It is claimed that Kruger , a radio engineer employed by the Americans at Guadalcanal during WWll , drew attention to intercepted Japanese wireless messages which resulted in Operation Vengeance , the shooting down of the plane on which Admiral Yamamoto , who orchestrated the devastating attack on Pearl Harbour , was travelling on a flight from Rabaul to an island base near Bougainville .
In previous Little Darwin posts we told how Kruger had been brought to Australia by his Russian-Jewish parents. Although he became a radio engineer, he was rejected for Australian military service because he wore glasses. The Americans gladly signed him up .
His post- war experiences included "running " a CIA radio station in American Samoa and operations with the Israeli leader, Moshe Dayan . He worked in Water Resources in Darwin and retired to Portuguese East Timor .
Over the years, he was involved with Wesley-Smith in the Timor struggle . During a meeting in Kruger's Darwin flat , Jose Ramos-Horta , the Fretilin founder and Nobel Peace Prize recipient , is seen below shaking Kruger's hand ; he appointed Kruger a major in the East Timor Barefoot Liberation Army !
