Prelude to War

The US Navy's On-the-Roof Gang, Volume 1

By: Matt Zullo

Narrated by: Joseph Robert Courtemanche

The US Navy's On-the-Roof Gang, Volume 1: Prelude to War is an historical novel based on the unknown true-life story of the "On-the-Roof Gang", the US Navy's fledgling radio intelligence organization in the years leading up to World War II. It is based on the real life of Harry Kidder, a US Navy radioman who first discovered and deciphered Japanese katakana telegraphic code while stationed in the Philippines in the 1920s, discovering the he was listening to Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) radio communications. Kidder strongly believed in the future of radio intelligence, and a chance meeting with Lieutenant Laurance Safford led to the birth of the Navy's Radio Intelligence community.

Kidder taught others the nascent art of intercepting IJN communications on the roof of the Main Navy Building in Washington, DC. From 1928 to 1941, 176 sailors and marines attended this training and were then stationed as radio intercept operators around the Pacific. These men would become known as the On-the-Roof Gang and were charged with keeping track of the IJN as they prepared for war with the United States. The circumstances of America's entry into World War II hinged on success or failure of the On-the-Roof Gang, and Harry Kidder knew this.

On-the-Roof Gang: Prelude to War concludes with the "date which will live in infamy", December 7, 1941.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020, 2023 Matthew T Zullo (P)2023 Matthew T Zullo

Amazing story of little known important work

When I began listening to the audio version of this story, I expected it to be historical fiction and was surprised to find that it is a very accurate story about a number of dedicated men and a few women who worked under the radar to develop and utilize a clever system crucial to the history of American cryptology. Since I had worked in Maryland myself in this field some years back, I was captivated with all the detail that was so fascinating and is now unclassified so that we all might learn of it. The story was very well written and entertaining, and it was greatly enhanced in this Audible version read by Joseph Courtemanche. There were many details that might have been confusing to the general reader (military and cryptologic acronyms), but these did not detract from the story and actually made it more real for the educated reader. It was not just an historical recitation at all, though, since the actual story was both compelling and even heartbreaking at times. Kudos to the author for all the research it must have entailed and the manner in which he put the story together…and also to the excellent reader for using just the right cadence and feeling in his telling us this incredible tale!

What a wonderful homage!

What a wonderful homage to this group of men who annonymously protected and defended our country! Really, nobody was allowed to know this was going on! These books provide a lot of behind-the-scenes, real-life accounts of real troops and what they had to deal with...although, I'm sure there are still many factoids one would not want to recall. I've always had a tough time with my history lessons in general, so I did need to concentrate pretty hard to follow along. To remedy that, I focused on the men's individual accounts, making it become more of a novel. Because of this, I was either glad or sad for each fellow, depending on the outcome of their own experience. I continually tried to keep in mind that they were not fictional, but real people, living real lives. However, there were definitely a couple of moments when I'd shout out "Dude, don't do that!" These books also bring to light a better understanding of why people feel the way they do about other people, while trying to overcome those thoughts. I can understand the fear Americans must have been experiencing at the time.
Thanks, Matt, for researching and compiling these events into something I thoroughly enjoyed!

Details of the origination of intercept value

I truly enjoyed the infinite details of the initial beginning of intercept operations. Nothing was of any dislike to me.

Enjoyed the book and audiobook

Read the book when it came out and bought the audiobook so I could revisit the stories while exercising. Listened to the sample first to make sure that the narrator had a voice that I could listen to for hours. The narration does the book justice, I enjoyed it as much as reading the book myself.

Outstanding!

Excellent book. I expected this to read like a history lesson, but was quite impressed to find it presented as a novel. The background and detail provided was fascinating and a great listen.