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?