Western Australian emergency of March 1944

Western Australian emergency of March 1944
Part of the Pacific War
One of the anti-aircraft guns assigned to the defence of Fremantle during a training exercise in November 1943
Objective	Reinforcement of Western Australia in response to a feared Japanese attack
Date	6–20 March 1944
Outcome	No attack eventuated, all units involved returned to their normal dispositions

In early to mid-March 1944 the Allies rapidly reinforced the military forces located in the state of Western Australia to defend against the possibility that a force of Japanese warships would attempt to attack the cities of Fremantle and Perth. This redeployment began on 8 March after concerns were raised about the purpose of Japanese warship movements near the Netherlands East Indies, and concluded on the 20th of the month when it was concluded that no attack was likely to occur.

In February 1944, the Japanese Combined Fleet, the Imperial Japanese Navy's main striking force, withdrew from its base at Truk in the Central Pacific to Palau and Singapore. The appearance of a powerful naval force at Singapore concerned the Allies, as it was feared that these ships could potentially conduct raids in the Indian Ocean and against Western Australia. In response, the Allies strengthened their naval forces in the central Indian Ocean by transferring two British light cruisers from the Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as several US Navy warships from the Pacific to the British Eastern Fleet. The number of air units in Ceylon and the Bay of Bengal region was also increased.

General Douglas MacArthur's General Headquarters assessed in February that the Combined Fleet could potentially attack the Western Australian port of Fremantle. It was thought that the purpose of any such raid would be to divert Allied forces away from the offensives they were preparing to launch in the Pacific. While MacArthur did not move any additional forces to Western Australia at this time, he developed plans to reinforce the area if necessary. It was believed that land-based aircraft would be sufficient to counter any attacks on Fremantle, and on 28 February General Headquarters directed General George Kenney, the commander of the Allied Air Forces, to prepare to: