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On 7th December, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy struck the United States. In an action which killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed 21 US warships and 188 aircraft, they also brought the US into the Second World War.
But it may not have been possible without the input of a British spy who had, for a time, lived in Hollywood, mingling with stars of the screen. So who was Frederick Rutland? What information did he give the Japanese Navy intelligence that might have helped them launch the attack on Pearl Harbor? And why did he give it to them?
Ronald Drabkin, author of 'Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor', joins Don for this episode. Together, they discuss Rutland's life and impact, and just how the intelligence services failed to catch him for so long.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
You can take part in our listener survey at https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK.
All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.
American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
By History Hit4.3
14791,479 ratings
On 7th December, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy struck the United States. In an action which killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed 21 US warships and 188 aircraft, they also brought the US into the Second World War.
But it may not have been possible without the input of a British spy who had, for a time, lived in Hollywood, mingling with stars of the screen. So who was Frederick Rutland? What information did he give the Japanese Navy intelligence that might have helped them launch the attack on Pearl Harbor? And why did he give it to them?
Ronald Drabkin, author of 'Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor', joins Don for this episode. Together, they discuss Rutland's life and impact, and just how the intelligence services failed to catch him for so long.
Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
You can take part in our listener survey at https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/6FFT7MK.
All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.
American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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