Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to mix one oh four point nine three
point sixty now. As we know, tomorrow will mark a
day of national observance to remember the day exactly eighty
years ago when World War II forced itself onto Australia's
mainland for the first time. The Darwin community will gather
to pay their respects to the men and women who
(00:20):
fought during the war or during the Darwin air raids,
and the community who survived at the annual Bombing of
Darwin commemoration service. Just before ten am on the nineteenth
of February nineteen forty two, a formation of one hundred
and eighty eight Japanese aircraft mounted a deadly air raid
on Darwin and the sound of whistling bombs rang in
(00:43):
the years of Allied troops and civilians. Life for the
people of Darwin would never be the same. We'd suffered
the largest single attack ever on Australian soil and its
impact is still felt eighty years later. Now. One of
the last surviving veterans who was in Darwin during the
bombing will attend the service tomorrow. His name is Brian Winspear.
(01:06):
He is one hundred and one years old and he
joined me in the studio a little bit earlier this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Good morning to you, Brian, Good morning Kate. Lovely to
have you in the studio.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Brian.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Tell us a little bit about what it was like
for you on that day.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, you've got to bear in mind that I joined
the Air Force at nineteen and by the time I
got to Darwen, I was only twenty twenty twenty one,
and so that was all fairly new and strange and
so on. But yeah, after we finished the training, I
(01:49):
was supposted to two squadron locked Hudson's and at the
time we had twelve locked Hudson's to a squad udron
and and we're at Leveton and they decided that we
should go to down because there's a bit of a
(02:10):
war brewing, and and so the whole squadron part of
Melbourne to go down and flying over Lake Air out
of radio opera done playing with the radio, I heard
that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, And when we landed
for few Hell the Springs, I told the other cruising
(02:32):
in the twelve planes, and no one would bloome me
that that it was on. So when we got to
dow and it was it was that out we had
to want to They all built up ammunition and it
was my first taste of tropical tropical climate and all
I wanted to do was to have a cold sharer
(02:54):
and go to bed Tenerators all followed on from there
and then our squadron was had that then have to
go to West Temor because we had uh the powers
of the being, the bee that organized what who goes where,
(03:18):
decided that that in Tasmania we had the second fortieth
Army group and they had to go to Kopang in
West Timor to look after because there's one thousand Tasmania
(03:38):
there in the army to stop the jets coming as
far as as Darwin and what happened after after that year.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And so Brian were you were you always supposed to
be in Darwin at the time when that bombing occurred.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was our job. Yeah, two
two squads, three lo Huchins had to had to be
air cover for the the thousand Tasmanians there and and
Australia didn't have any fighters and Locky Hudson's are not
(04:21):
fighters anyway, but we had to go through the motions
of patrolling the guys and trying to find the Japanese
Asian fashion.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Brian, you'd said that you worked, you know, you worked
in radio, like you had the radio side of things.
So you'd listened and you'd heard what had happened in
Pearl Harbor.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Could you did you ever.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Anticipate that what would happen in Darwin was going to unfold?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
That was incredible because if you follow the history, Yeah,
Pearl Harbor was on the day that Trove Harbor was
December the twelfth, was I think, yeah, Well, you know
they were the japan Japan started heading south and and
(05:13):
and and polishing off every country they went into and
until they got it on. It took them two months
to to get there. And in the meantime, we had
a couple of Australia had a couple of second rate
fighter squadrons in Malaysia and and team all those sort
(05:36):
of places. And uh, I've got a he had at
one hundred and one. I've got to I've got to
give my brain a.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Bit of Brian. That's okay, we don't mind.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You know, I think most people listening to you this
morning will be absolutely you know, have so much respect
and so much pride listening to you this morning, So
we don't mind if you need a moment, mate.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You know, for so many of us who live in
Darwin now, we just have.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Absolutely no idea what it would have been like to
be here and to see those bombs raining down. I
had read somewhere that you described it as saying that
you looked up and the sun glinted, and the bombs
looked as they were falling down. They just looked like confetti.
It must have been just an unbelievable thing to see happening.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, well, there were thousands and thousands of bombs all
come at the same time, and everybody saw the fifty
four planes coming in, and because they're coming from the south,
they thought they were the Americans coming. But the Japs
always do that, they sort of fly around the target
(06:53):
and the aways come in the back door. Yeah, they
did exactly the same thing when they were when they
were invoding, a team or Kopang had six inch guns
or facing out to see whether they thought that the
japri going to come. And the came in and came
(07:13):
came and landed on a beach at the back and
then rode bikes and walked in. It came in in
the back door, so.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It is it's unbelievable, you know, to think of what
happened here in Dahlwa. My grandfather worked in logistics at
the time and he was stationed here. He was only
seventeen when he was first in dar when he was
here when Darwin was bombed. And I think that it's
such an important thing for all Australians to actually understand
what happened eighty years ago right here in the Northern territory.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, one of the sad things was that
absolutely no new came out from Darwin for about six
or eight months at that time because all the pol
pariticians had egg on their face because we had basically
no army. All our divisions were in the Mediterranean and
(08:12):
and our front line aircraft was only two squadrons of
like Ed Hudson's and and the navy was almost you
know finished, and and and it's sad that that no
news ever came out. And being in the front line
(08:33):
up there, we didn't know what was going on either
because our war was being controlled, our air force war
was being controlled in an office in sin Kettled Road
in Melbourne, and they didn't sort of forget the feel
of what was going on.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
It's really happening.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Can you tell me what was it like looking around
Darwin after after we'd been bombed, you know for us
here now, I know you've been back to Darwin on
so many occasions. When you walk around town now and
then when you remember what it was like eighty years
ago and how the place looked after it had been bombed,
(09:12):
what was it.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Like, Well, it was in another another world because Darwin
had ceased to exist just about after that bombing. Between
the bombing and the and the strong Wednesday, you get it.
It was amazing. I was absolutely amazed at the development
of Darwin and how it's grown up into it's trying
(09:36):
to take over Sydney. In Melbourne and the high risis,
I just shuddered to think of another cyclone came along.
Most of those highs rods had finished up in the bay.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Oh we worry about that. Lucky they got those building codes. Brian,
we are going to have to wrap up. Brian, tell
us why tomorrow is such an important day for all
It'sustralians to really sit back and remember what happened to
Darwin eighty years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, well I've been I've been spooking for yeah, eighty
odd years to try and get the message over my
own messages and never never forget to remember. And the
trouble as they don't one of their big problems with
the There we were with Lockied Hudson's looking after the
(10:29):
second fortieth Tazzies, the thousand of them, and they only
had a brandy on carry her and a few rifles
and had had nothing to really take the you know,
the jeps on. And then when the Japanese looked like
getting down to Dow and they decided that they were
(10:50):
going to pull the aircraft out because they were over
overtaken by the Japs anyway. And one of the hard
things in my life was that I knew a lot
of the ten thousand tatty. I went to school with
a lot of them, and we did a lot of
flying beers whtween Darwin and Copeng, and I used to
(11:11):
take milk and ten nugget and beer and all the
things that they're short of. Yeah, but the worst thing
in my life was that we had orders to live
Copeng and we just walked away from a thousand tatsies
and and I knew that. In fact, half a half
(11:35):
that thousand were even killed or taken prisoner of war.
And the ones that were taken a prisoners of war,
they were put put on a Japanese boat to go
to Tokyo to work in the in the mines and
sailing in up near Tea Moor. An American plane came
(11:58):
along and struck them and tor peed. The shepherd had
killed all their killed all their pow. A few of
them swamm and he got away. But it was a
pretty deadly time of the year. And it's always all
(12:18):
those features have always been tattooed onto my brain and
I keep, I keep, you know, remembering them all the time.
And at home, I've got a list of all their
names of the people that were killed there, and the
list is nine feet long. And the sad thing is
(12:42):
that everyone these days, in those days, everyone that got killed,
it disrupted their family completely because they all had mothers
and fathers, and they had girlfriends. And it not only
killed the person, but who killed their family as well.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, life would never be the same for so many Australians. Brian,
I can't thank you enough for coming in and seeing
us this morning. I know it must be difficult for
you to talk about and remember, you know, such a
such a terribly hard time, but I am so grateful
that you've come in and have a chat to me
this morning.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, well, Kate, this, this this weekend is the most
memorable event of my whole life. It even takes over
being in a in a cockpit of a cockpit of
a fast aircraft and all the other exciting things that yeah, yes, sorry, yeah,
(13:44):
I sat in the front of a concord while it
was learning learning in the Bahrain, and that was one
of the terrific experience. But this week weekend, yesterday we
had that there was nearly one hundred people out of
the museum and everyone was talking, was being interviewed on
(14:08):
looking at some of those beautiful planes there. It's a
mighty place anyway, very much, thanks for taking your time.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Thank you so much, and I think that everybody listening
this morning is going to be feeling very humbled listening
to your story. So Brian Winsby, thank you so very
much for having a chat with us today.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Okay, thanks, thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Thank you. You are listening to Mix one oh four
point nine's three sixty
You're listening to mix one oh four point nine three
point sixty now. As we know, tomorrow will mark a
day of national observance to remember the day exactly eighty
years ago when World War II forced itself onto Australia's
mainland for the first time. The Darwin community will gather
to pay their respects to the men and women who
(00:20):
fought during the war or during the Darwin air raids,
and the community who survived at the annual Bombing of
Darwin commemoration service. Just before ten am on the nineteenth
of February nineteen forty two, a formation of one hundred
and eighty eight Japanese aircraft mounted a deadly air raid
on Darwin and the sound of whistling bombs rang in
(00:43):
the years of Allied troops and civilians. Life for the
people of Darwin would never be the same. We'd suffered
the largest single attack ever on Australian soil and its
impact is still felt eighty years later. Now. One of
the last surviving veterans who was in Darwin during the
bombing will attend the service tomorrow. His name is Brian Winspear.
(01:06):
He is one hundred and one years old and he
joined me in the studio a little bit earlier this morning.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Good morning to you, Brian, Good morning Kate. Lovely to
have you in the studio.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Brian.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Tell us a little bit about what it was like
for you on that day.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Well, you've got to bear in mind that I joined
the Air Force at nineteen and by the time I
got to Darwen, I was only twenty twenty twenty one,
and so that was all fairly new and strange and
so on. But yeah, after we finished the training, I
(01:49):
was supposted to two squadron locked Hudson's and at the
time we had twelve locked Hudson's to a squad udron
and and we're at Leveton and they decided that we
should go to down because there's a bit of a
(02:10):
war brewing, and and so the whole squadron part of
Melbourne to go down and flying over Lake Air out
of radio opera done playing with the radio, I heard
that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, And when we landed
for few Hell the Springs, I told the other cruising
(02:32):
in the twelve planes, and no one would bloome me
that that it was on. So when we got to
dow and it was it was that out we had
to want to They all built up ammunition and it
was my first taste of tropical tropical climate and all
I wanted to do was to have a cold sharer
(02:54):
and go to bed Tenerators all followed on from there
and then our squadron was had that then have to
go to West Temor because we had uh the powers
of the being, the bee that organized what who goes where,
(03:18):
decided that that in Tasmania we had the second fortieth
Army group and they had to go to Kopang in
West Timor to look after because there's one thousand Tasmania
(03:38):
there in the army to stop the jets coming as
far as as Darwin and what happened after after that year.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And so Brian were you were you always supposed to
be in Darwin at the time when that bombing occurred.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it was our job. Yeah, two
two squads, three lo Huchins had to had to be
air cover for the the thousand Tasmanians there and and
Australia didn't have any fighters and Locky Hudson's are not
(04:21):
fighters anyway, but we had to go through the motions
of patrolling the guys and trying to find the Japanese
Asian fashion.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Brian, you'd said that you worked, you know, you worked
in radio, like you had the radio side of things.
So you'd listened and you'd heard what had happened in
Pearl Harbor.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Could you did you ever.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Anticipate that what would happen in Darwin was going to unfold?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
That was incredible because if you follow the history, Yeah,
Pearl Harbor was on the day that Trove Harbor was
December the twelfth, was I think, yeah, Well, you know
they were the japan Japan started heading south and and
(05:13):
and and polishing off every country they went into and
until they got it on. It took them two months
to to get there. And in the meantime, we had
a couple of Australia had a couple of second rate
fighter squadrons in Malaysia and and team all those sort
(05:36):
of places. And uh, I've got a he had at
one hundred and one. I've got to I've got to
give my brain a.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Bit of Brian. That's okay, we don't mind.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
You know, I think most people listening to you this
morning will be absolutely you know, have so much respect
and so much pride listening to you this morning, So
we don't mind if you need a moment, mate.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You know, for so many of us who live in
Darwin now, we just have.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Absolutely no idea what it would have been like to
be here and to see those bombs raining down. I
had read somewhere that you described it as saying that
you looked up and the sun glinted, and the bombs
looked as they were falling down. They just looked like confetti.
It must have been just an unbelievable thing to see happening.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, well, there were thousands and thousands of bombs all
come at the same time, and everybody saw the fifty
four planes coming in, and because they're coming from the south,
they thought they were the Americans coming. But the Japs
always do that, they sort of fly around the target
(06:53):
and the aways come in the back door. Yeah, they
did exactly the same thing when they were when they
were invoding, a team or Kopang had six inch guns
or facing out to see whether they thought that the
japri going to come. And the came in and came
(07:13):
came and landed on a beach at the back and
then rode bikes and walked in. It came in in
the back door, so.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
It is it's unbelievable, you know, to think of what
happened here in Dahlwa. My grandfather worked in logistics at
the time and he was stationed here. He was only
seventeen when he was first in dar when he was
here when Darwin was bombed. And I think that it's
such an important thing for all Australians to actually understand
what happened eighty years ago right here in the Northern territory.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, one of the sad things was that
absolutely no new came out from Darwin for about six
or eight months at that time because all the pol
pariticians had egg on their face because we had basically
no army. All our divisions were in the Mediterranean and
(08:12):
and our front line aircraft was only two squadrons of
like Ed Hudson's and and the navy was almost you
know finished, and and and it's sad that that no
news ever came out. And being in the front line
(08:33):
up there, we didn't know what was going on either
because our war was being controlled, our air force war
was being controlled in an office in sin Kettled Road
in Melbourne, and they didn't sort of forget the feel
of what was going on.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
It's really happening.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Can you tell me what was it like looking around
Darwin after after we'd been bombed, you know for us
here now, I know you've been back to Darwin on
so many occasions. When you walk around town now and
then when you remember what it was like eighty years
ago and how the place looked after it had been bombed,
(09:12):
what was it.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Like, Well, it was in another another world because Darwin
had ceased to exist just about after that bombing. Between
the bombing and the and the strong Wednesday, you get it.
It was amazing. I was absolutely amazed at the development
of Darwin and how it's grown up into it's trying
(09:36):
to take over Sydney. In Melbourne and the high risis,
I just shuddered to think of another cyclone came along.
Most of those highs rods had finished up in the bay.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Oh we worry about that. Lucky they got those building codes. Brian,
we are going to have to wrap up. Brian, tell
us why tomorrow is such an important day for all
It'sustralians to really sit back and remember what happened to
Darwin eighty years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Yeah, well I've been I've been spooking for yeah, eighty
odd years to try and get the message over my
own messages and never never forget to remember. And the
trouble as they don't one of their big problems with
the There we were with Lockied Hudson's looking after the
(10:29):
second fortieth Tazzies, the thousand of them, and they only
had a brandy on carry her and a few rifles
and had had nothing to really take the you know,
the jeps on. And then when the Japanese looked like
getting down to Dow and they decided that they were
(10:50):
going to pull the aircraft out because they were over
overtaken by the Japs anyway. And one of the hard
things in my life was that I knew a lot
of the ten thousand tatty. I went to school with
a lot of them, and we did a lot of
flying beers whtween Darwin and Copeng, and I used to
(11:11):
take milk and ten nugget and beer and all the
things that they're short of. Yeah, but the worst thing
in my life was that we had orders to live
Copeng and we just walked away from a thousand tatsies
and and I knew that. In fact, half a half
(11:35):
that thousand were even killed or taken prisoner of war.
And the ones that were taken a prisoners of war,
they were put put on a Japanese boat to go
to Tokyo to work in the in the mines and
sailing in up near Tea Moor. An American plane came
(11:58):
along and struck them and tor peed. The shepherd had
killed all their killed all their pow. A few of
them swamm and he got away. But it was a
pretty deadly time of the year. And it's always all
(12:18):
those features have always been tattooed onto my brain and
I keep, I keep, you know, remembering them all the time.
And at home, I've got a list of all their
names of the people that were killed there, and the
list is nine feet long. And the sad thing is
(12:42):
that everyone these days, in those days, everyone that got killed,
it disrupted their family completely because they all had mothers
and fathers, and they had girlfriends. And it not only
killed the person, but who killed their family as well.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, life would never be the same for so many Australians. Brian,
I can't thank you enough for coming in and seeing
us this morning. I know it must be difficult for
you to talk about and remember, you know, such a
such a terribly hard time, but I am so grateful
that you've come in and have a chat to me
this morning.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, well, Kate, this, this this weekend is the most
memorable event of my whole life. It even takes over
being in a in a cockpit of a cockpit of
a fast aircraft and all the other exciting things that yeah, yes, sorry, yeah,
(13:44):
I sat in the front of a concord while it
was learning learning in the Bahrain, and that was one
of the terrific experience. But this week weekend, yesterday we
had that there was nearly one hundred people out of
the museum and everyone was talking, was being interviewed on
(14:08):
looking at some of those beautiful planes there. It's a
mighty place anyway, very much, thanks for taking your time.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Thank you so much, and I think that everybody listening
this morning is going to be feeling very humbled listening
to your story. So Brian Winsby, thank you so very
much for having a chat with us today.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Okay, thanks, thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Thank you. You are listening to Mix one oh four
point nine's three sixty
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