Wilfred J "Jasper" Holmes was a US Naval officer, one of the Station HYPO staff, who had the idea of faking a water supply failure on Midway Island in 1942.
13 Facts About Wilfred Holmes
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Wilfred Holmes suggested using an unencrypted emergency warning, in the hope of provoking a Japanese response, thus establishing whether Midway was a target.
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Wilfred Holmes graduated from the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, 1922, and had a master's degree in engineering from Columbia University.
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Wilfred Holmes served as a line officer in the Navy, in submarines.
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Wilfred Holmes wrote submarine adventure stories for the Saturday Evening Post and technical articles under the pen name Alec Hudson.
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In 1941, Lieutenant Wilfred Holmes was recalled to duty and assigned to Station HYPO, which was breaking Japanese codes, especially their naval cipher JN-25.
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Wilfred Holmes was promoted to lieutenant commander on February 25,1942.
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Wilfred Holmes had the idea of faking a water supply failure on Midway.
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Wilfred Holmes suggested using an unencrypted emergency warning, in the hope of provoking a Japanese response, thus establishing whether AF was Midway.
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Wilfred Holmes' ruse worked and led to the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway.
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Wilfred Holmes became chairman of the department of engineering and mathematics at the University of Hawaii after the war, then Dean of Engineering, Dean of Administration, and Vice President, retiring from the university in 1965.
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Wilfred Holmes was author of books on submarine warfare and naval intelligence.
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Wilfred Holmes died on January 7,1986, and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu.