"There were only two military casualties sustained. Two soldiers were running across the open ground of Parnell Place towards the Fort. Stan Newton was wounded by shrapnel but recovered and Bruce Williams, knocked down by the blast, was severely gravel-rashed on the recently laid blue-metalled roadway.' On this day, a few hours before dawn, it was the first and only time that heavy guns at Fort Scratchley and elsewhere in Newcastle were fired at hostile vessels from Australia's defences on the coast of New South Wales."
"At about 2.15 am on 8 June 1942, Japanese submarine I-21 under the command of Captain Kanji Matsumura, shelled Newcastle in New South Wales. I-21 had travelled across Stockton Bight and positioned itself about 9 kms north east of Newcastle. I-21 travelled eastwards firing almost directly across the stern of the submarine. Their orders were to shell the Newcastle shipyards.
The Japanese gun crew broke out 20 shells from the ready locker. They also brought up another 14 rounds from the armoury below decks. 8 of the shells were "illuminators" or "star shells". All 34 shells were fired at Newcastle. After 13 minutes of firing, the guns at Fort Scratchley returned fire with 4 rounds. I-21 continued firing for another 3 minutes until all 34 shells had been fired.
The shelling caused minimal damage and no casualties."
