Matthias Ulungura facts for kids
Matthias Ulungura (born 1921, died 1980) was an Indigenous Australian from the Tiwi Islands. He is famous for being the first Australian to capture a Japanese prisoner of war on Australian land. This happened in 1942 during World War II. Some people also knew him as Matthias Ngapiatulawai.
How Matthias Captured a Pilot
In 1942, Matthias Ulungura was living on Melville Island. He was a member of the Tiwi people. On February 19, 1942, a Japanese fighter plane was flying back from an attack. It had been damaged and crashed near Snake Bay on Melville Island.
The Japanese pilot, Hajime Toyoshima, survived the crash. But Ulungura quietly moved closer to him. He surprised the pilot with a small axe, called a tomahawk. Then he took the pilot prisoner.
Matthias Ulungura later described what happened:
I walked after him and grabbed his wrist near gun. He got proper big fright. I take revolver from his right side near his knee. Then I walk backwards pointing gun, I say "Stick 'em up, two hands, no more holding hands on head."
—Matthias Ulungura
Ulungura then took his prisoner to the RAAF guards. These guards were stationed at the aerodrome on nearby Bathurst Island. The pilot, Toyoshima, was then taken into their care.
Toyoshima first used a fake name. He also claimed he had just washed ashore. He did this to stop the guards from finding his crashed plane. But after asking more questions, the police found out his true story. They then found the plane wreckage. The wreckage was moved to Darwin. Toyoshima was taken to a prisoner of war camp.
At that time, Australian military rules did not allow Indigenous Australians to join the army. So, Ulungura could not officially enlist. However, Corporal Moore, one of the guards, asked Ulungura to be his personal helper and bodyguard.
Remembering Matthias Ulungura
In 1985, the government of the Northern Territory created a special memorial for Ulungura. This memorial was a cairn, which is a pile of stones. Important leaders attended the dedication. These included the Chief Minister Ian Tuxworth and the Opposition Leader Bob Collins.
Even though Ulungura was the first Australian to capture a Japanese prisoner of war in Australia, many people still don't know about him. Indigenous leader Mick Dodson once said that "the fact that an Aboriginal man took the first Japanese prisoner of war on Australian soil was hardly known in Australia."
To honor him, a life-sized bronze statue of Matthias Ulungura was put up on Bathurst Island in 2016.
