74th anniversary of Darwin bombing marked

Darwin has paused to remember the day war came to Australian soil.

Seventy-four years ago, 188 Japanese planes bombed Darwin in two air raids, drawing the top end of Australia into World War II

Two veterans of the raids were present along with about 40 other war veterans when the anniversary of the bombing was commemorated on Friday.

Chief Minister Adam Giles said Darwin in 1942 "was not the confident and prosperous business capital of northern Australia it is today; it was a small, largely defenceless town alone in the eye of the storm."

On Friday, World War II vintage aircraft circled high above Darwin, and howitzers and machine guns were fired in a symbolic re-enactment of the February morning when Japanese bombers flew over the small top end town, killing at least 243 people and injuring up to 400 others.

Twenty military aircraft were destroyed, eight ships at anchor in the harbour were sunk, and most civil and military facilities in Darwin were demolished.

It was only declared a national day of observance four years ago, and Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim said many Australians are still unaware that the city was bombed 62 times over 18 months until November 1943.

Remembering the attacks was a way to pass on the story to a new generation, she told several hundred people gathered for the ceremony.

"It is my hope that our young people will value and learn from our history so we can use this knowledge to build a peaceful future," she said.

Allan Rice, 92, was sent by the army to Darwin as a lance corporal in the weeks following the attack and experienced several Japanese air raids over the following year: once when he was tangled up in a nylon mosquito net in his tent, unable to run as percussion bombs dropped only a few yards away, and again while having his teeth drilled in the dentist's chair in a rural surgery.

But he said he wasn't afraid.

"You don't get frightened, you just accept what comes," he told AAP.

"I prayed a little bit, I'll say that. When I heard the bombs coming down, I gave a little prayer."