P00022.001 Accession Number: P00022.001
Description
Sergeant (Sgt) Hajime Toyoshima (left), the first Japanese prisoner of war (POW). Toyoshima was the pilot of a Japanese Mitsubishi Zero aircraft, A6M2 Zero, tail code BII-124, from the Japanese imperial navy aircraft carrier Hiryu, who participated in the first air raid on Darwin.
Toyoshima was disarmed and captured by Matthias Ulungura (some sources instead use the name Matthias Ngapiatulawai), an Indigenous Australian of the Tiwi Islands, who then took him to Bathurst Island and handed him over to Sgt Leslie J. Powell, 23 field company, Royal Australian Engineers. Powell used Toyoshima's service pistol to escort him into captivity. Powell had been sent to maintain demolition installations on the island and was unarmed. Toyoshima was the first Japanese prisoner of war.
Toyoshima was later to die in the breakout of Japanese prisoners from the Cowra POW camp on the night of the 4/5 August 1944. The bugle he blew to signal its start is held in the AWM collection. He posed as Tadao Minami, claiming to be a sergeant pilot flying from Ambon to Darwin, and under this name was allocated the first number (pwj 910.1) for a Japanese POW captured on Australian soil. His was the first intact zero captured by the allies.
Details
Accession Number
P00022.001
Classification
Photograph
Object Type
Print
Physical Description
Support: Paper (Fibre-based)
Date Made
27 February 1942
Place Made
Whole/Part
Whole
Item Count
1
Credit Line
Donor I Powell
Copyright
Copyright expired - public domain
Conflicts
Places
Units
Tags
In this collection:
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