DRAGOON August 15, 1944323 British and Commonwealth corps of up to fi ve divisions and a French corps were slated to participate in the CORONET invasion.. Allied ground forces were to be
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British and Commonwealth corps of up to fi ve divisions and a French corps were
slated to participate in the CORONET invasion Allied ground forces were to be
supported by massive air and sea assets, including Royal Navy and other Western
Allied ships in support of the main force provided by the U.S Navy
General Douglas MacArthur would have commanded the planned invasions, with
Admiral Richmond K Turner designated to take charge of amphibious operations
The Japanese were prepared to defend against DOWNFALL under their Ketsu-Goˉ
plan, for which they readied 10,000 aircraft, with 5,000 intended for kamikaze
pi-lots Hundreds of suicide attack boats were also readied, along with Fukuryu suicide
divers The main defense would be provided by 10 Japanese Army divisions on
Ky-ushu alone Two million soldiers altogether garrisoned the home islands, backed
by millions of ill-trained and poorly equipped militia of dubious military worth
It was known from intelligence intercepts that the Japanese would fi ght all out at
least against OLYMPIC, but that some top leaders were leaning toward acceptance
of some kind of limited surrender It should be remembered that most military
planners preparing the OLYMPIC and CORONET plans were unaware of the
exis-tence of the Anglo-American nuclear weapons program They therefore planned the
DOWNFALL operation in the full expectation that it would be carried out
The invasion was canceled when Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945,
follow-ing stunnfollow-ing atomic attacks on Hiroshima on August 6, and Nagasaki on August 9,
surrounding the Red Army’s launch of its Manchurian offensive operation on August 8
It is now known that the Joint Chiefs of Staff position shifted away from a June
recommendation to President Harry Truman to approve OLYMPIC Admiral Ernest
King was joined by Admiral Chester Nimitz in early August in opposing the invasion
plan: the Navy command wanted to bomb, bombard, and blockade Japan instead
Therefore, it is not certain the operation would have been carried out But nor is
certain it would have been canceled had Japan not surrendered when it did Finally,
it is not clear what the cost in lives would have been if bombing and blockade over
many more months were the chosen instrument of coercion of Japan, rather than
the sharper end to the war produced by dropping atomic bombs In any case, as the
estimated cost in American lives of carrying out OLYMPIC rose due to the massive
Japanese build-up on Kyushu, and in the face of the horrendous battle experience
on Okinawa, Truman agreed to drop two atomic bombs on Japan
See also Sho-Goˉ
Suggested Reading: Richard Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese
Em-pire (1999)
DP “Displaced Person.” Western Allied (and later, United Nations
Organiza-tion) term for an external refugee, that is, one displaced from his or her home
country
DRAGOON (AUGUST 15, 1944) Code name for the invasion of Mediterranean
France by the Western powers It was code named “ANVIL” during the planning
phase Winston Churchill vehemently opposed the plan to the bitter end, arguing