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Broome (122.207E 17.996S) is a small port on the northwest coast of Australia with a prewar population of about 1700, many of whom fled after war broke out in the Pacific. In 1941, its principal industry was pearling and it had a significant Japanese community. The harbor area was about a square mile (2.6 km2) with a single pier extending half a mile (0.8 km) from the high water mark, but the large tidal range (29' or 9 m) left most of the harbor exposed and reduced its value as a deep water port. There was a single civilian lighter for refueling seaplanes and a nearby airstrip. The town has a definite monsoon, and tropical cyclones are possible during the wet season (October to March).
Broome was raided by Nagumo's strike force in March 1942 at the same time as Darwin. At the time, the town was teeming with refugees from the Netherlands East Indies, and the raid inflicted heavy casualties, destroying 23 aircraft at the airstrip and in the harbor and killing or wounding 140 persons at the cost of a single Zero. The town otherwise played little role in the war.
References
"Broome History" (accessed 2008-1-19)
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