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Cushing's Coup
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, mayhem, and intrigue, and resulted directly in the spectacular U.S. victory in the Philippine Sea and MacArthur’s early return to Manila, doubtless shortening WWII by months.
One night in April 1944, Admiral Koga (successor to Yamamoto), commander-in-chief of Japanese forces in the Pacific, took off in a seaplane to establish new headquarters. For security reasons he had his chief-of-staff, Rear Admiral Fukudome, fly in a separate seaplane. But both aircraft ran into a tremendous typhoon 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, 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 to say what he had found, the Japanese scoured the entire countryside, killing hundreds of civilians in a full-scale attempt to retrieve their loss.
Cushing finally traded the admiral in return for a cessation of civilian deaths—but he still secretly retained the Japanese war plans. 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. However, in this book we finally learn of the huge intelligence coup by Lt. Col. Cushing that helped to shorten the entire war.
One night in April 1944, Admiral Koga (successor to Yamamoto), commander-in-chief of Japanese forces in the Pacific, took off in a seaplane to establish new headquarters. For security reasons he had his chief-of-staff, Rear Admiral Fukudome, fly in a separate seaplane. But both aircraft ran into a tremendous typhoon 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, 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 to say what he had found, the Japanese scoured the entire countryside, killing hundreds of civilians in a full-scale attempt to retrieve their loss.
Cushing finally traded the admiral in return for a cessation of civilian deaths—but he still secretly retained the Japanese war plans. 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. However, in this book we finally learn of the huge intelligence coup by Lt. Col. Cushing that helped to shorten the entire war.
- GenresHistory
312 pages, Hardcover
First published July 19, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 18, 2018
A well written book filled with details. Not only does it talk about the capture of the Z Plan papers from Koga's crashed airplane and the technical stuff shared between guerrillas and MacArthur in Australia, but also on the real life drama both American and Filipino resistance fighters went through during the Japanese occupation in Cebu that almost feels too adventurous to be real but is. Hide and seek guerrilla warfare, Japanese special units, jungle airstrips, Japanese spies, betrayal and submarines slipping from island to island.
I learned a whole lot and enjoyed it but I was also saddened by the terrible fact how these people are forgotten today by Filipino society in general. The author is right to share his frustration in the final pages of the book that you can no longer even find Cushing's grave in the Heroes' Cemetery in Manila. His supposed grave has been excavated among others and their bones are nowhere to be found, and "In Cebu there is no street named after James Cushing, no square, not even an apartment block." and it seems "Heroes are apparently not always remembered in a country such as the Philippines". Frustrations I sympathize tremendously as a Filipino and only too eager to share but not here.
Anyone interested in Philippine history during the Japanese occupation particularly on the perspective of guerrillas then the book is a must have and compliments greatly with the published works of Cebuano guerrilleros like Col. Manuel Segura who was frequently referred here and also worked with James Cushing during the war.
I learned a whole lot and enjoyed it but I was also saddened by the terrible fact how these people are forgotten today by Filipino society in general. The author is right to share his frustration in the final pages of the book that you can no longer even find Cushing's grave in the Heroes' Cemetery in Manila. His supposed grave has been excavated among others and their bones are nowhere to be found, and "In Cebu there is no street named after James Cushing, no square, not even an apartment block." and it seems "Heroes are apparently not always remembered in a country such as the Philippines". Frustrations I sympathize tremendously as a Filipino and only too eager to share but not here.
Anyone interested in Philippine history during the Japanese occupation particularly on the perspective of guerrillas then the book is a must have and compliments greatly with the published works of Cebuano guerrilleros like Col. Manuel Segura who was frequently referred here and also worked with James Cushing during the war.
October 16, 2015
The American capture of Japan's Plan Z has been covered in many histories of the Pacific War. This book promised to detail the capture of the plan and how it altered the course of WWII. Unfortunately, I found that it was disorganized. In hindsight, the book should have been marketed as a general history of the guerrillas in the Southern Philippines, and specifically those on Cebu with mention of the capture of Plan Z.
Following the capture of the plans, the book does detail the struggle to get them out of the country and into MacArthur's hands. What follows is then a cursory history of the battles to recapture the Philippines and the end of WWII. The book falls short in actually demonstrating how the knowledge of the plans altered American strategic planning. The reader is left to assume that the author's telling of the Battles of the Philippine Sea were a result of the gathered intelligence.
Technically a good telling of the Pacific War in the Southern Philippines but fell short of my expectations.
Following the capture of the plans, the book does detail the struggle to get them out of the country and into MacArthur's hands. What follows is then a cursory history of the battles to recapture the Philippines and the end of WWII. The book falls short in actually demonstrating how the knowledge of the plans altered American strategic planning. The reader is left to assume that the author's telling of the Battles of the Philippine Sea were a result of the gathered intelligence.
Technically a good telling of the Pacific War in the Southern Philippines but fell short of my expectations.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews