Japan's entry into WWII 75 Years Ago

[Dave Homewood]

75 Years Ago Today the Japanese empire launched large scale attacks against the Allies and on neutral countries including the USA. The attacked began with landings in northern Malaya and Thailand, followed by air attacks on the US Navy bases in Hawaii, the British Empire's bases in Singapore, and US bases in the Philippines and Guam.

Despite what the media continues to tell people about this being a "surprise attack", it was by no means unexpected. Speculation was rife for weeks in the newspapers as talks between Japan and the US and Britain continued to disintegrate into less and less positive tones. Predictions of war were being made in even the New Zealand newspapers, as were even predictions that the Japanese fleet would attack the US Navy in Hawaii.

Relations were soured due to heavy trade sanctions enforced on Japan due to their actions in China. The natural reaction for Japan was to strike back.

New Zealand had been at war with Germany since the 3rd of September 1939, standing alongside our Allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada, India and others into the fight against Hitler's Nazi regime. On the 11th of June 1940 New Zealand had also declared war on Italy after it had sided with Germany.

Since 1939 New Zealand had been training and sending thousands of men and hundreds of women to Europe and the Middle East to join the fight. Through those first two years of war New Zealand had been supplied men to the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. New Zealand's Army had also sent the Second Division of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force to Egypt. They were the greatest army unit ever formed by this country and would form a vital part of the Allied effort in North Africa, the Middle East and in Italy during the war.

At home New Zealand was supplying thousands of tons of essential goods and foodstuffs to Britain, as part of the Allied lifeline that was helping to keep Britain in the war. Because of the supply of men and essential goods, the Germans had brought the war into the Pacific in mid-1940. The RNZAF and RNZN had been chasing German Navy raiding vessels that had been sinking Allied merchant vessels in our waters for many months. They did so in obsolete biplanes and with a very small fleet of naval vessels, without any real effect against the Nazi raiders.

For home defence by December 1941 the RNZAF had three squadrons of reconnaissance bombers, two of them with Hudsons and the third flying Vickers Vincents. The Navy remained tiny and the Army manned the coastal batteries and patrolled the shores alongside the 100,000 strong volunteer force, the Home Guard.

Following a day long meeting by the New Zealand War Cabinet, the New Zealand's Prime Minister Peter Fraser announced that the Government had declared war on Finland, Rumania and Hungary at one minute past noon on Sunday December 7th. These three nations were all involved in military operations against Russia, one of our Allies. Britain had told all three countries that if they did not cease the operations and begin withdrawal by December 5th then war would be imminent. The deadline passed and at one minute after midnight on Saturday the 6th of December, 1941 Britain declared war with the three Axis countries. New Zealand naturally followed suit, as did other Allied nations.

Next morning the Japanese entered WWII by attacking and conducting a seaborne invasion of northern Malaya and Thailand early on Monday the 8th of December 1941, NZ time. This was later followed by the air attack by the Japanese fleet on the US Navy fleet bases at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, in Hawaii, plus air attacks on the British bases in Singapore and US bases in Guam and the Philippines.
At the time the attacks began Prime Minister Peter Fraser was on the East Coast of the North Island, travelling en route to the Bay of Plenty where a tour of constituents was to take place for an upcoming bi-election. Somehow word got to him and he immediately abandoned his plans and headed for an airport to catch a plane back to Wellington.

Another War Cabinet member, the Hon. Adam Hamilton, was in the South Island at the time and also immediately flew back to Wellington.
Meanwhile in Wellington the rest of the War Cabinet met without Fraser and Hamilton, who were still en route. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Walter Nash, who was also Minister of Finance. Their meeting began at 9.00am, as the War Cabinet meeting did every day, but this one went extra long as they met with military commanders and put all the emergency plans into place. They did not conclude the meeting till 1.20pm on Monday afternoon. It was later announced that war was officially declared against Japan during the meeting.

The leader of the opposition National Party, the Hon. Sidney Holland, was part of the War Cabinet. He had been planning to go to Britain shortly but he immediately cancelled those plans. He also called for political differences with the bi-election and other issues to be put aside and forgotten so the politicians from both sides of the House could all work together in this crisis. He asked the Prime Minister to recall Parliament – the members of which were on the summer break at the time – and he requested a National Emergency Government be formed.

The Chief of Air Staff of the RNZAF, Air Commodore Hugh Saunders, and his successor that was soon to step into his job, Air Commodore Victor Goddard, had been inspecting RNZAF stations in Christchurch when they heard the news. They too immediately flew back to Wellington to begin planning for this new war.

The Governor General Sir Cyril Newall also cut short a tour of Southland and flew back to Wellington.
The War Cabinet, now with all members present, met again at 7.30pm on the 8th of December, and they sat till 10.15pm, at which time the Prime Minister left for Government House to consult with the Governor General.

The War Cabinet had also ensured a guard was put on the Japanese Consulate in Wellington to protect it in case of reactionary actions.

Meanwhile looking at the strength of the RNZAF on the day of the attack. The RNZAF had approximately 17,913 RNZAF Personnel on strength
This number was ade up of 1582 Officers, 15,062 airmen and 1269 women serving in the WAAF.
- 10, 577 of these personnel were stationed within New Zealand
- 1128 were in Canada attached to the RCAF under the EATS
- 3615 were attached to the Royal Air Force
- 593 were serving in the Pacific (mainly in Fiji)

The RNZAF had 643 aircraft on strength on the 8th of Dec 1941
These included:
- 36 Lockheed Hudsons
- 48 Vickers Vincents
- 26 Vickers Vildebeests - 74
- 4 Short Singapore III Flying Boats
- 46 Hawker Hinds in training and Army Co-operation roles
- 30 Fairey Gordons in training roles
- 62 North American Harvard II trainers
- 143 Airspeed Oxford I and II trainers
- 221 De Havilland DH82A trainers

Whilst these days the emphasis of remembrance of this day's events are always heavily placed on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, for New Zealand it was possibly more significant that Singapore had been attacked. It was the British and Allied linchpin for defence, and accordingly many Kiwis were serving there with the RAF, the RAAF, the RNZAF and the RNZN, as well as a good number of New Zealanders working for the Civil Service administration in Singapore.

Most significant for the RNZAF was its only Fighter squadron, No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, was based in Singapore, where they were recently arrived and adjusting to their RAF-supplied Brewster Buffalo fighters.
Also in Malaya was the RNZAF's Aerodrome Construction Squadron.

In Fiji there was one RNZAF squadron, No. 4 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron flying a mix of DH86 Express and DH89 Dragon Rapide airliners converted to reconnaissance bombers, plus Vickers Vincents. On the 9th of December five Hudsons with aircrews and groundcrews were sent up to Fiji to join this unit, although one had to turn back. But subsequently more joined that unit till it was built up and fully equipped with Hudsons.

Also in Fiji on the day of the attack were two Short Singapores, with two more to arrive on the 18th of December 1941, and on that day they became No. 5 (GR) Squadron. The Vincents of No. 4 (GR) Squadron would later transfer to this unit too after they were replaced by the Hudsons. These aeroplanes formed the absolute defence of Fiji and Tonga against Japanese attack for a long time till US air forces eventually arrived there.

Later the RNZAF built up considerably, with many new stations and airfields being built, a huge recruiting drive, and large numbers of Lend Lease aircraft coming on strength. By mid-1942 there would be seven General Reconnaissance bomber squadrons, and by late 1942 six fighter squadrons. The GR squadrons took the offensive in the Pacific from October 1943 and the fighter squadrons joined the fight in early 1943. The GR Squadrons were renamed Bomber Reconnaissance squadrons in 1943 and from October that year Venturas began replacing the Hudsons in the front lines.

The RNZAF also formed a dive bomber squadron with Douglas Dauntless bombers, and two medium bomber squadrons with Grumman Avengers in 1943-44. Three transport squadrons were also formed, two with Lodestars and Dakotas and the third flew an assortment of types. Two flying boat squadrons with Catalinas patrolled the Pacific too and a flying boat transport unit formed with Sunderlands in 1944. When the Corsairs came into service in 1944 the RNZAF built up an operational strength of twelve squadrons that took the attack to Japan.
All these RNZAF units did an amazing job in the defence of New Zealand and of many Pacific islands and bases, and many took the fight to the enemy bases, working alongside the US Navy, USAAF and USMC flying squadrons.

Whilst the RNZAF performed the bulk of the action in the Pacific from New Zealand's point of view, the other two services also saw their share of the action. Before the Japanese entry into the war a small garrison of around 100 New Zealand soldiers were stationed in Fiji. Shortly after the entry of Japan into the war these soldiers were withdrawn to New Zealand but the 3rd Division of 2NZEF soon formed and large numbers of NZ Army were sent to defend Fiji, New Caledonia, and Guadalcanal. The 3rd Division took part in landings and battles on Vella Lavella, the Treasury Islands and The Green Islands.

The Royal New Zealand Navy had several ships active in the Pacific War, including its two light cruisers HMNZS Achilles and HMNZS Leander, working as part of the US Navy fleet. The latter ship was badly damaged in the Battle of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands and withdrew, later replaced by HMNZS Gambia. Smaller vessels in the Pacific sea battles included HMNZS Monowai, Matai, Kiwi, Moa and Tui and many other smaller vessels.

Many New Zealanders served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm too, and in the British Pacific Fleet one in every four aircrew members flying from the many aircraft carriers in the Asian and Pacific war zones were New Zealanders. Crucial in the Pacific battles, particularly the landings on Okinawa, they were taking the attack right to Japan itself by the war's end.

In the war against Japan, New Zealand was for the first time in direct threat of invasion. Its immediate reaction to up the defences and increase the military strength and then eventually take the fight back to the enemy was amazing. It was an incredible time in this country's long existence, and so much history was created by our military units and individual people between December 1941 and September 1945 when the Japanese finally surrendered. We should never forget any of the Pacific War, but especially for we New Zealanders we need to remember what our Army, our Navy and especially our Air Force did to ensure our freedom. The Pacific War was not just an American and Japanese war.

I think to finish this brief look at New Zealand's point of view of the eventful day 75 years ago, we should rememebr those who we lost. The first RNZAF casualty following Japan's entry into the war came on the 13th of December 1941 when P/O David Brown RNZAF flying a No. 453 Squadron RAAF Brewster Buffalo was killed in a landing accident, when he spun into swamp.

The first casualty during for New Zealand's own No. 488 Squadron RNZAF occurred on the 18th of December 1941 when Sgt Alexander Craig RNZAF's Buffalo hit tree on landing.

But the first combat casualties came on the 25th of December 1941 when RNZAF members, Sgt Edward Hewitt, Sgt Ronald McNabb and Sgt John McPherson, all No. 67 Squadron RAF, were shot down and killed while intercepting 60 Japanese aircraft over Rangoon, Burma.

The RNZAF's first groundcrew casualty in war with Japan happened on the 17th of January 1942 when LAC Frank Edwards, a Flight Rigger, who was attached to No. 205 Squadron RAF, was aboard a Catalina flying boat when a Japanese air attack hit the aircraft and it burst into flames and he was killed.

The last New Zealander to lose their life in action in the Pacific War was Fleet Air Arm Observer Sub Lt (A) Glen McBride, RNZNVR, who was shot down over Koriyama Airfield, northern Honshu, Japan in his Fairey Firefly and never seen again.
Lest We Forget

[Mustang51]

Very well said Dave. With the dimming of memories and the loss of those directly involved it is down to us and those who follow to remember the sacrifices of all those who fought. That applies to all prior, subsequent and current conflicts. As you say Pearl harbor was no real surprise to anyone but with the then and now insular nature of news transfer in the USA it was used to good effect on the American population. That certainly galvanized American efforts and no-one now needs to elucidate on the final outcomes. Casualties came in well before the attack on Pearl Harbor however.. RAF Catalina from Singapore shot down many hours before that raid, Australian Hudsons of 1 Squadron attacking the Japanese invasion fleet off Kota Bharu at least an hour before the Hawaiian attack. There is so much great information out there about what happened in Malaya, Thailand etc in the years and months before and after the landings. "Buffalos Over Singapore" and the companion Hurricane volume, "Hirohito's War - The Pacific War 1941 - 1945" and "Bloody Shambles" to name a few that I hold dear for reference. Anyone with an interest in that time of the war would not do better than to have their 'beloved' order a copy for their Christmas present!

Again, we stand on the sacrifices of all of those who have gone before us and although Pearl Harbor is used as a focus we should think of all the other things that happened at the same time as that attcck.

[ErrolC]

A round-up of pre-Pearl Harbor actions from James Kightly
vintageaeroplanewriter.blogspot.co.nz/2009/12/remember-8th-that-came-before-7th.html

[Dave Homewood]

Something I'd really like to know and have never been able to find out. We all know that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began before the paperwork for a declaration of war was finalised and handed over to the US Government by the staff of the Japanese Embassy. This is well documented and shown in Tora, Tora, Tora.

However on the same day the Japanese Government declared war on Britain. I am assuming the Japanese Ambassador to Britain will have made the declaration to the British Government in London. Was that declaration made before they began attacking the British and Allied forces in Malaya and Singapore? Or was it also conveniently delayed to help them with the element of surprise?

Were separate declarations of war also made on Malaya, Singapore, Guam, the Philippines and Thailand simultaneously? Or did they just declare war on the British and US forces in those countries?

[fb6]

Many thanks Dave for taking us back those 75 years so that we may remember this conflict, our participation, and to not forget those who fought in it and to those we lost.

It was indeed the first time NZ really came under threat of invasion and reading your figures of just how small our capability to resist in 1939 was, is most scary & sobering - Whilst we had been building-up somewhat back here for just over two years, we were largely engaged in the fight in Europe, our Pacific was at the mercy of German commerce raiders as we sent supplies to England and thankfully the troops and aircrews-in-training were on the faster ships to Europe, Middle East & Canada.

As you've stated, the Pearl Harbour attack wasn't exactly a surprise, more's the shame that they were not more practised with their new radar they had recently got, they were expecting a flight of B-17's but not sure when-

Indeed, the Pearl Harbour attack was actually in fact conceived in Washington by the US Naval Planning Board...

- Away back in January 1932, the US fleet of nearly 200 warships, a huge concentration of naval power to be assembled at that time, gathered off Californian waters for manoeuvres which were to 'test' the Pearl Harbour defences- One part of it was to 'attack', the other, along with the Army garrison was to 'defend.' -So the 'attacking' fleet tried out a new strategy, leaving the battleships & cruisers someway behind, and taking only four destoyers with them, the two aircraft-carriers Saratoga & Lexington under the command of Admiral H.E. Yarnell whizzed-off away in an easterly Pacific direction. The Admiral was also a pilot having made many flights with his squadrons and was 'air-minded', unusual in the US Navy of the day. He now employed a carrier attack strategy to an objective already familiar to him from the air...

Pearl Harbour's defence was primarily planned to meet a naval attack, with it's protective fleet placed around the islands, a flotilla of submarines on hand, a full division of troops ashore and an immense concentration of heavy coastal artillery with a well-planned rail system and roads, plus batteries of anti-aircraft guns, all augmented with 100 fighter planes & bombers -

As Admiral Yarnell hoped, they ran into thick weather off Oahu which made it less likely they would be seen and with a forced run arrived 60 miles off Oahu where at a half-hour before dawn on 7th February (when Pearl was perhaps less alert), launched 152 planes off whilst pitching in heavy seas. -This first aerial attack came in from the northeast (exactly as the Japanese 2nd attack was to do nine years later). -Most of the winter the trade winds blow steadily from this direction against the 2,800 ft Koolau Range, where it discharges it's moisture. This condition allowed the aircraft to fly in under cover of this towering wall of rain clouds and suddenly emerge into clear weather over Pearl Harbour before any air interception could intervene. Each group had it's appointed tasks & targets, and so this all led to a grand 'autopsy', a 'critique' right there in the theoretical ruins. Needless to say, this 'successful action' was widely discussed for some time there after.
-It's a matter of record I believe, that the Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, the architect of the real 7th December 1941 attack spent some of his earlier career-training in the US, and also japanese intelligence was always very active in Hawaii.

Something that the Japanese do very well, is 'copy'...

The last Gloster fighter to be designed by Henry Folland before he left the company was a prototype known only as the Gloster F.5/34, an Air Ministry specification number requirement which called for a single-seat heavily armed fighter. (This requirement also led to the Hawker Hurricane & Supermarine Spitfire). The Gloster was a close collaboration between Folland and his collegue, H.E. Preston, with whom he had worked for many years and the aircraft they developed was a cantilever low-wing monoplane of all metal construction, except for fabric covering on all control surfaces. The landing gear was of retractable tailwheel type, power was provided by a Bristol Mercury IX radial engine, and the pilot was seated in a cockpit that could be enclosed by a sliding canopy. Armament comprised eight Browning machine-guns, mounted within the wings to fire outside the propellor disc. Development of this prototype (K5604) was delayed due to the company's commitment to the Gauntlet & Gladiator, and it wasn't until December 1937 that it was flown for the first time; a second prototype (K8089) followed and was flown in March 1938. Unfortunately by then, the Hurricane & Spitfire were already in production. What is remarkable is that this aircraft is so, so, very similar to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero...

As Japan was actually pro British during WWI, 'two island nations together' kind-of-thing, they were always interested in things naval and especially naval aviation. They were very interested in the HMS Argus, Britain's first aircraft-carrier, then when the sister-ship HMS Eagle arrived on line, Japan asked to view it, no less than 10 times and were rebuffed each time. However, about 1920 Whitehall decided to assist the Japanese and sent a young RNAS Wing Commander William Forbes Sempill (who was the son of a Scottish Royal), and a talented group of aircrew off to Japan. The first Japanese aircraft-carrier was the Honsho and they gradually started to build up their naval sea power. In 1922 the US noticed all this and wanted to curb their military build-up. In 1923 Sqn.Ldr. Frederick Joseph Rutland from the HMS Eagle was Britain's best carrier-pilot, (he had been trained by Sempill ), he was to leave the service and worked for Mitsubishi. Sempill had also been working, selling British aircraft to other countries but this had drawn British Intelligence MI5 attention. They had been watching Sempill for awhile now and he was selling secrets; bombs, parachutes, engines and aircraft. Despite being interviewed by Air Ministry with MI5, he was warned & he was continued to be watched closely. In 1934 he inherited his father's title of 'Master of Sempill', became a Member of the House of Lords and was by then also President of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Britain had granted concessions to Japan around Penang which allowed a greater all round increase in Japanese espionage, particuarly in the Asian melting-pot of Malaya & especially Singapore. This concerned MI5 and an agent called Vindon was sent there and he explored the east coast of Singapore and Malaya and firmly concluded that a crossing could be made to Malaya around Kotu Bharu (- which is exactly where they did cross on 9th Dec 1941) but his research was disregarded.
Meanwhile, as things hotted up, these British chaps were selling Britain's secrets and by the time of Japan's invasion of Hawaii, Hong Kong & Singapore, we were in serious trouble. The first Zero to take off from a Japanese aircraft carrier occurred 17 years before and it was flown by British pilot Rutland. Yamamoto's 2nd in Command, Takajiro Onishi was trained by Sempill. - Onishi commanded the raid that sunk the HMS Prince of Wales & HMS Repulse, sent on out from Britain to Singapore to head-off the Japanese invasion force. - 'Force Z' as the battleships were known WERE offered air cover by Sqn.Ldr. Wilf Clouston of Singapore-based RAF(NZ)488 Squadron but were declined by Admiral Phillips, but they did fly-out in paired patrols anyway but missed the bombers, and so gave cover to the destroyers that were trying to find & pick-up survivors. The Brewster Buffalo has to be one of the worst aircraft ever built and Our Chaps were saddled with them. At least we also got some Hurricanes. But that's just one of the reasons a small force of 30,000 Japs overan 100,000 British & Commonwealth troops, a quarter of which died in captivity...

I find after 75 years that NZ is still seriously lacking a Defence Force. We are still incapable of even holding up our end of an Aussie/Kiwi Defence Force. Now after 8 years of this Govt we're very seriously gutted. If every Govt for the last 75 years had put NZ's Defence needs set at 5-10% GDP or whatever, instead, well we may have something to feel patriotic about with our Defence Forces today. What are we fighting in the Middle East for ? -I feel so very proud of those of us from 75 years ago, and gee, it's nice to have some neat helicopters & stuff to help with our 'Civil Defence', and we have some terrific Warbirds that we are very talented in restoring, although mostly for rich-types overseas. We rebuilt the Mosquito in NZ !! - I'm extremely grateful to Glyn Powell and those very talented chaps at AvSpecs and all others involved, but do you think we will ever have one permanently resident and flying here ?? - So many of Our Chaps in WW2 flew & fought in them !! - Yep,indeed, Lest We Forget...

Thanks Dave ~ Thanks also to Eric Muller for 'Blueprint for Pearl Harbour', and Graham Clayton 'Last Stand In Singapore'

Kind regards to all

Have a Safe & Merry Xmas & New Year

Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

Some very interesting stuff there FB6, I had no idea about the Folland designed aircraft and all the secrets being sold to Japan. I hope those Brits were brought to trial and justice was served?

However, your description "RAF(NZ)488 Squadron" should read "No. 488 Squadron RNZAF". It was a genuine RNZAF squadron at that time, unlike the ones in England. It was formed at Rongotai and embarked overseas as a unit.

[Peter Lewis]

Dec 9, 2016 2:52:50 GMT 12 fb6 said:

Something that the Japanese do very well, is 'copy'...

The last Gloster fighter to be designed by Henry Folland before he left the company was a prototype known only as the Gloster F.5/34, . . . a second prototype (K8089) followed and was flown in March 1938. Unfortunately by then, the Hurricane & Spitfire were already in production. What is remarkable is that this aircraft is so, so, very similar to the Mitsubishi A6M Zero...

While any designer will consider the latest developments in his field as he works on his design, there is no provable link from the Gloster F.5/34 or the Hughes Racer to the Mitsubishi A6M.

Dec 9, 2016 2:52:50 GMT 12 fb6 said:

As Japan was actually pro British during WWI, 'two island nations together' kind-of-thing, they were always interested in things naval and especially naval aviation.

True

Dec 9, 2016 2:52:50 GMT 12 fb6 said:

They were very interested in the HMS Argus, Britain's first aircraft-carrier, then when the sister-ship HMS Eagle arrived on line, Japan asked to view it, no less than 10 times and were rebuffed each time. However, about 1920 Whitehall decided to assist the Japanese and sent a young RNAS Wing Commander William Forbes Sempill (who was the son of a Scottish Royal), and a talented group of aircrew off to Japan. The first Japanese aircraft-carrier was the Honsho

Hōshō was the second warship, after the British HMS Hermes, to be designed from the keel up as an aircraft carrier, but was launched and completed earlier than Hermes.

The key element in the early JNAF successes was a shift in the mid-1930s in the beliefs held by the Japanese Naval Command on the theory and practice of naval aviation. Tradition held that naval aircraft were an adjunct to the big gun; useful for reconnaissance, defence, spotting and hindering the enemy until the battleships could be bought to bear on him. This viewpoint, which had been destroyed in respect to land-based aviation by World War 1, was prevalent among other Naval powers until well into World War 2. By adopting the philosophy of the naval air force as an independent arm - fighting and securing superiority well beyond the reach of naval artillery - the Japanese were several years ahead of other nations in producing a series of specialised aircraft well suited to specific tasks. This was at variance with the multirole aircraft concept adopted by other naval powers, a concept that led to such machines as the Fairey Swordfish

See my Zero history at    mitsubishi_zero.tripod.com

Dec 9, 2016 2:52:50 GMT 12 fb6 said:

The first Zero to take off from a Japanese aircraft carrier occurred 17 years before and it was flown by British pilot Rutland.

The first flight of the A6M1 was on 1st April 1939, test pilot Katsuzo Shima.

[fb6]

Thank you for your response Dave, you are indeed correct about 'No. 488 Squadron RNZAF'- I completely forgot about that as I'm also most interested in the Squadron's later re-establishment which started in England mid-1942 at RAF Church Fenton, training-up flying Beaufighter II's for nightfighting. - Interesingly, Wikipedia lists 'No. 488 Squadron RNZAF' as such, then goes on to refer to it's original establishment and service in Singapore etc. as RAF 488 (NZ) Squadron! It even goes on & refers to that very point you have bought up in my posting. I had downloaded a copy of it back in 23-04-2008.

Thank you also Peter for your response and comments. - I have a 12 volume illustrated encyclopedia of aircraft which I have avidly read and usually go through each Issue of 'Classic Wings' to try and find that issue's 'Teaser', and I had always been struck by Gloster's F.5/34 'likeness' to the Zero. Basically, at that period no other British-produced fighter aircraft with a radial engine was made or in service other than Blackburn's Skua & Roc that I'm immediately aware of, but interestingly, the Blackburn Company was one of those company's mentioned that Sempill visited, and at that time they were making a large seaplane called the 'Iris', which was on the Top Secret list. MI5 was able to clearly track him pass-on information about it. As you know, the Kawanishi H8K 'Emily' was one of the best flying-boats of the War and I believe one could also say it looks very much like the Short Sunderland. The earlier [by two years] Kawanishi H6K 'Mavis' (similar to the 'Iris' incidentally) is not unlike the Gloster Company, where their earlier, previously-designed aircraft were just climbing-out of the biplane stage. - I point this all out to assert the fact that Japanese espionage with the assistance of Sempill, Rutland and obviously others (maybe some that had also gone to Japan with the Whitehall group), clearly gathered a lot of material for them from not only just Glosters. -Besides the Air Ministry, MI5 were working with Bletchley Park and they all kept the wraps on all these goings-on for many years. - As I said, the Gloster F.5/34 was remarkably so, so, similar to the Mitsubishi A6M...

As I gained all of this 'espionage stuff' from a saved History Channel program called 'Churchill's Traitor's', and sat up and watched it again, taking notes, I was incorrect I guess by naming the first aircraft as a 'Zero' that took-off from a Japanese aircraft carrier 17 years before Pearl Harbour being flown by the British pilot Rutland.

These traitors were punished, Rutland came off worst as he ended-up stucking his head into a oven in 1946 and suicided. On the other hand, Sempill really got Winston's attention when MI5 showed him documents intercepted via Sempill concerning Churchill's first meeting with FDR at sea whilst on the HMS Prince of Wales. Winston dealt with him by giving him a job that kept him up in Scotland for the rest of the War and Sempill died in 1965. I think Winston didn't want any ripples of dissent whatsoever from the House of Lords crowd or elsewhere else. I think the whole business was all frozen under the Official Secrets Act for at least 50 years...

Cheers

[johnnyfalcon]

Indeed, I echo the sentiments above, thank you Dave for a very good summary - it makes for sobering reading

[Peter Lewis]

There is always a big difference between espionage and legitimate arms trading.

As has been pointed out, Japan was on the Allied side in world war one, and thus was perceived as 'friendly' post 1918 until their later military adventures in China.
Thus it was it was quite normal commercial business to trade arms and military equipment with them.

It is interesting to note that after Hamilton Standard perfected the variable-pitch propeller in the USA in the early 1930s, they sold a licence to manufacture these to de Havilland in the UK and also to Sumitomo in Japan (where they were fitted to the Zero, among other aircraft types.)

Thus combat aircraft on both sides of WW2 were quite legitimately using propellers of identical ancestry.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

It's a bit like all of the western allies (including the Soviet Union), as well as Japan and Germany using various derivatives of the Douglas DC-3 as military transports during WWII. Did Italy also have Douglas DC-3s during the second world war? I've got that 4-volume Air Britain set on the DC-1, DC-2 and DC-3 in one of my bookcases, but I cannot be bothered trawling through them at the moment to find out.

[tbf25o4]

a little known fact is that the first "RNZAF" aircraft to fly an operational mission in the war in South-East Aisa was a Singapore III (K6918) flown by Flight Lieutenant Craig and crew who were
dispatched from Seletar early hours on 8 December (Singapore time) on a secret course carrying four 250lb bombs. The sortie was abandoned not long after take-off when the tip of one propeller broke off
The 1 hour 20 minute patrol was the first war mission flown, although the war was not officially declared until later that day.
The first attack on Seletar happened on 8 December 0400 (Singapore time) when Japanese aircraft bombed the station. New Zealanders were at Seletar along with the Singapores about to be ferried back to NZ.
A kiwi Singapore was also on a war patrol 60 miles south of where the two British battleships were sunk two days later.

[davidd]

I think it rather rich that Churchill of all people should condemn others for trading with Japan in the early 1930s.

Churchill was a huge fan and admirer of the Japanese people until just before WW2, defending that country vigorously even in the Naval treaties negotiations, but by about 1940 he was not so enamoured. I am not certain how he treated these predilections in his post-WW2 writings.

And certainly, Japanese aircraft designers were always interested in all the latest innovations in modern military technology, including aircraft structures, engines and ancillary equipment generally, as they freely admitted in post-war biographies, but was the Gloster fighter REALLY copied? I think not. While the Gloster aircraft was only a prototype, and was never totally secret (it appeared in all the aviation magazines and annuals although its performance and general specification were not usually very detailed, if at all), the Japanese almost certainly were aware of its existence, but I doubt that any one serious feature of the ultimate Zero fighter came from the British aircraft apart from its generally similar appearance.

If the structure of the Gloster and its equipment were analysed in detail, and compared with the Japanese aircraft, it would seem even less alike in every way. The fact that the Zero was designed as a dedicated, long-range carrier fighter whereas the Gloster was intended for land use only would explain many of these detail differences.

I only became fully aware of the internationalisation of aircraft technical knowledge when studying closely the original Hurricane which came to New Zealand (fitted with German wheel bearings) as well as the two Messerschmitt 110s (fitted with British-made tail-wheel tyres) that the amount of trading in modern aircraft accessories, etc, became obvious to me. Such things as instruments, wheels, brakes, propellers and propeller controls, undercarriages, anti- and de-icing systems, all types of radios and navigation aids, guns and gunsights and masses of other specialised hardware moved more-or-less freely across international borders, with only very few items being prohibited from export (and particularly anything to do with what later became known as radar, although the Germans probably had a much better understanding of this completely new science than the British at this time, although the British probably used that knowledge better in the fight that was to come.)

Even the RAF's new reflector gunsight was considered for production in Germany in 1937/38 due to the limited production capacity of British industry at this time, and the respect accorded the German optics industry internationally. And the US Government permitted Douglas to sell the largest and most modern land-based airliner in the World to Japan in 1938, because (a) Douglas wished to recoup the cost of designing and building it in the first place, and (b) the major American airlines had tried it out and were not at all impressed by its economics, so were not interested in buying any of them.

Japanese engineers no doubt learned a lot of advanced techniques for the manufacture of large aircraft from this prototype, but when they tried to build a bomber substantially based on this American design, also came to realise that the structure was overly conservative and too heavy, thus providing an aircraft with very poor payload/range capability.
 
They should have been more suspicious when buying a seemingly unwanted one-off white elephant (which by all accounts they paid a pretty penny for - buyer beware!) Incidentally, practically all heavy Japanese aircraft of the WW2 era were equipped with American-designed autopilots (all manufactured under legal licensing agreements, as were most other American innovations used by Japanese aircraft such as Bendix brakes, Hamilton Standard props as mentioned by Peter, D/F equipment, Pioneer and Western Electric Instruments, etc.)

The Americans, and to a somewhat lesser extent the British, Germans and French, were the world leaders in most of these types of equipment through investing more money over an extended period, and then perfecting it firstly in experimental flights, then long range pioneering flights, often in military aircraft, and finally extensive practical service (both civil and military) to perfect both production design and operation of it. The Japanese managed to avoid most of this development by waiting till the technology was perfected, then purchasing perfectly legal and proper manufacturing rights, otherwise known as normal commerce.

Of course in times of war, copying your enemy's superior weapons and other equipment also happened on a large scale, without any legal arrangements - this was called "expediency". Best known cases of this included illegal production of the Bofors gun (Swedish) by USA and UK, and probably also the Oerlikon gun (Switzerland), again by USA and UK (although legally licensed to Japan and other countries).

Smaller scale wartime "expedient" production gave us the famous "Jerry can" as well as the Luftwaffe's emergency radio by USA and UK are also well-known examples of this phenomenon, the latter better known by its (American/British) nickname of "Gibson girl". The Japanese also purchased the rights to manufacture the (German) VDM propeller as well as similar rights to produce DB 601 V-12s (by Aichi for Navy aircraft and Kawasaki for Army aircraft); earlier, Kawasaki also produced BMW VI (V-12) engines under license.

David D

[Mustang51]

Just to add to the where did it come from........ saw a beautiful Dunlop tyre from a 109 once. Found that strange till I became older and - some say - wiser.....

[Dave Homewood]

A BBC documentary on the betrayal here

[exkiwiforces]

I've been reading "False Flags, Disguised German Raiders of World War 2.By Stephen Robinson" and found this on Page 168.

The Raider "Atlantis" had captured the British freighter "Automedon" on the 11th Nov 1940 and the boarding of the party had 125 mailbags. The Germans examined the mail, finding British War Cabinet minutes that included a strategic appreciation of the Far East. The summary explained that inadequate British forces in Asia would be incapable of thwarting a Japanese attack and that the RN, committed to containing the German and Italian, would not in a position to send a fleet to the Far East. Further documents also contained a report outlining the defence of Singapore, including a complete Order of Battle(ORBAT)for Sea, Air and Land forces. The Germans now realized they were hold the Keys to the fortress of Singapore and all documents were then forwarded on the Japanese and German High Command via Trans- Siberian railway.

It goes on to say that many people in Japanese naval circles at doubted at first to their authenticity, suspecting them to be forgeries being used to tick Japan into joining the war. However, initial Japanese scepticism gave way to astonishment once they marry up these documents with their Intreps (Intelligence Reports) from their spy network in Malaya, Singapore and greater the Far East region. Weather you are Rock Ape, in the Armoured Corp, a Grunt or SF etc. this old saying is so true "Time spent in recon is seldom wasted”

Further Reading can be found in the following:
Australian Army Campaigns Series 5 “Malaya” published by the Australian Army History Unit, Canberra. From my POV these books by the Australian Army History Unit are excellent as they cover everything from "Leadership, Command, Strategy, Tactics, lessons and personal experiences of war. It makes me wonder why the RAAF haven't done something like this.
Singapore at War by Romen Bose