"In the course of my research I had seen some vague mentions
of Nazi intercepts of US-UK transatlantic broadcasts. Then I
found the following book, too late for our Complaint but it may
be helpful later on. It's called GESTAPO CHIEF: THE 1948 INTERROGATION
OF HEINRICH MULLER, by Gregory Douglas, published in 1995. The
Nazis only succeeded in breaking the transatlantic code in September
1941, and thus missed the summer period which we argued, in our
Complaint in the Achenbach case, was critical. Nevertheless,
there is a very important transcript of the Roosevelt-Churchill
[FDR-WC] phone conversation of November
26, 1941. Here are some excerpts:"
(1) In discussing Japanese naval movements from Hittukapp
Bay in the Kuriles, both FDR and WC were aware of them, but FDR
said they were moving south. No, said WC:
WC: Franklin, it is headed East.
FDR: Surely you must be ... will you repeat that please?
WC: I said to the East. This force is sailing to the East...towards
you.
FDR: Perhaps they set an easterly course to fool any observers
and then plan to swing South to support the landings in the southern
area. I have ...
WC: No, at this moment, their forces are moving across the
northern Pacific and I can assure you that their goal is in the
(conversation broken) fleet in Hawaii. At Pearl Harbor.
FDR: This is monstrous. Can you tell me ... indicate ... the
nature of your intelligence? Without compromising your sources...
WC: Yes, I will have to be careful. Our agents in Japan have
been reporting on the gradual (conversation broken) units. And
these have disappeared from Japanese home waters. We also have
highly reliable sources in the Japanese foreign service and even
in the military.
****
FDR: The obvious implication is that the Japs are going to
do a Port Arthur on us at Pearl Harbor. Do you concur? [Editor's Note: Japan attacked Port Arthur,
destroying the Russian fleet in a "sneak attack."]
WC: I do indeed. Unless they add an attack on the Panama Canal
to this vile business. I can hardly envision the canal as a primary
goal, especially with your fleet lying athwart their lines of
communication with Japan. No, if they do strike the canal, they
will have to first neutralize your fleet.
FDR: The worst form of treachery. We can prepare our defenses
on the islands and give them a warm welcome when they come. It
certainly would put some iron up Congress's ass.
****
FDR: I think torpedoes would be ruled out at the outset. Pearl
is far too shallow to permit a successful torpedo attack. ..
What do your people give you as the actual date of the attack?
WC: The actual date given is the eighth of December. That's
a Monday. [Editor's note: Churchill
and the British got this wrong; they didn't realize that on the
8th in Japan, it was the 7th in Hawaii.]
****
FDR: But Monday seems odd. Are you certain?
WC: It is in the calendar. Monday is the eighth.
FDR ... then I will have to consider the entire problem. A
Japanese attack on us, which would result in war between us ...
and certainly you as well ... would certainly fulfill two of
the most important requirements of our policy. Harry [Hopkins]
has told me repeatedly ... that Stalin is desperate at this point.
The Nazis are at the gates of Moscow, his armies are melting
away.... there's no saying what could transpire if the Japs suddenly
fell on Stalin's rear. In spite of all the agreements between
them and the Japs dropping Matsuoka, there is still strong anti-Russian
sentiment in high Japanese military circles.
****
FDR: ... not as capable as you are at translating their
messages and the army and navy are very jealous of each other.
There is so much coming in that everyone is confused. We have
no agents in place in Japan [a lie-
the USA had OSS operatives in place] and every day
dozens of messages are (conversation broken) that contradict
each other or are not well translated. I have seen three translations
of the same message with three entirely different meanings. (conversation
broken) address your concern about British holdings in the Pacific....
if the Japanese do attack both of us, eventually we will be able
to crush them and regain all of the lost territories. As for
myself, I will be damned glad to be rid of the Philippines. |