Hajime Toyoshima | |
|---|---|
 Hajime Toyoshima | |
| Born | March 29, 1920 Kagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | August 5, 1944 (aged 24) Cowra, New South Wales, Australia |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service/ |  Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Years of service | 1938–44 |
| Rank | Petty Officer |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Petty Officer Hajime Toyoshima (豊嶋一, Toyoshima Hajime, 29 March 1920 – 5 August 1944)[1] was a Japanese airman in World War II. His A6M Zero was the first of that type to be recovered relatively intact on Allied territory (after those recovered after the attack on Pearl Harbor) when he crash landed on Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia.
Toyoshima was the first Japanese prisoner of war to be captured in Australia. In August 1944, while a POW in rural New South Wales, Toyoshima was one of the instigators of the Cowra breakout, sounding a bugle to signal the commencement of the escape, and died during the fight.
- ^ Steven Bullard; Keiko Tamura. "Blankets on the wire The Cowra breakout and its aftermath" (PDF) (in English and Japanese). Australian War Memorial Australia-Japan Research Project. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
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