Cushing's Coup by Dirk Jan Barreveld
Cushing's Coup by Dirk Jan Barreveld
This work reveals one of the most important intelligence triumphs of World War II. It was no less than the capture of Japan's "Plan Z" -- the Empire's fully detailed strategy for prosecuting the last stages of the Pacific War. It's a story of happenstance, mahem, and intrigue, and resulted directly in the spectacular U.S. victory at the Philippine Sea and MacArthur's early return to Manila, doubtless shortening World War II by months.
One night in April 1944, Admiral Koga (successor to Adm. Yamamoto), Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Fleet, took off in a seaplane to establish new headquarters. For security reasons he had his chief-of-staff, Read Admiral Fukudome, fly in a separate seaplane. But both aircraft ran into a weather front and were knocked out of the skies. Koga's plane crashed with the loss of all hands. Fukudome's crashlanded into the sea off Cebu, a central island of the Philippines, and both the admiral and the precious Japanese war plans floated ashore.
Lt. Col. James M. Cushing was an American mining engiNeer who happened to be in Cebu when war broke out in the Pacific. He soon took charge of the local guerrillas and became a legendary leader. But his most spectacular exploit came when he captured Admiral Fukudome and the "Plan Z" that was in his tow. The result was a ferocious cat-and-mouse game between Cushing's guerrillas and the Japanese occupation forces. While Cushing desperately sent out messages to MacArthur saying what he had found, the Japanese scoured the countryside, killing hundreds of civilians in a full-scale attempt to retrieve their loss.
Cushing finally traded the admiral in return for a stop to the civilian deaths -- but he still secretly retained the Japanese planning documents. Naturally both Tokyo and Washington tried to cover up what was happening at the time -- neither wanted the other to know what they'd lost, or what they'd found. For a crucial period Lt. Col. Cushing was left alone, for his own devices, with a huge intelligence coup that could shorten the entire war.
This is a story of intrigue, betrayals, and combat desperation on both sides, as the Japanese were never quite sure if their "Plan Z" documents had fallen into American hands. MacArthur's HQ was meantime furious at Cushing for giving back his prisoners. It was only when an American submarine arrived to spirit off the captured "Plan Z" that a host of U.S. translators and intelligence analysts descended on the documents to reveal Japan's entire war plan.
The battles that followed became one-sided U.S. victories, including the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," creating heroes by the score. But until now the behind-the-scenes role of Lt. Col. Jim Cushing, perhaps the greatest hero of them all, has remained untold.
Casemate, Hardcover, 2015
THIS IS A BRAND NEW BOOK.