Image of bomb disposal team

Few people are aware that Port Hedland was also bombed by the Japanese during World War 2. There were three raids and a one young serviceman was killed in the first raid on 30 July, 1942. It is believed that the Japanese were searching for the secret airbase at Corunna Downs, near Marble Bar. For years, undetonated bombs and associated debris could be found along the marshes of the northwest coast. This is a photograph taken in Port Hedland in 1942 of the special bomb disposal team, quickly assembled to locate and disarm stray bombs. It is possible that a few bombs may still lie undetected in the thick mangroves that line the bays of northern ports.