HMAS Kuttabul, the RAN accommodation ship
sunk by a Japanese torpedo in Sydney Harbour
on 31 May/1 June 1942.

[AWM 012427]

The Japanese first attacked Australia by air raids on Darwin and Broome. The attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese midget submarines is covered in detail, and includes an extended animated graphic sequence of events. Read the poem written by the mother of Japanese submariner Lieutenant Kieu Matsuo who perished in Sydney Harbour on 1 June 1942. The Japanese attacks up and down the east coast are covered by images, video clips and newspaper reports.

A Flash animation shows the flight path of the Japanese reconnaissance floatplane and the routes taken by the five midget submarines from 29 May to 1 June 1942 as they attacked Sydney Harbour. Screen annotations trace the events hour by hour.

Bibliography

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-1945; Series Two, Navy, Vol 1 Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Canberra, 1957.

G Hermon Gill, Australia in the War of 1939-1945; Series Two, Navy, Vol II - Royal Australian Navy 1942 -1945, Canberra, 1968.

Douglas Gillison, Australia in the War of 1939-45; Series Three, Air, Vol II - Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942, Canberra, 1962.

George Odgers, Australian in the War of 1939-45; Series Three, Air, Vol II - Air war against Japan, Canberra, 1957.

Alan Powell, The shadow's edge: Australia's northern war, Carlton,1988.

Richard Reid, Darwin and the Northern Territory 1942 - 1945, Canberra, 2002.

Richard Reid, No cause for alarm: Submarine attacks on Sydney and Newcastle May - June 1942, Canberra, 2002.

Operation CLICK: Anzac to Kokoda

is a classroom resource which draws on and encourages the use of the following Veterans' Affairs websites:
• Australia’s War 1939–1945 – www.ww2australia.gov.au
• Visit Gallipoli – www.anzacsite.gov.au

You may download Work sheets - provided in PDF file format.

The resource book and CD-ROM package contains lessons that can be used in many contexts in History and Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) classrooms. They were written by experienced history teachers with three aims in mind:

• to provide both beginning and experienced teachers with lessons using the two websites as core resources
• to invite teachers to explore more effective ways of encouraging their students to incorporate ICT skills into their classroom learning activities
• to provide exciting and original lessons that will encourage young Australians to learn more about Australia’s wartime heritage through the stories and images provided on the two websites.