger long after a conflict has finished." - Bernie Howitt, History Teacher |
The Battle Of Sydney Harbour
Smiths Weekly challenged the account of the attack put forward by the Australian government. Politicians just lied. Norman Makin, Minister of the Navy, told of a great victory for Australia's well-prepared defence. The Americans told it like it was, that Australia had been extremely lucky not to have experienced another Pearl Harbor. Smiths Weekly agreed, and published what really happened. For that the editor and journalists were threatened with jail, or gaol as it was then.
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"The Japanese view of Australia had been that it was a land of convicts, but that view changed completely to that Australians
were a noble-minded people, at least amongst those heard what happened." Spy Pilot Susumo Ito
were a noble-minded people, at least amongst those heard what happened." Spy Pilot Susumo Ito
A task force of 500 men in five huge I-class submarines assembled off the coast. Two carried a floatplane in a waterproof hangar. Three carried a midget submarine strapped to the rear deck.
The control room on the midget subs was terribly cramped. Two men worked in a confined space less than two metres long and two metres in diameter.
The first midget to enter the harbour collided with a channel marker, then backed up and became hopelessly tangled in the incomplete boom net. The bow rose to the surface.
"Yes, it's a submarine alright!", the Australians agreed after arguing for two hours, not wanting to believe it.
To avoid certain capture, the Japanese crew used the scuttling charge to destroy the submarine and themselves. And then the real trouble started.
Cmdr. Shane Moore RAN (retired) discusses the design problems of the battery-powered midgets and reveals why they were so deadly, particularly to the brave young crews who manned them.
Japanese Spy Pilot Susumo Ito, who flew multiple undetected reconnaissance missions over Sydney, gives a candid view from the other side in this conflict.
Uncovered archival footage provides a never-before-seen perspective, with expert eye-witness commentary.
Government-approved forensic dives on the off-limit wreck of the long-missing third midget submarine bring some closure to a long-standing mystery. Indisputable hard-evidence has excited marine archaeologists but does it go far enough?
The DVD brings together years of work in an engaging, entertaining and very re-watchable video.
The Japanese Type 97 Oxygen-powered torpedo was a game changer. Had it worked properly, and been on target, it might
have caused far more damage in Sydney than it did. Of six torpedoes in total carried by the midgets, two were fired. Two were stuck in their tube, and two blew up along with their submarine shortly after entering the harbour.
have caused far more damage in Sydney than it did. Of six torpedoes in total carried by the midgets, two were fired. Two were stuck in their tube, and two blew up along with their submarine shortly after entering the harbour.