The damage was substantial though at first the government would admit only to 'some damage' and 'some casualties'.
The Americans tried to stem Japan's growing strength and influence.
But it was the sanctions that forced Japan, they say, to go to war.
On May 31, 1942, 80 years ago this year, World War 2 finally arrived in Sydney.
Reconnaissance spy flights over Sydney were unchallenged.
The observer identified the wrong ship type.
This is an important book, poised to make a major contribution to historical and cross-cultural understanding.
Years in the planning, the surprise attack went wrong from the moment it began. It was a bad idea filled with wishful thinking.
This book is poised to make a very special contribution to our understanding of the Battle of Sydney Harbour.
War came to Sydney on May 31, 1942 ... 80 years ago this year. Six young Japanese and twenty one young men on the Allied side died in the botched mission. Had a little luck gone the Japanese way, this could have been bigger than Pearl Harbor.
Text is in both English and Japanese. Both points of view are treated equally.
The book traces without bias the parallel paths that Japan and the Allies took to war, their meeting in Sydney Harbour on May 31, 1942 ... and the aftermath.
Spy pilot Susumu Ito in a 2014 interview in Japan reflects on the attack from his front row seat.
Sydney was a city totally unprepared for war. This is not Sydney as it is now, this is Sydney as it was then. There's trouble on its way, a rude awakening is just around the corner.
The Australians were lucky that things hadn't turned out much, much worse. It was pure luck that so many mistakes made on both sides had a happy ending for the Australians who made a composite midget sub from the two recovered in the harbour and dared label it a 'capture', when both crews had suicided.
The composite had wheels attached and was taken on a road-trip, selling souvenirs and raising money to help the war effort. Our History Theatre will be taken on a tour of at least NSW, a time-machine taking us back to those dark days in an unforgettable one hour that will remind us who we were and are, and how we got here. Our good friends and allies the Japanese will sit side-by-side with us and go home richer for having been immersed in the performance with us.
Spy Pilot Susumi Ito faced death, he believed, when ordered to overfly Pearl Harbor the morning after the attack, to assess damage. The Americans would be waiting for him, and angry. Luckily for him, his mother-sub captain received orders overnight to chase and sink the US Aircraft Carrier Enterprise. Ito thus avoided the risky reconnaissance flight.
Ideas like the Kaiten method, in which men aboard a torpedo smashed themselves against an enemy, were forerunners of the sophisticated midget subs that attacked Pearl Harbor and Sydney Harbour.
"They're all dead. All of them. After we attacked Sydney I got a transfer and left the submarine. 90% of the crew remained, while 10% were transferred. Those who remained in the submarine all got killed two months later. Those transferred were also killed aboard their next submarine. No one is still alive." - Susumi Ito
Japanese forces attacked Darwin and Northern Australia with the same task force used at Pearl Harbor just ten weeks earlier. The Japanese dropped more bombs in the Australian attack and sank more ships than they did at Pearl Harbor.
One of the three midgets to attack Sydney and the only one to fire its torpedoes and leave the harbour, M24 was fired on with a WW1 Vickers machine gun when finally sighted. No damage was sustained by the submarine. Of the two torpedoes eventually fired, neither hit their target, the American Cruiser USS Chicago. One torpedo sank an old wooden ferry killing 22 sailors. The other torpedo failed to arm and ran aground harmlessly without exploding.
What were they thinking? The attack strategy, planning, execution and the aftermath are explained in military terms and clearly illustrated. The many failures are graphically reconstructed with unprecedented accuracy and insight.
An inspired narrative draws on expert interviews plus brilliant CG visuals to take us back for a detailed understanding of what really did happen all those years ago. |
Although it was not formally announced until 1940, the Japanese spent a lot of the 1930s pushing their idea of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The plan was that colonial powers like Britain (Burma, Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong), France (Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and parts of China), Holland (Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia), Portugal (East Timor) and the United States (Philippines) would gracefully retire from the scene and leave the whole of East Asia as a Japanese sphere of influence. They sold this idea as a kind of Asia-for-the-Asians, with words like 'independence' thrown in as sweeteners. This propaganda poster was aimed at a Filipino audience. Where the Japanese succeeded in occupying former colonies, they turned out to be no less brutal than their European predecessors.
One of the enduring controversies over the Darwin bombing is the extent to which the Australian government lied about it, and these two newspaper headlines are often singled out as proof of the government's mendacity. The plain fact is that government simply didn't know what had happened. Incredibly, there was no telephone link between Darwin and the rest of Australia, nor was there any rail link. The very few telegraph links involved long messages sent in Morse code, which was both slow and clumsy.
When the reality was finally known in Canberra, the government did not exactly tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. As a result, rumours replaced reality: thousands had died; deserters had been shot; martial law had been proclaimed. None of it was true but in the absence of a credible narrative, the lies spread unchecked. Couldn't happen today, could it? 
Japan and Australia fought on the same side in World War I. That war officially started on 28 July 1914, and Japan joined the Allied cause less than four weeks later, on 23 August 1914. (America joined the Allies on 6 April 1917.) Relations between Japan and the United States had been fraught from the late 19th century to the outbreak of the Pacific War on 7 December 1941. The United States resented Japan’s growing industrial power. The Japanese were equally uneasy about America’s territorial expansion into the Pacific. There were arguments over Japanese immigration to the United States, and the Americans regarded Japan as both an expansionist and an aggressive power. Anyone reading an American newspaper today and substituting the word Japan for China would have a pretty good idea of how strained relations were. In those days, China and the rest of Asia could safely be ignored. Asian countries were either occupied by a friendly colonial power—Hong Kong, Burma (now Myanmar), Malaya (Malaysia) and Singapore by Britain; Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos by France; the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) by Holland, East Timor by Portugal, and so on—or, like China, were seen as irretrievably poor, primitive, chaotic and too heavily populated for their own good. Japan was different. The Japanese were seen as clever and industrious, to be watched carefully and stomped on when necessary. Two paths to war
This important book tracks two paths to war. Opposing Japanese and Allied views are presented side-by-side in Japanese and English, tracing the origins of the Pacific war from Shoguns and Samurais through the Meiji reorganisation to Pearl Harbor and then to the bombing of Darwin and the Sydney attack. Both sides felt justified with their own actions. The Americans applied severe economic sanctions to Japan in a strategy designed to halt Japan's robust imperial and economic expansion. One superpower in the Pacific was enough. Ironically, it was those sanctions that led to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor and an officially declared war. The book has all the detail including a retrospective account from the Japanese side. 
The Battle of Sydney Harbour 1942
A beautifully-presented, 128-page book by Peter Grose and Gary Jackson. This controversial project, with text in both English and Japanese, tracks two fatally flawed paths to war. '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. You will immediately notice that this book is printed in both Japanese and English. In a world where Japan and Australia now embrace each other in friendship and political coalition, this approach is long overdue. By incorporating both the Japanese and allied perspectives in exploring the battle of Sydney Harbour, the book greatly enhances our understanding of the event. More importantly, it gives us a long delayed opportunity to hear the voices of those to whom we were so implacably opposed. Read carefully the testimony of Susumu Ito, who flew one of the spy planes over Sydney prior to the Battle. Part of his recollection is reproduced on the back cover and captures perfectly the enormous contribution to our understanding this book is poised to make. He remembers the Japanese reaction to the military funeral given to the Japanese sailors whose bodies were recovered from two of the mini-submarines. In 1942 Australia it caused great controversy, with many opposed to the recognition of the enemy’s losses. Ito’s memory reveals a very different and significant perspective. 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. As two former enemies complete their journey to become close allies with 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 mini-submariners for their bravery.' - Bernie Howitt Order a signed copy of the limited edition book at www.ww2australia.com.au 
'The scourge of nationalism that blighted the world in the middle of the Twentieth century will ever threaten to throw young conscripts, like those Japanese submariners, into the terrifying jaws of the god of war. I commend this excellent book to scholars, students and the general reader. For those whose interest in Australia's history is only beginning to flourish, The Battle for Sydney Harbour will provide an elegant introduction.'
- Ernie Tucker Ernie Tucker taught history at Vaucluse Boys' High School, Sydney, Australia, during the 1960s. A permanent exhibition to mark the Japanese attack on Sydney
Not even one mention of a European king or queen. This is our own exotic Australian history told in a way that will rival the celebrated immersive Atelier des Lumières (“Light Workshop”) in Paris. Preparation is underway in earnest. Participation by interested parties is invited. Please contact Gary Jackson on gr.jaxn@gmail.com or Peter Grose on petergrose@me.com 
In the sensually immersive History Theatre, Japanese guides in Imperial Navy submariners' officers' uniforms will guide visitors along the Japanese path to war on one side. Australian and US guides in period Navy uniforms will take visitors down the Allied path to war on the other side.
Taking the Battle On The Road
The road tour will bring the History Theatre to cities and towns too far from Sydney to make an excursion to North Head a practical exercise. For schoolkids this will be a day to look forward to, to learn about history in the way it should be taught but seldom is. ATOM (Australian Teachers Of Media) will promote the tour and take bookings for class excursions ahead of the dates when the History Theatre will be in their town. 
At the conclusion of the road show phase, we hope to find a suitable permanent home for the History Theatre in Sydney or Canberra. Interested museums or other commercial venues are urged to make contact to discuss. This show has the potential to rival Hobart's MOMA and the Sydney Bridge Climb as a must-see attraction for all Australians and international tourists. We will promote the show in Japanese and American media.
This pic links to a short video of former RAN Commander Shane Moore talking about how difficult to control and fight these radical Japanese secret weapons were. Our History Theatre features interviews on both sides, including with Spyplane Pilot Susumu Ito talking about not only his reconnaissance missions but life aboard a Japanese submarine and Japanese war ethics that dated back to the Meiji period.
Spy Pilot Susumi Ito comments on suicide missions
This is what Mr Ito told me in 2011: "I agree with the view that they were brave young men. I want you to note that the crewmembers of the midget submarines were the very people who devised the attack method in which they could not expect to return alive. In the Japanese Navy, one who submitted a new idea was the first to carry it out and prove its merit. It was the Navy tradition. It was the case not only with the midget submarines but also with the ideas like the Kaiten method, in which men aboard a torpedo smashed themselves against an enemy. This method was an idea proposed by a young officer, who went off in a torpedo before anyone else. In regards with the midget submarines, it was also a young officer who proposed the idea. He trained himself on a midget submarine and he was one of those who went off when the method was first used in the Pearl Harbor attack, which inspired more and more men to volunteer for the submarine missions. It's not easy to do what those men did. They acted like so to protect Japan. In order for Japan, a country with low productivity, to fight a war against countries with a high productivity like Britain and the USA, they had no alternative. Without doubt, they acted with unthinkable bravery. If I had to do the same … I would have been ordered to do so. But would I be brave enough to put forward a proposal and carry it out? I don't know.
The two-man midget subs that attacked Sydney were a sophisticated secret weapon. Plans were for the crews to return safely, but few really expected they would.
Why Japan attacked Australia
The lead-up to WW2, the attacks on Northern Australia and Sydney Harbour in 1942 and the aftermath to the action explained in a seven minute clip. Click on any of the pics. 
Hear what Japanese spy-pilot Susumi Ito says about Japanese attitudes towards Australians at that time, and how that negative and erroneous view changed. In Japanese eyes, Australians became 'a noble-minded people'.
Two of the three midgets failed to successfully fire any torpedoes. Both two-man crews died, one by scuttling their trapped submarine with its demolition charge and one crew suicided as their crippled submarine was being destroyed by depth charges.
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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.
