A Parting Shot: Shelling of Australia by Japanese Submarines 1942

In the early hours of 8 June 1942, Japanese submarines surfaced off Sydney and Newcastle and opened fire on Australia’s east coast.

The shelling shocked civilians and military leaders alike-coming just days after the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour and earlier air raids on Darwin.

A Parting Shot tells the little-known story of these bombardments and the broader Japanese submarine campaign in Australian waters. Drawing on wartime records, civil defence documents, and newly uncovered bomb disposal reports, the authors meticulously reconstruct events in both cities-from unexploded shells to the civilian and military response.

This revised edition includes:

• Eyewitness accounts and archival photographs

• Detailed maps and projectile analysis

• Coverage of Japan’s submarine strategy across the Pacific

Why did Japan attack without invasion plans? Were the bombardments retaliatory strikes for Midway? And what became of the shells that didn’t explode?

Co-authored by Steven Carruthers and Terry Jones, A Parting Shot is a compelling account of resilience, fear, and forgotten wartime moments on Australian soil.