In March 1944, military units were placed on alert in Western Australia after Allied forces detected the movement of a powerful group of Japanese warships in the Netherlands East Indies. The main Japanese fleet had been redeployed to Singapore the previous month, and it was feared that this force could attack Western Australia. Reinforcements, including six Royal Australian Air Force flying squadrons, were dispatched to safeguard Fremantle, Perth, and other cities. Other Allied air units were held at Darwin in the Northern Territory. An air raid warning was sounded in Fremantle and Perth on 10 March, but was a false alarm. Intensive patrols by the Allied militaries did not detect any Japanese warships off Western Australia, and most units stood down on 12 March. The deployment ended on 20 March after it was concluded that an attack was unlikely. The Japanese did not attempt an attack on Western Australia, and the ships that the Allies detected were escorts for a small raiding force.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Australian_emergency_of_March_1944
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1447:
Tommaso Parentucelli was elected as Pope Nicholas V in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_V
1904:
Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Led by William Speirs Bruce, the Antarctic region of Coats Land was discovered by the Scotia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Speirs_Bruce
1988:
The Troubles: In Operation Flavius, the Special Air Service killed three volunteers of the Provisional Irish Republican Army conspiring to bomb a parade of British military bands in Gibraltar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flavius
2000:
The Marine Parade Community Building, the mural cladding of which is the largest installation art in Singapore, was opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Parade_Community_Building
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
culture vulture: (humorous) A person with a rapacious, sometimes inauthentic, interest in the arts. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/culture_vulture
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatever's lost, it first was won; We will not struggle nor impugn. Perhaps the cup was broken here, That Heaven's new wine might show more clear. I praise Thee while my days go on. --Elizabeth Barrett Browning https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Barrett_Browning
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