1942 in Australia

Infobox Australian year
monarch = George VI
governor-general = Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie
pm =John Curtin
population = 7,180,736
australian =
elections ="See also:"
1941 in Australia,
other events of 1942,
1943 in Australia and the
Timeline of Australian history.

Incumbents

*Monarch – King George VI
*Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Baron Gowrie
*Prime Minister – John Curtin

tate Premiers

*Premier of New South Wales – William McKell
*Premier of Queensland – William Forgan Smith (until September 16), then Frank Cooper
*Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford
*Premier of Tasmania – Robert Cosgrove
*Premier of Victoria – Albert Dunstan
*Premier of Western Australia – John Willcock

tate Governors

*Governor of New South Wales – John Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst
*Governor of Queensland – Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
*Governor of South Australia – Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey
*Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ernest Clark
*Governor of Victoria – Sir Winston Dugan
*Governor of Western Australia – "none appointed"

Events

*February 15 – Singapore falls to the Japanese, with approximately 15,000 Australian troops taken prisoner.
*February 19 – Darwin is bombed by Japanese forces for the first time. At least 243 persons are killed.
*March 1 – The cruiser HMAS "Perth" is torpedoed by Japanese destroyers in the Battle of Sunda Strait, sinking with the loss of 350 crew and three civilians.
*March 20 – At Terowie, South Australia, American General Douglas MacArthur makes his famous speech which included the words "I came out of Bataan and I shall return."
*May 4 – The Battle of the Coral Sea begins.
*May 19 – The prototype CAC Boomerang, an Australian designed and built fighter aircraft, takes to the air for the first time.
*May 22 – American soldier Eddie Leonski is arrested and charged for the "Brownout Murders" of three women.
*May 31 – During an attack on Sydney Harbour, a Japanese midget submarine sinks the converted Sydney ferry, HMAS "Kuttabul", killing 21.
*June 7 – The Income Tax (War-time Arrangements) Act 1942 is enacted, transferring the power to levy personal income tax from the states to the federal government.
*June 8 – Japanese midget submarines shell Sydney and Newcastle.
*July 6 – Elements of the Australian 9th Division arrive in El Alamein. The Division subsequently takes part in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein.
*October 30 – Construction begins on the Burma Railway, begun by 15,000 Australian prisoners-of-war captured by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore.
*November 26 – A violent brawl breaks out in Brisbane between United States military personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians, in what becomes known as the "Battle of Brisbane". One Australian soldier is shot dead.
*December 1 – HMAS "Armidale", a corvette of the Royal Australian Navy, is sunk with the loss of 100 men.

cience & Technology

Arts and literature

*The Pea-Pickers by Eve Langley is first published
* William Dargie wins the Archibald Prize with his portrait of James Heather Gordon VC

Film

port

* "Colonus" wins the Melbourne Cup

Births

* January 17 – Ita Buttrose, journalist
* February 19 – David Williamson, playwright
* February 24 – Colin Bond, racing driver
* March 13 – George Negus, journalist
* May 13 – Richard Butler, diplomat and Governor of Tasmania (2003–2004)
* May 15 – Doug Lowe, Premier of Tasmania (1977–1981)
* May 16 – Margaret Court, tennis player
* May 21 – John Konrads, swimmer
* June 2 – Mike Ahern, Premier of Queensland (1987–1989)
* June 30 – Gerry Hand, politician
* July 2 – John Farrington, long-distance runner
* July 7 – Carmen Duncan, actress
* July 23 – Sallyanne Atkinson, Lord Mayor of Brisbane
* July 25 – Bruce Woodley, musician
* October 19 – Bronwyn Bishop, politician
* November 17 – Derek Clayton, long-distance runner
* December 23 – Quentin Bryce, Governor of Queensland (2003–2008), Governor-General designate

Deaths

* April 27 - Julian Ashton (b. 1851), painter
* September 3 - Mungo MacCallum - (b. 1854), scholar

ee also

*1942
*1940s