Sydney Under Attack: Japanese Midget Submarine 31 May – 1 June 1942

Remembering 1942 - awm.gov.au
Sydney Under Attack: Japanese Midget Submarine 31 May – 1 June 1942
Presented by Dr Robert Nichols, the Memorial's Editor, on Friday, 31 May 2002, beside the Japanese midget submarine in ANZAC Hall.

A general observation: All historical events have a cause, but definitive explanations are hard to come by.
Things such as why Chuma got tangled up, or why Ban missed, or what Muirhead-Gould's motivation was we will never know for sure – though we can make reasonable conjectures. But even our best explanations will ever be tentative, though none the less fascinating to pursue. We should not expect simple explanations: sometimes there will be many reasons why something happened, as may be the case with why Ban missed. But one thing is clear: had he not, hundreds more might have died. The Chicago's full complement was around 750, many of whom would probably have been on board that night.
What is known for certain, however, is that sixty years ago tonight, 27 lives were lost on Sydney Harbour.