By March 1942 the Japanese military domination of South East Asia by its land, sea and air forces, had reached the Dutch East Indies (Now Indonesia). With the invasion of Java only a matter of days away, the allied command decided that the only remaining option for the Dutch nationals to escape from Java was an evacuation by air. The logical and realistic safe haven at this stage was Broome, a sleepy pearl fishing town near the top of Western Australia, a distance of 900 kilometres (9 hours) by air from Java. Unfortunately events transpired that turned this idyllic location into a tragic nightmare. On the morning of March 3rd 1942, Broome was packed with allied aircraft. Flying boats were moored overnight in Roebuck Bay, whilst bombers and transports were arriving and departing from the town airstrip. At 9.30 nine Japanese Zero A6M fighters peeled off to the attack. Some thought they were aircraft of the Australian Air Force doing a flyby. They made 3 to 4 strafing attacks with very accurate canon and machine gun fire. In no time the fuel laden flying boats were exploding in fireballs and sinking. The people inside the aircraft fortunate enough to escape the hail of gunfire, died in the burning waters as the leaking fuel and oil caught fire.
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