Cushing's Coup: The True Story of How Lt. Col. James Cushing and His Filipino Guerrillas Captured Japan's Plan Z and Changed the Course of the Pacific War

by Dirk Jan Barreveld

The little-known story of one of the most important intelligence triumphs of World War II, and "a record of the heroism of a forgotten man" (Naval Historical Foundation).

This is the story of 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 that resulted directly in the spectacular US victory in the Philippine Sea and MacArthur's early return to Manila, doubtless shortening WWII by months.

One night in April 1944, Adm. Koga, 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 Adm. Fukudome, fly separately. But both aircraft ran into a typhoon and were knocked out of the skies. Koga did not survive. Fukudome's plane crash-landed into the sea off Cebu, the Philippines, and both the admiral and the precious 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 Fukudome and Plan Z. The result was a ferocious cat-and-mouse game between Cushing's guerrillas and the Japanese occupation forces. While Cushing desperately sent messages to MacArthur to say what he'd found, the Japanese scoured the countryside, killing hundreds of civilians in an attempt to retrieve it.

Cushing finally traded the admiral for a cessation of civilian deaths--but secretly retained the Japanese war plans. Naturally, both Tokyo and Washington tried to cover up what was happening--neither wanted the other to know what they'd lost or what they'd found. Now, in this book, we finally learn of the intelligence coup by Lt. Col. Cushing that helped shorten the war.

"Every once in a while there is a book about a forgotten or neglected aspect of World War II history that makes a reader wonder why this story has not been turned into a movie. Cushing's Coup is one of those books." --Naval Historical Foundation

Genres: History

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 19, 2015

Reviews

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.