Broome Japanese Cemetery

Because most of the pearl divers in Broome were Japanese, their cemetery in particular bears testimony to the number of divers lost to the bends each year prior to the donation of a decompression chamber in 1913.

By 1910 Broome was the largest pearling centre in the world, benefitting from newly introduced diving suits, fertile waters and a booming international pearl button market. Among the major players were the steadily rising Japanese and Chinese pearlers.

Although Broome was a small pearling port at the time, it was also a refuelling point for aircraft, on the route between the Netherlands East Indies and major Australian cities.

The North West saw eleven air raids in 1942 and 1943, and Broome experienced the second worst air-raid on Australian soil on 3rd March 1942. Due to its proximity to Allied operations in the Pacific, the North West was of strategic importance during World War II.