The McCollum Memo



For years (and almost immediately after Pearl Harbor), conspiracy theorists have speculated that FDR knew in advance about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and used it as a "back door" to enter the war against Hitler's Germany.  One of the biggest "smoldering guns" in regard to the Pearl Harbor attack is The McCollum Memo.  What is the McCollum Memo? It’s a 6-page letter (declassified in 1994) written by Lt. Col. Arthur McCollum, a Naval Intelligence Officer in East Asia, and submitted to his superiors on October 7, 1940.  His superior officers were Navy Captains Walter Anderson and Dudley Knox, two of President Roosevelt's most trusted military advisers.  Lt. Col. McCollum gave his analysis of Japan’s strengths/ weaknesses and suggested a plan to consider political and military responses that might lead Japan "to commit an overt act of war".

Lt. Col. Arthur McCollum

 

Here is a summary of McCollum's 1940 "what if" plan to defend against/ provoke Japanese aggression in East Asia:

1.  U.S. Navy use of British bases in the Pacific, especially Singapore.

2.  A total embargo of all U.S. (Dutch and British Empire) trade with Japan, especially oil & steel.

3. Give all possible aid and military assistance to the Chinese government of Chiang-Kai-Shek.

4. Send a division of naval cruisers to the western Pacific.

5. Send two divisions of submarines to the western Pacific.

6. Station the main fleet of the U.S. Navy in the Hawaiian Islands.

 He finished the document with this interesting statement,

“If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better.”

 

Captain Knox read McCollum’s letter and added his comments…

"It is unquestionably to our interest that Britain be not licked - just now she has a stalemate and probably can't do better. We ought to make certain that she at least gets a stalemate. For this she will probably need from us substantial further destroyers and air-reinforcements to England. We should not precipitate anything in the Orient that would hamper our ability to do this - so long as probability continues. If England remains stable, Japan will be cautious in the Orient. Hence our assistance to England in the Atlantic is also protection to her and us in the Orient. However, I concur in your courses of action. We must be ready on both sides and probably strong enough to care for both."
 



But, what about the million-dollar question…does the McCollum Memo prove that FDR knew, provoked, or allowed Pearl Harbor as a "back door" to defeat Germany? At this time, there is zero factual evidence that the McCollum Memo ever landed on FDR's desk or that FDR allowed the attacks to happen.  Remember, it was Japan who attacked first, regardless of real or implied U.S. provocation, and it was Japan who (through diplomatic bungling also admitted by Japan in 1994...the "Declaration of War" was to arrive 25 minutes prior to the attack and arrived 1 hour and 20 minutes late) never intended the attack to be an undeclared act of war.  



But, take heart conspiracy theorists..there are other "smoldering guns"...many documents (including pre-attack intercepted messages...aka "Station H" and "JN-25") have yet to be declassified and released to the public domain. We can still hope for a better understanding of "the truth" of history in the future!

"History is an argument without an end..."

-Pieter Geyl