Sam Ashman was sent flying as a bomb exploded in the galley of the USS Peary, anchored in Darwin's harbour on the morning of February 19, 1941.
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The young American, in shock, was not badly injured and, with a fellow crewmate, carefully navigated past a wall of flame, climbing up to the deck of the blazing vessel to be confronted by a scene from hell.
As he stood momentarily frozen, staring at his dead crewmates scattered around the deck and with screams of those trapped below ringing in his ears, he looked up to see the sky filled with enemy planes.
Leah Panuccio Ashman and her mother Clare spoke to the Bunbury Mail this week about their relative who stood on a burning deck on a day seared into the consciousness of Territorians.
Saturday, February 19, marks 80 years since Darwin was bombed by a force of more than 200 Japanese aircraft.
It was the first attack on Australian soil and resulted in 236 civilian and military personnel deaths.
Clare Ashman said her father-in-law Sam and his vessel were not supposed to be in Darwin on that fateful morning.
"Pop said they were to take supplies and ammunition to Timor but turned around when they were threatened with air-attack," Clare said.
The relief, sadly, of not facing a threat from the air was short-lived.
The USS Peary was one of 11 vessels sunk that fateful day and the only navy ship to sink, taking 88 of Sam's shipmates to the bottom.
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While in Fremantle, Western Australia, after the Darwin bombing, Sam met and later married Brunswick girl, Ethel Gray.
The pair lived most of their lives together in Carey Park, a suburb of Bunbury, south of Perth.
On the 50th commemoration of the bombing of Darwin, Sam Ashman, despite a debilitating illness and in a wheelchair, proudly attended a ceremony with three former shipmates at a memorial site overlooking the harbour.
It was the last post for the former navy man, who died four days later.
"We were so happy that my grandparents were able to go to Darwin for the 50th commemoration of the attack," Leah said.
"It meant so much for Sam, now at peace with his shipmates."
February 19, 2022, marks 80 years since the bombing of Darwin.
