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Scorched Earth

Hidden for 75 years, the top secret government documents outlining preparations for the event of a Japanese invasion of Australia in 1942 have finally been discovered. They reveal an extraordinarily comprehensive plan to thwart Japanese troops, and a population that would go to great lengths to avoid being enslaved.

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Scorched Earth - lead article
Scorched Earth - lead article

In 1942 the threat of Japanese invasion hung over Australia. The men were away overseas, fighting on other fronts, and civilians were left unprotected at home.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese advance south, Prime Minister Curtin ordered state governments to prepare. From January 1942, a team frantically pulled together secret plans for a 'scorched earth' strategy. The goal was to prevent the Japanese from seizing resources for their war machine as they landed, and capturing Australians as slaves as they had done in Malaya and elsewhere in Asia.

From draining domestic water tanks to sinking dinghies and burning crops, from training special citizen squads to evacuating coastal towns, 'Total war, total citizen collaboration' was the motto. Today these plans vividly evoke the fraught atmosphere of the year Australia was threatened with invasion.

After the war these top secret plans were forgotten. This is the first time they have ever been made public.


“This is a treasure trove, a gold mine, a Christmas-every-day cornucopia of rich Australian history, particularly Second World War history. Arguments over the "Brisbane Line"  are settled here. Now we have the detailed plans for the "scorched earth"tactic that might follow a Japanese invasion of Australia. We know that Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra were to be defended at all costs: too bad if you lived in Darwin, Perth, Adelaide or Hobart, still worse if you lived in Alice Springs or Townsville. Outside the big four cities, Australians could expect evacuation if all else looked like failing. The detail is mind-boggling: how to sabotage water supplies; how to wreck a car; a safe walking route from Grafton to Glen Innes; how to "trip: a tank with a crowbar. Read and wonder!”

— Peter Grose, author of An Awkward Truth and A Very Rude Awakening

 

 

VIEW SECRET DOCUMENTS

These once classified "Scorched Earth" documents are not included in the published book! See first hand correspondence between the NSW Premier's Department and stakeholders initiating the "Scorched Earth" project, as well as other associated plans and reports discovered by Sue Rosen.

The Scorched Earth Committee Report

Swain's Acceptance Scorched Earth Project - NSW Premier's Department

Secret Document - Denial of Resources to the Enemy

Governor General - National Security Regulations Amendment March 1942

Demolition Methods

Demolition - Works General (includes secret correspondence from Prime Minister to Qld Premier)

Scorched Earth - as applied to Queensland

Minerals and Metals - Scorched Earth Policy - North Australia

ESCAPE FROM WOLLONGONG!

Scorched Earth” Military Map showing preparedness for attack and escape south of Sydney!

Download full map (103Mb zip archive) – click here

Australian Historical Studies Journal review of Scorched Earth

Dr Andrew Richardson's review of Scorched Earth was published in the May 2018 issue of the Australian Historical Studies journal. Dr. Richardson is Historian at the Australian Army History Unit, Department of Defence, Canberra. While the views expressed are his own, it is a robust and even-handed review of the publication by a specialist military historian.  "...the…

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WW II Experiences

The night the Jap subs bombed Sydney Harbour I remember waking up with my Mum beside my bed, dragging on her dressing gown. I said, what’s the matter? Can’t you hear the siren? she said. So then I hopped out of bed and Mum, Dad and I did what the…

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Australia's secret plan for total war under Japanese invasion in World War II

Scorched Earth in the media The Australian - Inquirer - Saturday May 20, 2017 - click here The Australian - National Affairs - Saturday May 20, 2017 - click here Wartime plans to defend Sydney at all costs have been discovered - Channel 7 - Saturday May 20, 2017 -…

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