- há 6 minutos
In occupied Manila, Claire Phillips was tasked with spying on Japanese soldiers in her nightclub. Peggy Utinsky and Naomi Flores joined the Filipino resistance movement to provide medicine and food to Allied prisoners of war. Yoshiko Kawashima, the Chinese princess, betrayed her country of birth to serve Japan, the country where she grew up. Betty McIntosh worked for a predecessor of the CIA and helped, among other things, to take action against Japanese soldiers. Peruvian Elvira Chaudoir served the British secret service as a double agent.
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00:32Or seduction to install the most vital enemies.
00:37When the guard opened it,
00:40There's Batty, being naked, at night,
00:44supposedly with some kind of leg.
00:46What they do will change the course of history.
00:50These are the feminist species of World War II.
01:01It was never a safe path to becoming a spy hero.
01:05Especially for a 20-year-old woman.
01:08But some made it work.
01:11They were Clare Phillips, the exotic dancer.
01:15Joey Guerrero, the leg kind.
01:18Yoshiko Kawashima, the princess of pre-nation.
01:21And Betty McIntosh, the mother of advertising.
01:25These are stories of women forcing their own changes.
01:28due to their own changes.
01:31And even history.
01:33These are stories of struggle.
01:36They are durable with the bracelets.
01:39War arrives.
01:40Well, after years of violence
01:43of miracle men,
01:45It feels like it's been ten years,
01:48We are learning.
01:49that there are women who
01:51They are important characters with roles.
01:53which can be governed for decades.
01:55One such woman used her charm to launch a spying expedition into Manila territory.
02:05She went by many names, but history remembers her as Clare Phillips.
02:13Born in Michigan in 1907, her certification was clearly Mabel de la Taste.
02:19Seemingly destined for a life of spycraft, Clare was embellishing the stories of her life
02:27from a young age, talking of circus troupes and vaudeville shows.
02:33Clare Phillips really is an international woman of mystery.
02:37Her background is shadowy.
02:40How did this rather normal, not that interesting background girl end up becoming a traveling performer?
02:53It was during her first foray into the clubs of Manila with her traveling troupe
02:58that Clare caught the eye of some future clientele.
03:02A short-lived marriage gains her the new surname Fuentes.
03:06When it ends, Clare hightails it back to Portland.
03:10But the high life of the 1930s Manila continues to call her.
03:15And before long, she's back performing.
03:19For a while, life is good.
03:22She meets the man who would become her second husband,
03:25Sergeant John Phillips of the 31st Infantry Regiment.
03:29But world events are about to turn Clare's life on her head.
03:36On December 10, 1941,
03:4210 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor,
03:45the Japanese invasion of the Philippines begins.
03:51The attack is devastating.
03:53Armies are forced to flee into the jungle.
03:56And with no other options, Clare follows close behind.
04:00Her and Sergeant Phillips are married in the jungles.
04:04But not long after the wedding, he is captured.
04:09Clare is faced with a choice.
04:12Stay hidden amongst the trees or get out and fight.
04:18But she just couldn't stay in the jungles.
04:21Just like she couldn't stay perhaps down on the farm in the United States as a kid,
04:26she couldn't stay in the jungles.
04:29She was about to get all the motivation she needed to head back into the world
04:33as the Japanese started putting the defenders of the Philippines to the sword.
04:39The Bataan Peninsula was the scene of the last real American resistance
04:43as they fought to protect Manila Bay.
04:45They had it all over us, in arms, numbers.
04:50They kept pounding with everything they had.
04:53On April 9, 1942,
04:5776,000 sick and starving Americans and Filipino soldiers surrendered.
05:02Subjected to the infamous Bataan Death March,
05:07almost 10,000 men did not survive.
05:11Waltzing into Manila without a fight,
05:14the Japanese began rounding up and jailing all foreign civilians.
05:17The Filipinos were under occupation.
05:22Food and medical supplies were scarce and difficult to obtain.
05:27Food was rationed.
05:28Medical supplies were strictly rationed.
05:31The Japanese soldiers were often brutal to Filipino civilians.
05:36Eager to join the resistance effort,
05:38Claire was offered an opportunity.
05:41Was she willing to help the resistance
05:43by setting up an information and supply line from Manila
05:47to fighters hidden in the jungles?
05:50So, Claire would need a new identity.
05:55When the Japanese overran Manila during World War II,
05:58they rounded up all the civilians of Allied nations
06:03into prison camps,
06:05where many of them starved to death or succumbed to diseases.
06:09Claire Phillips avoided this fate.
06:11She was an American,
06:12but she said that she was born in Italy
06:14and that she had married a Filipino.
06:18So she came out of the jungles,
06:21reinvented herself as a woman named Dorothy Fuentes,
06:24and began working at a popular nightclub.
06:28Miss Fuentes combined what she knew best,
06:32singing and dancing,
06:34with the fine art of espionage.
06:38Luckily for Claire,
06:40there'd been a recent explosion of nightclubs in Manila.
06:43And as Japanese occupation took hold,
06:46they became an important source of work,
06:48especially for women.
06:49Claire took a hostess job at the popular Anna Faye's club near the bay.
06:57But it wasn't long before her natural lack of civility
07:00got her into trouble.
07:03The story goes that a Japanese officer slapped her
07:06for failing to bring ice for his drink,
07:09And Claire slapped him back.
07:11To hit a Japanese officer was dangerous
07:13and quite possibly lethal.
07:16Claire had to submit to a beating in the back room.
07:19It was a crystallizing moment for her,
07:22the catalyst to start her own business
07:24where she'd call the shots.
07:26Claire opened a nightclub near Manila's harbor,
07:31and there she would chat up
07:34mildly to moderately inebriated Japanese naval officers.
07:39And if they were foolish enough
07:40or drunk enough to give her some information,
07:43she would quietly get that information
07:47to resistance groups in the mountains.
07:53With two popular performers at her old club jumping ship,
07:57Claire's club, Sabaki, was ready to go.
08:01Opening night, Manila, October 17, 1942.
08:06The night was a massive success.
08:08The cream of high society,
08:11top Japanese occupation officials,
08:13soldiers and Filipinos all crowded in.
08:17Word of mouth spread,
08:19and Sabaki was soon the place to be seen.
08:23Liquor was provided at a cut rate
08:25by the local distillery,
08:27who knew what Claire was up to
08:28and wanted to be a part of it.
08:31A successful club is booming.
08:33but so too is a brand new espionage business.
08:36She's a firecracker.
08:39She's just, you can't keep her down.
08:42She's got that show, showman streak,
08:46and that is what led to the success of the nightclub.
08:49She's a performer.
08:50and she's gathering intelligence there
08:54that she is feeding to the allies.
08:56With Claire leading the way,
08:59her gaggle of like-minded hostesses
09:01began collecting intel efficiently and methodically,
09:06tailoring their innocent questions
09:07to the type of offices they were serving.
09:10So Claire and her hostesses in the nightclub
09:14are this wonderful intelligence-gathering network
09:19because just adding alcohol,
09:23just add beautiful, charming women,
09:26and apparently you can get some good intelligence
09:29out of your high-ranking targets.
09:33The girls scooped up everything they could
09:36from the drunken men's lips,
09:38writing the intel on little slips of paper,
09:42which the messengers would hide
09:43in the soles of their shoes
09:45and deliver to the troops in the jungle.
09:49Claire would often identify her most ardent admirers
09:53and drink to the downfall of England and America
09:56with fingers crossed.
09:59Such actions were enough to loosen
10:01even the tightest of soldiers' lips,
10:03but they also attracted attention
10:05to the institution from her own side.
10:08Claire really lived on a knife's edge at this time
10:11as she's running her club
10:13because for the people around her
10:16in the occupied Philippines,
10:19she seems like she's consorting with the enemy.
10:22So she seems complicit.
10:25So they don't like her.
10:27Meanwhile, she's pumping the enemy for information,
10:32but if they find out she's a spy,
10:35She could lose her life.
10:37So it's a really difficult situation
10:42for her to balance and be successful.
10:46Not content with funneling information
10:49and supplies to the soldiers hiding in the jungles,
10:52Claire soon receives news about the POW camps
10:55That would expand her vision.
10:59The prisoners at the Old Park Avenue School in Manila
11:02were dying at a frightening rate.
11:04The food was so awful,
11:10not even a pig would touch it.
11:13The sick and emaciated men
11:15were being forced to march to their daily work detail
11:18to repair a damaged runway.
11:20The enemy pictures don't show
11:22the Jap soldiers beating and bayoneting.
11:24They don't show the Jap tanks and trucks
11:26running down and crushing dog-tired Americans.
11:28With her own husband thought to be in a POW camp,
11:34Claire jumped into action.
11:37A plan was hatched
11:38to set up a stand along the route the POWs walked.
11:42While it would appear they were selling them rice and fruit,
11:45they were actually giving them food for free
11:47and even including extra cash and supplies in the bags.
11:51She is doing her best to help the POWs.
11:57Her husband is in prison.
12:00She is smuggling food and information and money into them.
12:05She knew very little.
12:06two other women were already running secret supply routes
12:09to the POWs.
12:10Peggy Utynski and Naomi Flores
12:14would dress as peasant women along the marching route
12:17and slip the prisoners food and supplies wherever possible.
12:22Hearing of their exploits,
12:24Claire linked up with the two women
12:25and formed what became a notorious spy ring
12:28known to all as Miss You.
12:32Sadly, their success was clouded with despair
12:35when Claire got word that her long-lost husband
12:38had died in the very same POW camp.
12:44Depression and alcoholism threatened to derail Claire,
12:48but some well-timed notes from the prisoners,
12:51thanking her for her continued work,
12:54was motivation enough to pull herself together
12:56and carry on.
12:59Her codename was High Pockets
13:01because she had this habit of tucking money inside her bra.
13:05Soon she had a network of Filipino resistors around her
13:10and they used the money from her nightclub
13:14to secretly feed starving American POWs
13:18who the Japanese had imprisoned in the Philippines.
13:22So she was using Japanese money
13:24to feed Japan's enemies.
13:28But the network was closing in.
13:29By 1944, the Miss You ring was so active and visible,
13:35the Kempe-Tai Japanese police
13:37were now swarming all over them,
13:40arresting anyone they suspected of involvement.
13:44Phillips was eventually betrayed,
13:47caught arrested, interrogated for nine months,
13:50and while she was in prison,
13:54the already slight woman lost 50 pounds.
13:58But she never betrayed anyone in her network.
14:02Her bravery in the face of torture
14:04could very well have saved the lives
14:07of other Miss You participants,
14:09like Naomi Flores.
14:10But that meant a sure death sentence for Claire.
14:15Luckily, timing was on her side.
14:19She is imprisoned.
14:21She is sentenced to death.
14:24She is down to, I think, 85 pounds
14:28days from execution
14:29when the Philippines are liberated.
14:33She survived the war.
14:34and goes on to have a bit of acclaim.
14:38There is a movie you can watch about her,
14:41And it's rather amazing.
14:44Books, articles, and a movie
14:46based on Claire Phillips' memoirs
14:48romanticized colored and much of her life as a spy.
14:53Her unique talents at deception
14:55combined with a healthy ego
14:57were perfectly suited to the life
14:59of an underground fighter.
15:00But she wasn't the only woman in Manila
15:06fighting to stave off
15:08her brutal Japanese invasion.
15:11There was another,
15:13Josefina Guerrero,
15:14a.k.a. the Leper Spy.
15:19From the Philippines comes the story
15:21of the capture of the capital, Manila.
15:24This was the American airman's view of the battle,
15:26which led to one more Pacific victory
15:28by General MacArthur.
15:30A rapturous welcome
15:32for American G.I.s
15:33as they march into Manila.
15:36A woman rushes out
15:38to hand them beers.
15:39It's the end
15:40of a three-year nightmare
15:41for Filipinos.
15:43The three years
15:44of Japanese occupation
15:45were hell
15:47Filipinos on everyday
15:49primarily because
15:51the Japanese soldiers
15:52practiced this culture
15:54that the Filipinos
15:55were not used to.
15:56They patrolled the streets routinely.
15:59There was a daily curfew.
16:01Filipinos weren't supposed
16:02to be out after dark.
16:04This was against their customs,
16:06against what they knew.
16:07While the Manila spy ring knew as Miss You
16:11was gathering intelligence in the clubs
16:13and shuttling supplies to POWs,
16:17another female spy
16:18was using a unique illness
16:20to her advantage.
16:22It would be the leper spy,
16:24Joey Guerrero,
16:26that played a crucial role
16:28in giving American G.I.s
16:29marching into Manila
16:31safe passage.
16:32At only 24,
16:35Joey had volunteered
16:36to work as a spy.
16:38When war came,
16:40she was cut off
16:41from the medicines and care
16:42which once made her
16:44Leprosy is manageable.
16:46She felt hopeless
16:47and helpless.
16:48If she had to die,
16:49she thought,
16:50She would die with honor.
16:53But to make a decision
16:54was perhaps riskier
16:55under Japanese rule
16:57in the Philippines
16:57than anywhere else in Europe.
16:59The role of the courier,
17:04especially in Manila
17:05at that time,
17:05was so important
17:06and so dangerous
17:07because there weren't
17:09open lines of communication.
17:12If you wanted to have
17:13a meeting,
17:14let's say,
17:15a gathering
17:16of the top leaders
17:17of the underground,
17:18Well, that would be found out.
17:19oftentimes by the Japanese.
17:22Well, there was
17:22an especially brutal sect
17:24of secret police
17:25called the Kempeitai.
17:27And these Japanese
17:29police officers
17:30were known
17:30to be extremely brutal
17:32in trying to get information,
17:34especially out of
17:35suspected guerrillas
17:38people participating
17:39in the Filipino underground.
17:42For Josefina Guerrero,
17:45joining the Filipino resistance
17:46It wasn't really a choice.
17:49Following General MacArthur's
17:51shock withdrawal
17:52from the country
17:53in March 1942.
17:54but the role
17:57Joey took on
17:58as intelligence gatherer
17:59and courier
18:00couldn't have left her
18:01any more exposed.
18:04Suspected spies
18:05were often shot on sight
18:07or executed
18:08in another dramatic fashion
18:09to send a message
18:10to the population at large
18:11that this was not
18:12acceptable behavior
18:13and that the same fate
18:15might befall them
18:16if they choose
18:17to participate
18:19in these underground activities.
18:21In the early days
18:23of occupation,
18:24the resistance
18:24was scattered
18:25throughout the hills.
18:26But as more brave individuals
18:28like Joey joined,
18:29They grew and grew.
18:31It became a bolstered force
18:33to reckon with
18:34and the Japanese
18:35found them
18:36occasionally hard
18:37to deal with.
18:37More than just
18:38little acts
18:40of sabotage.
18:41They were mapping
18:42gun emplacements.
18:43They were figuring out
18:45where the Japanese
18:46The officers were housed.
18:49They were mapping
18:50troop movements.
18:52Joey herself
18:53started simple,
18:54spying on a Japanese
18:55garrison opposite
18:56her building,
18:58counting troop numbers
18:59and movements.
19:01American agents
19:02soon got wind of Joey
19:03and thinking
19:04they could make use
19:05of her illness,
19:06asked her to be
19:07a courier for them.
19:08With leprosy
19:09as a shield,
19:11she walked around
19:11the cities and mountains
19:12delivering messages,
19:14crying,
19:15I'm unclean,
19:16I'm a leper,
19:17whenever sendries
19:17got too close.
19:20Joey idolized
19:21Joan of Arc.
19:22She used to
19:23pretend she was
19:24Joan of Arc
19:25when she was growing up
19:26and so circumstances
19:27were such
19:28that she sort of
19:29thought of herself
19:30a little bit
19:31like Joan of Arc
19:32and she decided
19:33at that time
19:33that knowing
19:35what she knew
19:36about leprosy,
19:36that it was
19:37sort of a death sentence.
19:40She decided
19:40that she was going
19:41to give her life
19:42in service
19:44of her god
19:44and country
19:45and that meant
19:48sacrificing herself.
19:51Faring information
19:52and supplies,
19:54Joey helped
19:54resistance fighters
19:55through much
19:56of the three-year
19:57occupation.
19:58She would store
19:59spare tires
20:00in her apartment
20:01and deliver
20:02sabotage materials
20:03like explosives
20:04when required.
20:06She made life
20:07less miserable
20:08for the men
20:09stuck out in the jungle
20:10all on the promise
20:11that if they held out
20:12long enough
20:13the Americans
20:14would return.
20:20Sure enough,
20:21almost 70,000 GIs
20:23landed 100 miles
20:24north of Manila
20:25at Linga Yen Gulf
20:27in January 1945
20:29thanks in no small part
20:31to Joey's maps.
20:34Because she could
20:35move freely,
20:36because she was presenting
20:37as someone
20:38with leprosy,
20:40she could get
20:42into these secure areas
20:43and draw maps
20:44of the gun emplacements.
20:45And so when the Americans
20:47began bombarding
20:49the Japanese
20:50in Manila,
20:52they were using
20:53the maps
20:54that Josefina Guerrera
20:55had created
20:56of the gun emplacements
20:57to know where
20:58to start their assaults.
21:01With the Americans
21:03landing at the Linga Yen Gulf,
21:05so began one
21:06of the most violent
21:07and intense battles
21:08of World War II history.
21:11The Japanese
21:12had occupied Manila
21:14for more than three years.
21:15and when the Americans
21:16finally returned,
21:18the fighting
21:20It was incredibly fierce.
21:23There was a detachment
21:24of Japanese naval officers
21:26that refused to quit.
21:29And they decided
21:30they were going to dig in
21:31and fight with everything
21:32they had
21:32and try to resist
21:33the coming American forces.
21:36Determined to win
21:38or die trying,
21:39the Japanese
21:40took extreme measures
21:41to halt an aggressive push
21:43by the Americans.
21:45and remarkably,
21:47amongst the tens of thousands
21:49of battle-hardened soldiers,
21:51It was Joey Guerrero
21:53who would prove
21:53a tipping point
21:54in the conflict.
21:56The Japanese, meanwhile,
21:57as they retreated
21:58closer and closer to Manila,
21:59they were sowing landmines
22:01trying to catch
22:02American soldiers
22:03in these minefields
22:04and setting traps
22:05here and there.
22:06The underground learned
22:07of one of these
22:08newly-sown minefields
22:09that the Americans
22:11were headed straight forward
22:12when Joey was called
22:13into action.
22:15Word got out
22:16that the Japanese
22:17had planned to execute
22:18over 4,000 prisoners
22:20at a camp in Manila.
22:22The Americans
22:23were rightly racing
22:25to the city
22:25to save them.
22:27Time was of the essence.
22:29To save 4,200 innocent lives,
22:33the American troops
22:34were racing
22:35against the clock.
22:36Now, the underground
22:37found out
22:38that they were racing
22:38directly into
22:40what would have been
22:41a disaster,
22:42a newly-sown minefield.
22:45Suddenly,
22:45not only were the lives
22:46of 4,000 prisoners at risk,
22:48but also that
22:49of hundreds
22:50of advancing U.S. troops.
22:52A hero needed
22:53to step up,
22:54and that hero
22:55was the little woman
22:56with leprosy,
22:58Joey Guerrero.
23:00What had started
23:01as small acts
23:02of resistance
23:03and espionage
23:04became a race
23:05for survival.
23:06The underground knew this.
23:08and they had a map
23:09of this new minefield,
23:10but they had no way
23:12to get the map
23:13to the advancing
23:14American troops.
23:16And so this is when
23:17Joey was called up.
23:18The underground
23:19I gave her this map.
23:21What did she do?
23:21was she taped it
23:22in between her shoulder blades,
23:24and she put on a blouse,
23:25and she put a knapsack
23:27on over the map,
23:28and she started
23:29on what amounted
23:30to about 60
23:31or 70-mile journey
23:33on foot
23:34through territory
23:35she had no familiarity
23:37with
23:38to try to find
23:39and intercept
23:40the American troops
23:41as they advanced.
23:42Otherwise,
23:43they would head
23:43straight into
23:44this minefield.
23:46Joey persisted
23:48through hardship,
23:49illness,
23:49and fatigue,
23:50and eventually
23:51intercepted
23:52the American troops,
23:54Handing over the maps,
23:55some of which
23:56she had drawn herself,
23:58and saving hundreds
23:59of lives
24:00in the process.
24:04It would go down
24:05as one of the most
24:06courageous feats
24:07of resistance
24:07throughout the entire war,
24:10one that the troops
24:11themselves would claim
24:12complete change
24:13the outcome
24:14in Manila.
24:16Manila was free again.
24:18and the Filipinos
24:18Once more independent.
24:20This is a crucial time
24:22In the war, right?
24:23Had the 1st Cavalry
24:24or the 37th Infantry Division
24:27been stopped
24:28at the edge of Manila
24:29by this minefield?
24:32The Battle of Manila
24:32could have gone
24:33a different way.
24:36Few individuals
24:37had played such a part
24:38in the liberation
24:39of their country.
24:40Even when the battle
24:42raged on,
24:42it said Joey
24:43walked among the carnage
24:44like an angel,
24:46treating the wounded
24:47and closing the eyes
24:48of the dead.
24:50But after the war,
24:52her disease
24:52made Joey
24:53An outcast again.
24:55Word quickly got out
24:56to the American
24:57health authorities
24:58that they had
24:59a person with leprosy
25:01living among
25:02otherwise healthy
25:03population
25:04at the Ateneo de Manila.
25:07And Joey was evicted.
25:10She was sent
25:11to Tala Leprosorium,
25:14which was far outside
25:15of the city of Manila
25:16and it was not a good place.
25:20Despite being awarded
25:22one of the highest
25:23civilian honors,
25:24the Medal of Freedom
25:25with Silver Palm,
25:28Joey was languishing
25:29in a leper colony
25:30far from the treatment
25:31she needed it so desperately.
25:35It was by a simple
25:36stroke of luck
25:37that she came
25:37to the attention
25:38of those who mattered.
25:40Her asking a favor
25:42of a friend,
25:43that friend asking
25:44in favor of another friend,
25:45eventually they reached
25:47the right person.
25:48Happened to be
25:49the Attorney General
25:49of the United States,
25:51Tom Clark,
25:52one of the only people
25:53who could grant
25:55Josefina Guerrero a visa
25:57under these circumstances.
25:58And that visa
25:59was eventually granted
26:00in 1949.
26:02She was invited
26:05to come to the United States
26:06to Carville
26:07so that she could get treatment
26:08for her leprosy.
26:11She became the first
26:13foreign national
26:14with leprosy
26:14to obtain a U.S. visa.
26:17We know that she saved
26:19those lives
26:19and those men
26:20after the war
26:21were some of her
26:21biggest champions
26:22in trying to get her
26:24to the United States.
26:25And they all
26:26tested
26:27that she had
26:28done an act
26:30of heroism
26:31that had saved
26:32hundreds of lives
26:34That's what they said.
26:35Joey Guerrero
26:37went on to receive
26:39two degrees
26:39and serve in the Peace Corps
26:41before living a quiet
26:43and humble life
26:44in America.
26:46Later in life,
26:47researchers would speak
26:48to her friends
26:49and they'd be shocked
26:50to learn what she had done
26:51and who she had been,
26:54the leper spy.
26:56While Joey would remain
26:57an enigma later in life,
26:59there was another woman
27:01fighting for the other side
27:03whose life was a mystery
27:04At the moment.
27:07Chinese or Japanese,
27:09transgender or cross-dressing,
27:12bisexual or straight,
27:13the life of Yoshiko Kawashima
27:16resists being reduced
27:17to labels or categories.
27:20She defies ready-made answers.
27:23The evidence is contradictory,
27:25probably because she herself
27:27was the ultimate
27:28Living contradiction.
27:30Yoshiko Kawashima
27:32was a celebrity
27:33in her own time.
27:35So reliable sources
27:37of her life
27:38are difficult to ascertain
27:40because there are
27:41so many stories about her
27:43and so many colorful stories
27:45about her.
27:46And when you have
27:47a character
27:48like Kawashima
27:50who was active
27:51in creating a persona,
27:53multiple personas,
27:54during her own life,
27:55that adds further complexity.
27:57How did this celebrity
27:59function as a spy?
28:00What kind of childhood
28:02might have fostered
28:03such a unique
28:04and enigmatic individual?
28:07Anxin Jujio Shang-Yu,
28:09as she was originally known,
28:11was born into shaky Chinese royalty
28:13in 1907.
28:14She was born in Beijing,
28:18princess of the Manchu household,
28:20just at the point
28:21during the Qing dynasty,
28:23which was the Manchu dynasty,
28:24It was about to fall.
28:26So the life she was
28:28expected to live,
28:30which was that of
28:31a princess in a dynasty
28:33that was running China,
28:35the whole of China,
28:35this massive Qing empire,
28:37was brutally ripped away from her.
28:40She was one of 38 children
28:43of Prince Shang,
28:45a Manchu prince
28:46of the ruling Qing dynasty.
28:50In 1911,
28:52the last Qing emperor
28:53was deposed
28:54when the Chinese revolution,
28:56led by Sun Yat-sen,
28:58established the Republic of China.
29:02As a result,
29:04young Shang-Yu
29:05was shipped out of Beijing
29:06and into the care
29:09of a friend of her father's,
29:11a Japanese intelligence agent,
29:13Naniwa Kawashima.
29:15Her father
29:17and a Japanese friend of hers
29:18arranged for her
29:19to be raised in Japan
29:21So she was moved
29:22at the age of seven,
29:24I think it was,
29:25to be raised
29:26as a Japanese girl,
29:27but prepared for
29:29the eventual
29:30return of Manchuria.
29:35Now living in a Tokyo mansion
29:37with a new father figure,
29:39she was rechristened
29:41with the name
29:41that would stick
29:42with her for life,
29:43Yoshiko Kawashima.
29:46From her early days
29:48in the Qing palaces
29:49of China,
29:50Kawashima was trained
29:51on the assumption
29:52that she would take
29:53on a leadership role
29:54within the declining
29:55Imperial Line.
29:58Now in Tokyo,
30:00these expectations
30:01hadn't changed
30:01and she continued
30:03her training
30:04in military
30:05and cultural skills
30:06to equip her
30:07for the re-emergence
30:08of a Manchu nation.
30:11So this was her role.
30:12She was to be raised,
30:15to be part of
30:15that new independent state.
30:17It was a long game.
30:18They were taking a child
30:20and anticipating
30:21that in decades' time
30:23she would perform
30:24some sort of role
30:25in that state.
30:26This perceived birthright
30:29would be the catalyst
30:30for her life
30:30like a spy.
30:32Now in Japan,
30:34the promise
30:34of an independent
30:35Manchuco state
30:37became a reality,
30:38but only if Japan
30:40were to win.
30:42Yoshiko would go on
30:43to use her childhood
30:44connections with China
30:46to spy on her former nation
30:48in the upcoming conflict.
30:50But first,
30:51she had a splashy
30:52announcement to make,
30:53one that would turn heads
30:55and put her in the spotlight.
30:59On the 22nd of November 1925,
31:03Yoshiko announced
31:04she had decided
31:05to cease being a woman
31:06forever.
31:09In a typical theatrical flourish,
31:11she takes a photo
31:12of herself dressed
31:13in a kimono
31:14with the traditional
31:15women's hairstyle
31:16before shaving it off entirely
31:19and putting on men's clothes.
31:21Kawashima was famous
31:22for her cross-dressing.
31:23She regularly appeared
31:25in both male military uniforms
31:28and dinner suits
31:29and appeared in public
31:31regularly in that role.
31:34Dressing as a man
31:35was one thing,
31:36but doing so
31:37in such a public fashion,
31:39given her position,
31:40hinted that there might
31:41have been more
31:42to her story.
31:42The reason is partly fashion.
31:45partly her desire
31:46for public acclaim,
31:48and partly because
31:51she probably was
31:52what would we do today
31:52Call transgender.
31:54The extent to which
31:55she could today
31:57pronounce
31:58a transgender identity
31:59is something that we wish
32:03we could know,
32:03but at that point
32:05it was seen
32:07as a fashion statement.
32:08Young women in Japan
32:09imitated her dress style
32:13because she was so popular
32:15and glamorous.
32:17Her transition
32:18from princess to spy
32:19It wasn't a smooth one, though.
32:21It's in these years
32:22that details start
32:23to get a little hazy
32:25as Kawashima disappears
32:26into the Tokyo
32:27Bohemian underworld.
32:29The things that
32:32made it difficult
32:32for her
32:33were her unusual
32:34personality,
32:35the increasing
32:36drug addiction
32:37of morphine
32:38that she was taking
32:39for an injury
32:40she sustained
32:41during a military battle.
32:43She had numerous liaisons
32:45with both men
32:46and women.
32:47She was not holding back.
32:49A Chinese princess
32:51living in Japan
32:52with an outlandish
32:53gender-fluid identity
32:54and a penchant
32:56for promiscuity.
32:57But her loyalty
32:59to country
33:00would yank her back
33:01into the traditional
33:02role of princess
33:03when her stepfather
33:05arranged a marriage
33:06to the Mongol prince
33:07Janjurjab
33:08in 1927.
33:11It was at this point
33:12that's when her spy life began.
33:15With Japan's promise
33:17of an independent
33:18Manchuku state,
33:20Yoshiko moved to China
33:21with her husband
33:22and began to inform
33:23on the movements
33:24of Chinese military
33:25for the Japanese.
33:28So Yoshiko Kawashima
33:29was famous
33:31for having provided
33:33crucial information
33:34on the whereabouts
33:35of the general
33:37who was running
33:38Manchuria
33:40at that time,
33:41Zhang Zolin.
33:42So he was on a train
33:43and she provided
33:45crucial information
33:46to the Japanese
33:47that enabled him
33:48to be assassinated
33:49on that train.
33:50The train was blown up.
33:51However, the arranged marriage
33:55wasn't going to last
33:56for the rebellious Yoshiko.
33:58She rejected the role
34:00of wife
34:01when she was married
34:02without any consent
34:04to a Mongolian prince
34:05as part of the plan
34:07to get a Mongol-Manchu
34:09alliance together
34:10That would be pro-Japanese.
34:12And that marriage
34:13only lasted two years.
34:15The newly single Yoshiko
34:17headed to Shanghai
34:18and resumed her life
34:20of drifting from bar
34:21to casino,
34:22from one relationship
34:23to another.
34:25In 1931,
34:27she received a call
34:28from the Japanese
34:28Kwantung Army
34:30that would change
34:31her life.
34:34That year,
34:35Kwantung officers
34:36Staged a false flag event.
34:37known as
34:38the Mukden Incident,
34:39in which they destroyed
34:43Japanese train lines
34:44and blamed it
34:45of Chinese saboteurs.
34:48This created a pretext
34:50for the full invasion
34:51of northeastern China
34:53and the occupation
34:54of Manchuria.
34:59Although the Japanese
35:01now controlled Manchuria,
35:02they needed to bolster
35:03their claims
35:04with a veneer
35:05of legitimacy.
35:09Yoshiko was perfect.
35:11Her Mongolian
35:12and Manchurian connections
35:13as well as her feisty spirit
35:15and talent for disguise
35:17made her a prize recruit
35:19for the Japanese.
35:22Sadly for Yoshiko,
35:23she wasn't going
35:24to get control
35:25over this new state
35:26that she had hoped for.
35:29Well, I think
35:30she genuinely thought
35:31that the Manchu core state
35:34would be a state
35:35that was run by Manchus
35:36for Manchus
35:37on Manchu territory.
35:39And it was only,
35:40you know,
35:40so I think her intentions
35:41were pretty clear,
35:44but very quickly
35:45it become apparent
35:47that the Japanese
35:49were really calling
35:49the shots
35:50that there was
35:51no independence.
35:53Yoshiko was now
35:54an active member
35:55of the new state
35:56of Manchukuo.
35:57In many ways,
35:58she became
35:58the populist figurehead.
36:02Once in position,
36:03she ramped up
36:04her espionage work
36:05for Japan,
36:06though she thought
36:07it was for the benefit
36:08of the Manchukuo state.
36:14Hoping to provoke
36:16civil unrest in Shanghai,
36:17Yoshiko would travel
36:19around town
36:19paying workers
36:20to stage violent riots,
36:22which would give
36:23Japanese troops
36:24an excuse to stride in
36:25and strengthen
36:26their position in China.
36:28Despite her
36:29clandestine activities,
36:31her popularity
36:32in the public eye
36:33never waned.
36:35Ever adaptable,
36:37the Japanese puppet
36:38masters would take
36:39full advantage
36:39of her stardom.
36:42Yoshiko Kawashima
36:43performed a really
36:44crucial role
36:45in the propaganda
36:46that the Japanese
36:47state launched
36:48for its own population
36:50to justify
36:51its expansion
36:53into Manchuria
36:53and the establishment
36:54of Manchukuo's
36:55estate.
36:56Yoshiko became
36:57crucial
36:58in all
36:59of the propaganda
37:00that was delivered
37:01to explain that.
37:03She was rolled out
37:04in Japanese media
37:06on a regular basis
37:08as the princess
37:08of the state,
37:10you know,
37:10talking about
37:11the values
37:12of Manchukuo,
37:13how important
37:14Manchukuo was.
37:231937
37:23saw the dawn
37:25of the second
37:25Sino-Japanese War
37:27and an awakening
37:28for Yoshiko
37:29who began
37:30to recognize
37:30Japanese puppetry
37:32at play
37:32in Manchuria.
37:37A sense of duty
37:39to her heritage
37:40to the Qing dynasty
37:41seemed to emerge
37:42as a response.
37:44She began protesting
37:45loudly
37:46against Japanese control
37:47and the brutal tactics
37:49they used
37:49to suppress
37:50any dissent.
37:53The increasing
37:54evidence
37:55that it was
37:56not going
37:56to be the case
37:57under the Japanese
37:58Manchukuo puppet state
38:00I think really
38:01It was a blow.
38:02to her
38:03sense of identity
38:05that she must have felt
38:06massively betrayed
38:07and I think
38:09probably felt
38:10humiliated
38:11by the roles
38:12that she had played
38:13for the Japanese
38:14in that program.
38:17Having fought
38:18for Japan
38:18in the past,
38:19the about face
38:20left her
38:21Between two worlds.
38:22China didn't trust
38:24her anymore
38:25but she was now
38:26too combative
38:27to be useful
38:28to Japan.
38:35World events
38:37determined her fate
38:38when Chinese troops
38:40marched into the city
38:41and recaptured it
38:42from the Japanese.
38:45It only took a day.
38:46for Chinese police officers
38:47to arrest Yoshiko
38:48charging her
38:50with treason.
38:51At the end of the war
38:52Kawashima found herself
38:54rounded up
38:56as a traitor
38:57by the nationalist government
38:58and imprisoned
38:59in Beijing.
39:01In the following
39:02highly publicised trial
39:04Yoshiko was labelled
39:05a race traitor.
39:07The Chinese public
39:08were baying
39:09for her blood.
39:11Outraged
39:11by the long-running
39:12Japanese assault
39:13on their country,
39:14they saw Yoshiko
39:16as a symbol
39:16of the brutal regime.
39:18For her part,
39:20Yoshiko's confessions
39:21were emblematic
39:22of the complicated
39:23political landscape
39:24at the time,
39:26full of confusions
39:27and contradictions.
39:29Was she Chinese?
39:30swept up
39:31in the brutal
39:31Japanese regime
39:33that had occupied
39:34her home
39:34In Manchuria?
39:36Or was she Japanese?
39:38meaning she couldn't
39:39be tried for treason
39:40Against the Chinese?
39:42The crowds
39:43that came to the trial
39:44were huge.
39:45They were so big
39:46that there were
39:48riots outside
39:49for people
39:49who couldn't get in
39:50to see the trial.
39:52Her fame was so huge.
39:54They'd heard so much
39:55about her
39:56and they wanted
39:56to see what the level
39:58of justice
39:58was going to be for her.
40:01Unfortunately
40:01for Yoshiko Kawashima,
40:03on 20 October 1947,
40:06she was charged
40:07with treason.
40:09On March 25, 1948,
40:11She was executed.
40:12with a single bullet
40:14to the back
40:15of the head.
40:18Her story
40:19This is one of immense tragedies.
40:20It's a story
40:21of child abuse,
40:22manipulated by forces
40:24that were way
40:25more sophisticated
40:25than she could ever be
40:26as a youngster,
40:28used and tricked
40:29and deceived
40:30by people she trusted.
40:32And many people
40:33have accepted
40:35that she is a traitor
40:36because they think
40:37Manchuria is part of China
40:38and therefore
40:39every Manchurian
40:40should be loyal
40:42to China.
40:44But from her point
40:45of view,
40:46Manchuria wasn't
40:46part of China.
40:47Manchuria was
40:48its own nation state
40:50and she was fighting
40:51for that nation state.
40:53So on that line
40:54of thinking,
40:55She's not a traitor.
40:57Yoshiko Kawashima
40:58was both an enabler
40:59and a victim
41:00of her fame
41:01and stardom.
41:03Interesting situations
41:04to balance
41:05when conducting
41:06acts of espionage.
41:06But on the other side
41:13of the world,
41:14a female spy
41:15would turn
41:16to the power
41:16of the press
41:17to pull off
41:18some of the greatest
41:19acts of espionage
41:21in the entire war.
41:28When the Japanese
41:29shot the world
41:30with an attack
41:30on Pearl Harbor,
41:32It was clear.
41:33the Americans
41:33had an intelligence
41:34and information problem.
41:36If they were
41:38to wade
41:38into this war,
41:39they needed
41:40eyes and ears
41:41network that could
41:42prevent any such
41:43attacks ever
41:44Happening again.
41:46They needed
41:47the OSS.
41:49So the OSS,
41:52which is the Office
41:53of Strategic Services
41:55and the precursor
41:56of the CIA,
41:57is founded
41:58when the U.S.
42:00enters World War II.
42:02A man named
42:04William Donovan
42:05feels that
42:07the United States
42:09badly needs
42:10an intelligence
42:11service
42:11of its own,
42:14which they model
42:15after the British
42:16Special Operations
42:17Executive.
42:18The brief
42:20was exhausting,
42:22combining research,
42:23analysis,
42:25covert operations,
42:26counterintelligence,
42:28espionage,
42:29and technical
42:30developments.
42:32Described initially
42:33by detractors
42:34as a quirky
42:35fly-by-night outfit
42:36that made stuff up
42:38as it went along,
42:39Donovan's dreamers,
42:40as they were called,
42:42created an agency
42:43unlike anything
42:44in American history.
42:45The OSS was
42:47so fascinating
42:48because when
42:49Wild Bill Donovan,
42:51his nickname,
42:53set it up,
42:54he was looking
42:56for people
42:57who could think
42:57Out of the box.
42:59He was looking
42:59for glorious amateurs.
43:01So that means
43:02anyone,
43:03circus performer,
43:05people who
43:06might be interesting,
43:07a safe cracker
43:08from prison,
43:10anyone,
43:11women,
43:12unthinkable people,
43:13just really
43:14being creative.
43:15It's into this
43:19brave new world
43:20of espionage
43:21that a journalist,
43:22Betty McIntosh,
43:23She suddenly found herself.
43:25Born in 1915
43:27in Washington,
43:27A.D.
43:28to report to parents,
43:30Betty McIntosh
43:31grew up in Hawaii.
43:33She was employed
43:34by her father
43:35at the Honolulu
43:36advertiser
43:36on the sports desk
43:38alongside him,
43:39which she loathed.
43:40But it was here
43:41she met
43:42her first husband.
43:43For a while,
43:45they lived
43:45with a Japanese couple
43:46where she became
43:47quite fluent
43:48in the language,
43:49a skill that would
43:50help to shape
43:51her future.
43:54On December 7th,
43:551941,
43:56world events
43:57I came looking for her.
44:01Betty was there,
44:03of course,
44:05when Pearl Harbor
44:06was attacked.
44:07And Betty
44:08is suddenly
44:09an on-site
44:11War correspondent.
44:12This transformed
44:14her life.
44:15Seeing the devastation
44:17that happened
44:17to her home,
44:19to Americans,
44:21it inspired her
44:22and incited her
44:24to her career
44:26in espionage.
44:28Betty soon returned
44:30to Washington, D.C.,
44:31where she was employed
44:32at the Scripps-Howard
44:33News Bureau.
44:35In 1943,
44:37she was handed
44:37an assignment
44:38to write an article
44:39on a seemingly average man
44:41working on technical
44:42advancements
44:43in sugar harvesting.
44:46As fate would have it,
44:47this man turned out
44:48to be a secret agent
44:50of the brand-new OSS.
44:53Betty must have
44:54left an impression
44:54because when
44:56The interview is over.
44:57she was asked
44:57if she would like
44:58to do something
44:59a little more interesting
45:00than simple reporting.
45:02The word spy
45:03was never mentioned.
45:05Betty replied
45:06that she might
45:07be interested
45:07if it meant
45:08Overseas travel.
45:10I can promise you that,
45:11the man said,
45:12And Betty was all in.
45:14Soon she was assigned
45:15to the Moral Operations Section,
45:17a propaganda unit
45:18working within the OSS.
45:21Betty really described
45:22the Moral Operations,
45:24what she did,
45:25as a media company
45:27rather than, you know,
45:29an intelligence outfit,
45:30And that makes sense.
45:32They are planting stories,
45:34They're writing stories.
45:34They're doing graphic design.
45:36You can see how that
45:38is sort of more
45:39media-related,
45:41but the intent
45:43is nothing but
45:45intelligence operation.
45:49Betty described
45:50the staff lounging
45:52around the office
45:52as mostly newspaper men,
45:54radio people,
45:55cartoonists,
45:56and writers.
45:58This eclectic group
45:59of individuals
46:00was tasked
46:01with producing
46:01what they called
46:02Black propaganda.
46:04Working on black propaganda,
46:07which means
46:07it's not associated
46:09with a government,
46:11and this is creating
46:12materials that will
46:14influence the way
46:15your enemy is thinking,
46:17so she is coming up
46:19with things
46:20that will be debilitating
46:22to the enemy.
46:27For her first mission,
46:29She was posted to Delhi.
46:30to thwart the Japanese
46:32invasion of India.
46:34Tasks with intercepting
46:36and altering Japanese mail
46:37meant for their soldiers,
46:39she was initially
46:40given a typewriter
46:41and told to get to work.
46:44But she knew simply
46:45typing up reports
46:46I wasn't going to cut it.
46:48They needed the real deal.
46:51That included
46:51the exact same materials
46:53the Japanese themselves
46:54would use
46:55for writing and printing.
46:56The means to get
46:58such materials
46:59wasn't pretty,
46:59But they were at war.
47:02She would bribe
47:03Burmese agents
47:03with doses of opium
47:05to kill Japanese
47:06mail couriers
47:07and bring her bags
47:09of mail
47:09so the team
47:10could doctor
47:10the messages.
47:12Only,
47:13a really brilliant idea
47:15that Betty worked on
47:17how can we get
47:19Japanese soldiers
47:20To surrender?
47:21And they came up
47:23with the idea
47:23of planting,
47:25forging an order
47:26from the emperor
47:27saying,
47:29it is time,
47:30everyone should surrender
47:32when captured.
47:33And they planted
47:34the forged document
47:36on a dead man
47:38for Japanese soldiers
47:40to find.
47:41And Betty's expertise
47:44was in making sure
47:45the language was correct,
47:47that the paper was correct,
47:49that the ink was correct.
47:50Many of the stunts
47:51Betty and the team pulled
47:53were like firing shots
47:54into the dark.
47:56Who knew if they hit the target
47:57Or achieved nothing at all?
48:00But soon,
48:00Japanese soldiers
48:01were emerging
48:02from the jungles
48:02with copies of the fake order
48:04in their hands,
48:06rare proof
48:07that the propaganda mission
48:08had worked.
48:11Having achieved
48:12so much in India,
48:14Betty boarded a plane
48:15set for China,
48:16deep into enemy territory,
48:19with a mission
48:19of taking propaganda
48:21to the airwaves.
48:22Betty is sent to China
48:25where she is tasked
48:26with creating
48:27false radio signals
48:29and radio reporting
48:32that will impact
48:34The Japanese.
48:35And that is where
48:37she creates
48:38a fortune-telling story
48:40that has incredibly
48:44dramatic resonance.
48:46among the various characters
48:50the OSS had
48:51on their books,
48:52one popular guy
48:53was a fake fortune teller
48:54who would predict
48:56doom and gloom
48:57in the hopes
48:57of lowering morale
48:58in China and Japan.
49:02One particular day
49:03in 1945,
49:05Betty's supervisor
49:06asked her
49:06to come up
49:07with something big,
49:08a broadcast
49:09that would terrify
49:11The Japanese.
49:11They threw around
49:14the idea
49:14of an earthquake
49:15or tsunami,
49:16But it didn't feel right.
49:18What did she land on?
49:19would defy belief.
49:22Her fake fortune-teller
49:23hit the airwaves
49:24on August 6, 1945,
49:27with his prediction.
49:29Something terrible
49:30is going to happen
49:31to Japan.
49:33We have checked
49:33the stars
49:34and there is something
49:35we can't even mention
49:36because it is
49:37so dreadful
49:38and it is going
49:39to eradicate
49:40one whole area
49:42of Japan.
49:50By incredible chance,
49:52a few hours later,
49:53the atomic bombs
49:54were dropped
49:55and Hiroshima
49:56was gone.
49:57Betty maintained
50:06It was pure coincidence.
50:07that the bomb
50:08was dropped
50:08on the day
50:09the broadcast
50:10went on air.
50:15After the war
50:16and the disbanding
50:17of the OSS,
50:19Betty tried writing
50:20for magazines
50:20and a little journalism
50:22until a chance meeting
50:24with the director
50:25of the CIA
50:26brought her back
50:27into espionage.
50:29Forty years later,
50:30the mother of misinformation
50:32retired in 1973.
50:36Betty passed away
50:37peacefully in June 2015,
50:40aged 100.
50:43Shining bright
50:44among the heroes
50:45of the 20th century conflict
50:46were the women
50:47who fought the establishment
50:49as well as the enemy,
50:51powered by a sense of duty
50:53to do what they thought
50:54That was right.
50:55not all of them
50:56were angels,
50:57though some
50:58came very close.
51:00Yet they all
51:01made their unique
51:02mark on history,
51:03fiercely charting
51:04a course
51:05through the fog of war
51:06and lighting the way
51:07for future women
51:09to follow.
51:09in a sire of the
51:22history of the world who
51:24was left
51:25of May
51:25for first
51:25farms
51:26were
51:26one
51:26of the
51:28as the
51:28was that
51:28should be
51:29Not here.
51:30That's what I
51:31were around here.
51:31Amen.
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