Bywater's Pacific War Prophecy

Spring 1991, volume 3 #3: Hector Bywater was a journalist, a spy and a writer. He predicted the general causes of the Pacific War. His book influenced even Yamamoto.

He predicted a surprise attack on an American Naval base, simultaneous invasions of Guam and the Philippines, and the island-hopping strategy used by the Americans to defeat the Japanese.

Both sides read his works and followed, at least somewhat, the tactics he outlined. War Plan Orange, the plan on what to do if Japan attacked the U.S., was changed due to his writings. He predicted that the Japanese would not be able to take the Hawaiian islands, that a few Japanese militants would take control of their government, and that the war-starting attack would come while negotiations were still going on.

He predicted the Japanese would enslave China and that a huge Japanese fleet would be put together. He also described the Japanese attacking other places. Manila Bay was the main base attacked, and not Pear Harbor. He predicted there would be 2500 U.S. casualties. There were actually 2,638.



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