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Whose infamy?
A citizen soldier's tale lands a blow for historians who say the attack on Pearl Harbor was no surprise
by Colby Cosh
EVEN Second World War buffs may not have heard of Canada's Colonel Murton Adams Seymour. He was a type of 20th-century Canadian that future generations will look upon with amazement; he flew fighter planes in the First World War, was a pioneer aviator between the wars while serving as city solicitor of St. Catharine's, and in 1939 personally planted the organizational seedlings that grew into the massive British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In short, all he did was win a couple of wars, help found an industry, and build a distinguished legal career.
He died 25 years ago, but his voice was heard last week as the continent is abuzz over a subject near to his heart: the December 7, 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into the Second World War. The epic Michael Bay tearjerker Pearl Harbor is currently playing on more than 3,000 cinema screens, bringing with it an orgy of nostalgia and argument. The film avoids the question of whether U.S. politicians and military commanders knew in advance of the attack, but it pushed the long-standing debate on that issue to the forefront. Last month, the St. Catharine's Museum released an affidavit, written by Seymour in 1967, which seems to suggest that someone had foreknowledge.
The affidavit was deposited at the museum by Seymour's widow Elizabeth in 1998. "We've known about it for several years," says curator Arden Phair, "but we issued the news release now to coincide with the movie." In the document, the lifelong Tory Seymour explains that, with the world crisis deepening, the Liberal King government sought him out repeatedly for his aviation and legal know-how. In late 1940, after he proposed forming a company to attract restless American fliers to the Imperial cause, he was "stunned" to find himself put in charge of the entity--the Dominion Aeronautical Association.
On November 30, 1941, Seymour was summoned to the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa by J.L. "Lennie" Apedaile, a fellow officer of the DAA. The next morning, Apedaile informed a thunderstruck Seymour that British military intelligence had received word of a surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scheduled for December 8. It would be necessary to dissolve the DAA, Apedaile said; the U.S. would soon need all its own pilots. In a difficult December 6 meeting, Seymour told bewildered DAA board members that the company would be winding up, but he could not tell them why. The next day, he heard newsboys crying the incredible news in the streets. It was still only December 7 in Ottawa, but in Japan, it was already the 8th.
Nearly 20 years later, Seymour began to consider writing his story down. He told his tale to C.G. "Chubby" Power, the wartime Air Minister, but Power's only comment was "I wonder why Lennie told you that." In 1972, he wrote to an old school friend--the former Prime Minister, Lester Pearson. Pearson denied that the Brits could have had exact knowledge of the date of the attack, but conceded that both the British and the Americans "had good reason to believe that the Japanese might launch an attack, and on Pearl Harbor, in the early part of December." He advised Seymour not to publish the affidavit, and Seymour kept mum until his death.
The affidavit, while extraordinary, is not likely to change any settled opinions on the issue of whether the British or president Roosevelt knew in advance that Pearl Harbor was to be bombed. Some historians believe that Roosevelt deliberately allowed the bombing in order to wash away strong isolationist sentiment and unite his country behind him. Most concur with the explanation put forth by historian Roberta Wohlstetter in 1962: there were real indications that an attack was imminent, but the "signal" was obscured by contradictory news from other sources and by a fractured chain of command.
Yet troubling facts remain. Roosevelt and his cabinet, we now know, did intend to "maneuver [Japan] into the position of firing the first shot," in the words of Secretary of War Henry Stinson. Other people have come forth with tales similar to Seymour's, although there is no direct corroboration for his story. It is widely agreed that the army and navy commanders at Pearl Harbor, both demoted for "lack of readiness," were deliberately scapegoated by the American high command. Key documents remain classified, 60 years on. And as sure as Pearl Harbor will not be the last movie made about Pearl Harbor, it is certain that Col. Seymour will not be the last eyewitness to throw historians a posthumous curve.
.
A citizen soldier's tale lands a blow for historians who say the attack on Pearl Harbor was no surprise
by Colby Cosh
EVEN Second World War buffs may not have heard of Canada's Colonel Murton Adams Seymour. He was a type of 20th-century Canadian that future generations will look upon with amazement; he flew fighter planes in the First World War, was a pioneer aviator between the wars while serving as city solicitor of St. Catharine's, and in 1939 personally planted the organizational seedlings that grew into the massive British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In short, all he did was win a couple of wars, help found an industry, and build a distinguished legal career.
He died 25 years ago, but his voice was heard last week as the continent is abuzz over a subject near to his heart: the December 7, 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into the Second World War. The epic Michael Bay tearjerker Pearl Harbor is currently playing on more than 3,000 cinema screens, bringing with it an orgy of nostalgia and argument. The film avoids the question of whether U.S. politicians and military commanders knew in advance of the attack, but it pushed the long-standing debate on that issue to the forefront. Last month, the St. Catharine's Museum released an affidavit, written by Seymour in 1967, which seems to suggest that someone had foreknowledge.
The affidavit was deposited at the museum by Seymour's widow Elizabeth in 1998. "We've known about it for several years," says curator Arden Phair, "but we issued the news release now to coincide with the movie." In the document, the lifelong Tory Seymour explains that, with the world crisis deepening, the Liberal King government sought him out repeatedly for his aviation and legal know-how. In late 1940, after he proposed forming a company to attract restless American fliers to the Imperial cause, he was "stunned" to find himself put in charge of the entity--the Dominion Aeronautical Association.
On November 30, 1941, Seymour was summoned to the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa by J.L. "Lennie" Apedaile, a fellow officer of the DAA. The next morning, Apedaile informed a thunderstruck Seymour that British military intelligence had received word of a surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scheduled for December 8. It would be necessary to dissolve the DAA, Apedaile said; the U.S. would soon need all its own pilots. In a difficult December 6 meeting, Seymour told bewildered DAA board members that the company would be winding up, but he could not tell them why. The next day, he heard newsboys crying the incredible news in the streets. It was still only December 7 in Ottawa, but in Japan, it was already the 8th.
Nearly 20 years later, Seymour began to consider writing his story down. He told his tale to C.G. "Chubby" Power, the wartime Air Minister, but Power's only comment was "I wonder why Lennie told you that." In 1972, he wrote to an old school friend--the former Prime Minister, Lester Pearson. Pearson denied that the Brits could have had exact knowledge of the date of the attack, but conceded that both the British and the Americans "had good reason to believe that the Japanese might launch an attack, and on Pearl Harbor, in the early part of December." He advised Seymour not to publish the affidavit, and Seymour kept mum until his death.
The affidavit, while extraordinary, is not likely to change any settled opinions on the issue of whether the British or president Roosevelt knew in advance that Pearl Harbor was to be bombed. Some historians believe that Roosevelt deliberately allowed the bombing in order to wash away strong isolationist sentiment and unite his country behind him. Most concur with the explanation put forth by historian Roberta Wohlstetter in 1962: there were real indications that an attack was imminent, but the "signal" was obscured by contradictory news from other sources and by a fractured chain of command.
Yet troubling facts remain. Roosevelt and his cabinet, we now know, did intend to "maneuver [Japan] into the position of firing the first shot," in the words of Secretary of War Henry Stinson. Other people have come forth with tales similar to Seymour's, although there is no direct corroboration for his story. It is widely agreed that the army and navy commanders at Pearl Harbor, both demoted for "lack of readiness," were deliberately scapegoated by the American high command. Key documents remain classified, 60 years on. And as sure as Pearl Harbor will not be the last movie made about Pearl Harbor, it is certain that Col. Seymour will not be the last eyewitness to throw historians a posthumous curve.
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