Bruce Lee - Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes

Marching Orders

The Untold True Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

Bruce Lee

This book is dedicated to

Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who had the courage to decide for himself that the proximate cause for the disaster of Pearl Harbor was the failure of the military intelligence system of the time, and the strength to change the Armys program for analyzing signals intelligence

To

Alfred McCormack, a civilian who did a Generals duty by creating the Magic Summaries, which helped guide Americas strategy in Europe and the Pacific theaters throughout the course of the war.

To

George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, who so wisely used the Magic Summaries to achieve victory.

To

the men and women of Arlington Hall who broke the Axis ciphers; they shortened WWII by nearly two years and prevented more than fifteen million casualties.

PREFACE

Marching Orders is a unique book whose controversial conclusions have been tested by time and confirmed by subsequent revelations and publications.

There was one question, however, that the first edition did not address. This is: Just how can you quantify the value to the Allies of their breaking the Ultra/Magic codes of Germany and Japan, and how much did this affect the Second World War as a whole?

No straightforward answer can be found in old documentary records. Many military leaders of the time, such as Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, never referred to their use of the Ultra/Magic decrypts in their public statements after the war. Marching Orders explains this phenomenon. But there are answers.

One must remember that an original document can vary from the accounts published in peoples memoirs or so-called history books. And it is amazing how an original document can refresh a persons recall and portrayal of past events. Marching Orders is the result of more than thirty years of research. Unless noted as being an interview, all the statements made in this book are based on an original document which, I believe, must be considered to be the ruling source. If there are errors of fact in this work, they are my own, for failing to quote a document correctly.

While doing my research over the years, I studied more than 1.5 million pages of US Army records. These included, amongst others, the Operations Department Cable Files of communications between Generals Marshall and Eisenhower throughout the entire war, the personal files of General W. B. Smith, all of the ABC files, the Eclipse files, the files of the Military Mission Moscow (Deane), the Post Overlord files, the SHAEF Joint Intelligence Committee files, the files of the 12th Army Group downward to the squad level and their after-action reports, the entire OKW West collection, the original interrogations of the men and women in Hitlers Berlin bunker conducted by Hugh Trevor Roper, the complete SRH files, the SRDJ files, the SRGL files, the SRIA files, the SRMD files, the SRA files, the SRDG files, the SRS files, plus my purchasing 14,946 pages of the Magic Summaries from the National Archives (the SRS Diplomatic Magic Summaries, from 20 March 1942 through 03 November 1945 in boxes numbered from SRS828 through SRS1837). I also conducted some 200 interviews to obtain personal information or to refresh memories.

During my research I found only one official reference of the value of the Magic/Ultra decrypts. This was the US Armys own secret report about using the information gleaned from the Ultra/Magic radio intercepts to prepare the daily The paper claims that when the Pentagons European Order of Battle Section brought items directly to Marshalls attention, it has been estimated that 35 percent were taken from Ultra/Magic traffic. Yet another 32 percent of information received from other intelligence sources was corroborated by Ultra/Magic sources. The remaining 32 percent of the information adjudged to be accurate came from operational cables from various Allied commands abroad. In summation then: The ability of the British and the Americans to break the enemys Ultra/Magic radio traffic provided Marshall with information about the strategic intentions and the disposition of the Axis forces in Europe that was believed to be 67 percent correct. This is probably the greatest intelligence success in military history.

Now, lets estimate the value of the Ultra/Magic decrypts in monetary terms. What was the Ultra/Magic code breaking worth to the overall war effort? According to Henry C. Clausen, who was Secretary of War Stimsons personal investigator into the proximate causes of the Pearl Harbor disaster: The paltry sum that Washington spent prior to 1941 to create the machine that broke the Japanese Magic ciphers produced the best return on investment in American military history.

Now, lets estimate the contribution that breaking the Ultra/Magic codes made to Allied military effectiveness. Prime Minister Churchill said the results were worth many, many more divisions. Admiral Chester Nimitz rated the value of breaking Magic as the equivalent of another whole Pacific Fleet. And General Thomas Handy, Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army during the entire war, claimed that it shortened the course of the war in Europe by a full year.

Comments such as those above have helped this book score a number of notable firsts. Among them are: (1) This is the only book that collates and compares the actual orders issued by General Marshall with the information he received from the Magic Summaries on a daily basis during the warand, later, into the early months of Americas occupation of Japan. (2) It is the first book to point out that Generals Eisenhower and Bradley, and Field Marshall Montgomery, benefited prior to the invasion of Europe by knowing that (a) Hitler had swallowed the Allied deception plans about where they would land in Europe; (b) the Allied leaders knew the disposition of the German forces defending the beaches; (c) the Allies also knew why Hitler would not release reserve forces to defend against the Allied invasion. This gave the Allied generals the confidence to endure terrible casualties, plus the fortitude to keep committing troops even when the success of the invasion was in doubt.

Marching Orders is also the first book to explain the political and military considerations that led General Marshall to order Supreme Commander Eisenhower to halt on the Elbe River and let the Russians capture Berlin. And it is the first book to show how the use of Ultra/Magic intercepts, especially the diplomatic traffic between Tokyo and Moscow, helped the Allies reach the tragic decision to use atomic weapons on Japan and end the war in a quick and decisive manner.

Let us examine the statement by General Handy that I quoted earlier. As Marshalls right-hand man, Handy witnessed what went on in Marshalls office, especially the use of Magic/Ultra. Thus, Handy is an impeccable source. However, not until the year 2000 did the British address the subject. Handy said it shortened the course of the war by one year. Today, British intelligence experts claim that the Allied breaking of Ultra/Magic shortened the course of the war by two years!

One of the sources for this estimate is Dr. David Rees, emeritus professor of mathematics at Exeter University. He claims that the new code-breaking technology of 1944, as developed by the British in the form of a computer named Colossus II, confirmed that Hitler had swallowed the Allies deception campaigns over where the invasion force would be landed, giving the Allies the confidence to go ahead with the invasion of Europe.