Allen Heckenberg was a 19-year-old ammunition loader on a three-inch anti-aircraft gun overlooking Darwin Harbour when the port was attacked by dozens of Japanese aircraft just before 10 am on February 19, 1942
As wave after wave of Zero fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers blasted a fleet of 20 or more sitting ducks in the harbour, including the American Destroyer USS Peary, Mr Heckenberg and his gun crew on Elliott Point fought furiously against the enemy swarm.
The 89-year-old from Woonona south of Sydney, will make his fourth trip back to Darwin this weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of the day he went to war with the 14th Anti-Aircraft Battery. His gun was the first to open fire after a bomb hit the Stokes Hill wharf.
(news.com.au)
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