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Douglas, William Sholto (1893–1969) DOUBLE-L SWEEP See mines; minesweepers DOUGLAS, WILLIAM SHOLTO (1893–1969) RAF Air Chief Marshal A Great War fighter ace, Douglas was deputy chief of air staff during the Battle of Britain in 1940 He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding as head of Fighter Command in November 1940, and was in charge of fighter defenses during the Blitz He served in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean from January 1943, then as head of RAF Coastal Command from 1944 to 1945 DOWDING, HUGH (1882–1970) RAF Air Chief Marshal Originally trained as an officer of artillery, he took to the air as an austere, even aloof, member of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I Dowding became head of Fighter Command in 1936 In that role he was principally responsible for the RAF’s edge in radar and ground-to-air control during the Battle of Britain in 1940 He was responsible for trenchant advice to Neville Chamberlain not to throw away additional fighter squadrons in Norway and to Winston Churchill not to the same in France once the Battle of France was lost by the end of May 1940 Dowding was nearing retirement age even before the great summer fight with the Luftwaffe, to which he made an invaluable contribution But he was not without critics, notably those such as Leigh-Mallory who championed the “Big Wing” approach to concentrated fighter defense Dowding was pushed out of Fighter Command on November 24, while the Blitz was still underway He was treated quite shabbily, especially given his enormous service in the RAF’s and the British nation’s hour of greatest need In July 1942, he formally retired DOWNFALL Code name of the planned invasion of Japan’s home islands It was subdivided into discrete invasions of Kyushu and Honshu U.S 6th Army and the Marines would provide 14 combat divisions for landings on Kyushu in OLYMPIC, a huge amphibious operation based in the Philippines and Okinawa OLYMPIC was to be an all-American show on land, though other Western Allied naval assets would be involved It was originally scheduled for September 1, 1945, but was rescheduled to November Not all Kyushu would be occupied, just enough of a lodgement to secure air bases for land-based aircraft to support the invasion of Honshu by over 25 combat divisions in an operation code named CORONET CORONET was set to take place on December 1, 1945 It was rescheduled for March 1, 1946, once logistical problems and resistance on Okinawa forced a reconsideration of plans The main assault was to be carried out by U.S 8th and 10th Armies, which were already in the Pacific U.S 1st Army was in Germany but was pulled out of fighting on May 1, one week before the German surrender, to ready for embarkation to the Pacific Some 1.5 million Americans and half a million additional troops from various Western Allied nations were designated for transfer to the Pacific theater That prospect embittered many who felt they had “done their bit” but were told they could not yet go home An oversized 322
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