Jim Downey

speaker

621 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 13 Jul

Jim Downey’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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History That Doesn't Suck · 208: The Pacific War, 1942–43: Guadalcanal, the Aleutians, and Operation Vengeance · 13 Jul 2026 podcast

Emperor Hirohito's military leaders make a unanimous recommendation to withdraw from Guadalcanal. matched

The Showa Emperor agrees, on the condition that a new offensive begin elsewhere, so Japan doesn't look forced into defense. matched

Ah, but the Americans are expecting another attack. matched

So in February 1943, the Japanese used this to their advantage, sending a huge force of ships to entice the US to prepare for battle. matched

It works, and in a Dunkirk-esque operation, the Japanese Imperial forces successfully get 10,652 men off the island. matched

A significant number of lives, but considering the 36,000 troops that had landed, there's been a devastating loss. matched

As Japanese General Kawaguchi Kiyotake famously puts it, quote, Guadalcanal is not the name of an island. matched

It is the name of the graveyard of the Japanese army. matched

Close quote. matched

You know, just less than a year and a half ago, the American Navy was decimated at Pearl Harbor and Japan was crushing it in the Pacific. matched

Oh, how the tides have turned. matched

I trust you recall that, before the attack at Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku warned that he didn't believe Japan could win a war against the Allies. matched

With his back-to-back failures at Midway and in the Solomon Islands, these worries are starting to look more like a prophecy. matched

Nonetheless, Yamamoto remains incredibly popular. matched

He agrees to visit his forces in the Solomon Islands. matched

Yamamoto sends out his itinerary. matched

But as we know, it's not just the Japanese who are listening. matched

That's right. matched

Cryptanalysts at Pearl Harbor, dubbed the Fleet Radio Unit Pacific, or FRUPAC, immediately set to work decoding the message. matched

They quickly crack it, declaring, we've hit the jackpot. matched

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