Aussie Samurai

This book is about the secret army that was involved in helping to “shorten the war in the Pacific by two years during World War II” as stated by General Charles Willoughby, head of the US Military Intelligence Service. This secret army was composed of mainly Japanese American soldiers who were attached to Australian or US military units in the jungles of New Guinea or Bougainville. They were involved as Japanese linguists in interrogations, document interpretations, translations, radio interception, cryptanalysis and propaganda. They were indeed “Aussie Samurai” and their work was top secret so as to protect any family they had in Japan and also for it to be effective against an enemy who believed that their language was too difficult to unravel. They were interviewed by the author, Dr Andrew Bode, in 1998.Their role was a difficult one as they strove to prove their loyalty to the US and her allies.