The Impossible Japanese Invasion

On the 8th of December 1941, Australia declared war on Japan. Just over two months later, Japanese planes appeared over Darwin and rained hell on our northernmost city.But was it a prelude to an invasion, or something else?Inspired by a recent conference paper, Juliana takes a break from Eureka to explore the popular belief that Australia narrowly escaped a Japanese invasion in 1941 and '42, and considers why this idea has become so embedded in the Australian psyche. After all, the Japanese weren't really coming... were they?