code breaking,ULTRA,Midway,Coral Sea,enigma machine

DVD: At the Interface: The WWII Recollections of Donald M. Showers

It has been over 65 years since the naval battles of Coral Sea and Midway Island and we are still learning more about the critical role of communications intelligence in winning the Pacific War.

In February, 1942,  Ensign Donald Showers was assigned to the top secret Naval Intelligence Center station in Hawaii (codenamed Station HYPO) that was tasked with breaking the Japanese operational codes.  Here he relates his first hand experiences as part of the team that intercepted and decrypted the Japanese messages leading to a strategic victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea and a decisive rout of the Japanese at Midway Island a month later. Showers was also involved in planning the air mission in which Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was killed and describes the decision-making that led to this mission.

Showers describes the personalities and roles of the important players: Chester Nimitz, Edwin Layton, Joseph Rochefort and Jasper Holmes. He provides a first hand account of the development of the deception, devised by Holmes, that revealed that the secret location for the major Japanese offensive in June 1942 was Midway Island!

Rochefort and HYPO's successes were not without conflict with the jealous brass in Washington who coveted credit for the Midway victory. As a "reward" for his team's successes, Rochefort was relieved of command of HYPO and taken out of the intelligence field for 3 years!

Showers' narrative is illustrated with historical film footage, photographs and maps of the persons and places from the time.

PREVIEW at:

www.shoestringprod.org/interface

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