Frederick Rutland, Britain’s Most Beloved WW1 Pilot, Became a Spy for Imperial Japan

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 February 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British WWI war hero, and real-life James Bond. He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship, a decorated warrior for his feats of bravery and rescue, was trusted by the admirals of the Royal Navy, had a succession of aeronautical inventions, and designed the first modern aircraft carrier. He was perhaps the most famous early twentieth-century naval aviator.

Despite all of this, and due mostly to class politics, Rutland was not promoted in the new Royal Air Force in the wake of WWI. This ignominy led the disgruntled Rutland to become a spy for the Japanese government. Plied with riches and given a salary ten times the highest-paid admiral, shuttled between Los Angeles and Tokyo where he lived in large mansions in both Beverly Hills and Yokohama, and insinuating himself into both LA high society and Japan’s high command,

Rutland would go on to contribute to the Japanese navy with both strategic and technical intelligence. This included scouting trips to Pearl Harbor, investigations of military preparedness, and aircraft technology. All this while living a double life, frequenting private California clubs and hosting lavish affairs for Hollywood stars and military dignitaries in his mansion on the Los Angeles Bird Streets.

Supported by recently declassified FBI files and by incorporating unique and rare research through MI5 and Japanese Naval archives that few English speakers have access to, today’s guest, Ronald Drabkin, pieced together this story in his new book “Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor.”

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:07.0	Frederick Rutland was an accomplished aviator, British World War I War Hero, and
0:11.8	real life James Bond.
0:12.8	He was the first pilot to take off and land a plane on a ship,
0:15.3	was trusted by admirals of the Royal Navy, and helped design the first modern aircraft carrier.
0:19.4	Other than Charles Lindbergh, was perhaps the most famous early 20th century aviator. Despite all this and due mostly to class politics, Rutland wasn't
0:26.2	promoted in the new Royal Air Force of the wake of World War I. This led to the
0:29.7	disgruntled pilot becoming a spy for the Japanese government. He shutled between Los Angeles and
0:34.0	Tokyo, where he lived in large mansions in both Beverly Hills and Yokohama, and embedded himself
0:38.6	in both LA High Society in Japanese High Command. He fed intelligence to the Japanese Navy about the development of America's
0:44.4	P38 aircraft and went on scouting trips of Pearl Harbor, investigating military preparedness and
0:49.4	aircraft technology. He did all this while living a double life, frequenting private California clubs, hosting lavish affairs for Hollywood stars, and partying with Charlie Chaplin and Boris Kurloff.
0:59.0	Today's guest is Ronald Drabkin, author of Beverly Hill's spy, the double agent War Hero who helped Japan attack
1:05.2	Will Harbor.
1:06.2	We look at how Drabkin gather the intelligence that he did, doing envelope drops, getting a fellow spy
1:11.0	hired as a night janitor at a Lockheed plant to steal plans for aircraft development,
1:15.1	the overall effect that Drabkin had on Pearl Harbor,
1:17.8	and the overall level of Japanese infiltration into America up to and during World War II.
1:23.0	Hope you enjoy this discussion with Ron Drapkin.
1:25.0	And one more thing before we get started with this episode,
1:30.0	a quick break for word from our sponsors.
1:32.0	This episode is brought to you by Wise. A Quick Break for Word from our sponsors
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Unplugged, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of History Unplugged and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.