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DRAGOON (August 15, 1944) British and Commonwealth corps of up to five 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 pilots 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 Kyushu 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 fight 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 existence 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, following stunning 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 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 Empire (1999) DP “Displaced Person.” Western Allied (and later, United Nations Organization) 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 323
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