The British literally trained Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor. Oops.
This landmark documentary film by Paul Elston tells the incredible story of how it was the British who gave the Japanese the knowhow to take out Pearl Harbor and capture Singapore in the World War 2. For 19 years before the fall of Singapore in 1942 to the Japanese, British officers were spying for Japan. Worse still, the Japanese had infiltrated the very heart of the British establishment - through a mole who was a peer of the realm known to Churchill himself.
Writing
Narrative structure rivals fictional spy thrillers
Direction
Elston makes archival footage feel urgent
Acting
Tim Pigott-Smith's voice could make grocery lists ominous
Director
Paul Elston
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Master of Sempill, the mole, was never prosecuted despite MI5 knowing everything—his aristocratic connections made him untouchable.
This documentary helped force the 2012 partial release of Sempill's MI5 file, which had been sealed for 70 years.
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