War came to Sydney. Australia in the overcast evening of Sunday 31 st May 1942. Its prelude, in the early hours of the day before, had been a reconnaissance flight over the harbour by Flying Warrant Officer Susumo Ito and his observer in a Yokosuka E14Y 'Glen' floatplane launched from the Japanese submarine 1-21 lying 55 kilometres out to sea. Skimming low to allow his observer to sketch the anti-submarine boom net. Ito noted the concentration of Allied shipping in the harbour. There were several capital ships including the cruisers USS Chicago and HMAS Canberra, though not the Queen Elizabeth (Warspite) class battleship he had been given to expect. When searchlights began to probe the sky he pulled up to disappear into the 600m cloud base. Descending again, he flew over the great steel arch of the Harbour Bridge and noted the flashes of light from the welding activity at the Cockatoo Island dockyard before turning back to the east. There was little evidence that the country was on a war footing. The harbour was brightly lit and the ferries were plying their trade. Unknown to Ito. fighters had been scrambled from Richmond airbase to investigate, but they were called back when his aircraft was officially identified as 'friendly'.
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