Figure 1.-- Here is a decrypt of the Baron's report on his meetings with Ribentrop and Hitler few days before D-Day. Hitler told him thatt he excpected the Allies to invade Normandy, but it would be a ruse for the main invaion at the Pas-de-Calais. Of course the Allies playted on that assessment and inceadably while the battle for Normandy was beiung fought out, the Germans kept several Panzer divisions there for weeks after the D-Day invasdion.

Magic is generally associated with intelligece operations against the Japanese and the Pacific War. Actually, Magic was a major source of intelligence on the Germans and the war in Europe. The Allies were unable to place and maintain intelligence agents in Germany. Some reports came out of the Reich, but they were from anti-NAZI Germans. The Soviets were more succesful, especially before Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and closed down the Soviet Embassy. The Soviets also ran some effective spy rings. The United States did have one very effective source -- an enedded source with access to the NAZI hierarchy. Baron Hiroshi Oshima (大島 浩) was appointed the Japanese Ambassador to NAZI Germany before the cWar. He was three-star Japanese Army general. As a result of the Axis alliance anf Hitler's desire to cultivate the Japanese, he was given unprecedented access to German military planning and operations. He not only developed close relations with the NAZI hierarchy, but also the Wehrmacht. On the previous page we see a photograph of the Baron on his tour. Here he is inspecting Germany's Atlantic Wall defenses during November 1943. His 20-page report enchiphered in Purple was transmitted to Tokyo and intercepted and read by the Americans. It was like giving a spy a tour of the beach defenses and allping him to take detrailed notes. All duly fowarded to Tokyo. The Japanese Embassy in Berlin reported back to Tokyo about not only Oshima's findings but other Japanese diplomats as well as Japanese officers enbeded in the Wehrmacht in great detail. And all of this was available to the Americans through Magic. And he reported his findings in great detail to Tokyo. Not only did Oshima send setailed reports on German military operatioins and facilities, but he also met with ranking German officils, imcluding Hitler himslf, and their assessments at different points in the War. Here is a decrypt of the Baron's report on his meetings with Ribentrop and Hitler (figure 1). Hitler told him that he excpected the Allies to invade Normandy, but it would be a ruse for the main invaion at the Pas-de-Calais. Of course the Allies playted on that assessment and inceadably whule the battle for Normandy was being fought out, the Germans kept several Panzer divisions there for weeks after the D-Day invasdion. And it should not be thought that Oshima did all of this alone. There were Japanese embassies located throughout NAZI occupied Europe as well as Rome and neutral countries. And there was a Japanese military mission in Rome which included Japanese officers inbeded in the Wehrmacht. Thus the Japanese had detailed information on the German war machine at every level. All of this was accessable to the Americans through Magic. It is why President Roosevelt was able to to personally warn Stalin about Barbarossa. After the War, none other than General George C. Marshall, identified Ōshima as 'our main basis of information regarding Hitler's intentions in Europe'.

Created: 8:43 AM 3/2/2022
Last updated: 8:43 AM 3/2/2022