Emile Dechaineux

Emile Frank Verlaine Dechaineux, DSC was an Australian mariner who reached the rank of Captain in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. He was killed by a Japanese aircraft in what is believed to have been the first ever kamikaze attack, in the leadup to the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Dechaineux was born in Launceston, Tasmania, to a Belgianborn father, Florent Vincent Emile Lucien Dechaineux, and an Australian mother. He entered the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay at the age of 14, graduated three years later, and was promoted to Midshipman in 1920. In the first half of the 20th century, the RAN worked very closely with the British Royal Navy , frequently exchanging personnel. Dechaineux spent much of the 1920s training with the RN as a torpedo officer and naval air observer.

Source: Wikipedia