Darwin Spitfires: The Real Battle for Australia

by Anthony James Cooper

Using war diaries, combat reports, and other official correspondence and records, this fast-paced narrative reconstructs in detail the prolonged air battle in defense of Darwin, Australia: the only sustained and intensive direct assault on the continent during the entirety of World War II. In 1943, a small band of inexperienced Australian and British fighter pilots fought against a formidably skilled and proficient Japanese opponent, and this account of the little-known campaigns in northwestern Australia discusses the 10 major conflicts that took place, plugging a huge gap in the literature of Australian military history. Because many Australians are unfamiliar with these attacks to the mainland territory, this enlightening account recovers an important aspect of this nation’s history.

Genres: World War II

516 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2011

Reviews

[Karen Beath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very important book as it tells the lesser known story of the battle of the air over Darwin in World War 2. It's a story that needs to be told and I think we need more like it. That being said it's very much written for the aircraft enthusiast. I could generally follow the events but couldn't quite understand some of the details due to my lack of general air fighting knowledge. I also felt it may have lacked a deeper human aspect regarding the pilots, their lives and life around Darwin at that time. In saying that I don't think this was ever the intention of the author. For a book that documents battles this is a good read.

[John Neuhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many people are aware of the first catastrophic raid on Darwin during WW2 but the many raids which following of the next year and a half are much less well known. This book details the history of the Australian and UK Spitfire squadrons sent to defend Darwin after the first raid. The coverage of each raid is extremely detailed and probably requires a strong interest in military aviation to make sense of the combat descriptions. If you are a military history and aviation bore like me you should find this an interesting read.

[Patrick Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best descriptions of aerial combat that I have read. The author has an excellent understanding of air to air combat and maneuvering. The book was balanced and objective, gave credit where due and assigned blame where deserved. Some of the fights might be a little confusing to non-aviators but not, I believe, to the point of making the book unenjoyable. I liked the author's other book "Kokoda Air Strikes" slightly more than this volume but still enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Mark Balcombe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not particularly keen on this guy's knocking narrative style. He's looking at this small part of history in a keyboard warrior fashion. That's why I normally only read diaries by the people that were actually there and have over 20 of these precious books. So not desperately keen on people pontificating after these people have died of old age and therefore can't challenge him - AJC.