Treason On The Airwaves: Three Allied Broadcasters On Axis Radio During World War Ii

This work traces the extraordinary journeys of three World War II radio broadcasters in Germany and Japan whose wartime choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. John Amery, a virulent anti-Semite who was a member of a highly respected and well-connected British family, joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin. He was executed for treason by Britain after the war. Charles Cousens, a popular radio personality at home in Australian, was a soldier in Japanese captivity. He was put to work on Radio Tokyo creating English language shortwave programs with a team of Allied prisoners of war. Cousens was later tried as a traitor in Australia. Iva Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose," was an American student visiting relatives in Japan when war broke out. She broadcast her English show on Radio Tokyo out of necessity rather than conviction. The United States jailed Toguri for treason. Through these three powerful stories, this work not only sheds new light on the history of wartime radio broadcasting in Germany and Japan, but also examines the laws of treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States, providing an overview of the way in which each country dealt with suspected collaborators after the war. The author demonstrates, too, the significance of radio propaganda during World War II and the techniques the Germans and Japanese used to engage listeners and command a significant audience. The stories of these broadcasters mark some of the most famous treason trials in Britain, Australia, and the United States. The decisions of the three--each of whom who made a choice between patriotism and survival--helped shape modern-day treason trials. This work sets Amery, Cousens, and Toguri in their family and social contexts to show the choices that were available to them and how they became part of the enemy's endless cycle of propaganda. All three accounts provoke thoughtful questions as to the nature of justice--and the justice of retribution.

This work traces the extraordinary stories of German and Japanese radio broadcasters, John Amery, Charles Cousens, and Iva Toguri, who's war time choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. Amery, a member of a highly respected and well-connected British family, joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin and was executed for treason by Britain after the war. Cousens, an Australian soldier in Japanese captivity, was put to work on Radio Tokyo, creating English language short wave programs with a team of Allied prisoners of War. He was later tried as a traitor in Australia. Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose," was an American student caught in Japan visiting relatives when war broke out and broadcasted her English show on Radio Tokyo. The United States jailed Toguri for treason. Through these three powerful stories, this work not only sheds new light on the history of wartime radio broadcasting in Germany and Japan, but also examines the laws of treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. These famous trials have marked significant changes in the realm of what is now considered wartime treason and the impact of individual choices that lead to execution and imprisonment. The trials of three World War II radio broadcasters in Germany and Japan, John Amery, an Englishman in Berlin, Charles Cousens, an Australian prisoner of war in Japan, and Iva Toguri, a young American woman stranded in Tokyo, mark one of the most famous treason trials in Britain, Australia, and the United States. This work examines the lives and decisions of these broadcasters whose choice between patriotism and survival have helped shape modern day trials of treason. Amery, the playboy sonof a member of Churchill's cabinet, joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin. Cousens, was an Australian soldier in Japanese captivity after the fall of Singapore, was put to work on Radio Tokyo creating English-language short wave programs with a team of Allied prisoners of war. Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose," was an American student caught in Japan when war broke out, and found work broadcasting her American show across the Pacific. Their work as propagandists for the Axis left their lives in the fate of their home countries; Amery executed, Cousens left in limbo, and Toguri served a heavy penal sentence. These individual cases are examined in this book against a survey of the laws of treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States and an overview of the way in which each country dealt with suspected collaborators after the war. While most information about these three individuals are based on rumor and misinformation, this work sets each of them in their family and social context to show the choices that were available to them and how they became part of the enemy's propaganda production. Also told are poignant stories of the desperate Allied families who listened nightly to Axis broadcasts in the hope of hearing word about their missing manfolk. The author historically shows how significant radio propaganda was during World War II, and the different techniques that the Germans and Japanese used in order to grasp the listeners and command a significant audience.