Physical description

Ill, map, p.316.

Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

As the clock struck twelve to signal the start of 1942, Australians did not give the New Year their traditional noisy welcome. Regular events were cancelled, nightclub bookings were down and most people stayed in their blacked out homes. Clocks were put forward an hour for the start of daylight saving, as part of a war-time scheme to save power. All around the Pacific, Japan was making gains. They already occupied most of China; bombed Pearl Harbour, Guam and Wake; sunk the stars of the British naval fleet, the Prince of Wales and Repulse. They had landed in British Borneo, Hong Kong and the Philippines. This is the story of 1942, as told in first-hand accounts by the men and women in Australia and around the world.