Invasion Information
Planning
Strategy
Defenses
Casualties
Books
1945
Burning Mountain
Codename Downfall
Death Is Lighter Than a Feather
Downfall
MacArthur's War
The Invasion of Japan
| Operation Olympic > Books > Codename Downfall |
Codename Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan
Should the United States have used atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? This remains, to this day, one of the most controversial issues of the Second World War. Those who believe that the atomic bombs should not have been used, most often argue that Japan was close to the point of surrender anyway, while those who believe the use of atomic bombs was correct, usually point to the fanatical Japanese resistance in the Pacific campaign, and the expected massive casualties (both Allied and Japanese) that would have resulted from an invasion of the home islands.
This book offers a fresh perspective on this question, and some interesting insights into what an invasion of Japan might have been like. The general thrust of the book is that an invasion would have been a bloodbath with perhaps as many as a million or more Allied casualties, and several million Japanese casualties. This argument is based on several factors:
- The Japanese government was not apparently preparing to surrender, but rather
to fight what they considered a decisive battle (which they called
"Operation Ketsugo", which means "Operation Decision")
against the invasion.
- The Japanese government appeared willing and able to mobilize virtually the
entire population of the home islands (both civilians and military) to fight the invading
Allied forces. This included, for example, mobilizing virtually all able-bodied
healthy men and women, and even arming them with muskets, bows, and spears.
- The Japanese had correctly anticipated the Allied invasion plans, and had prepared
large forces to meet them.
- The US military expected severe casualties among their own troops (demonstrated for
example by manufacturing nearly half a million Purple Heart medals).
While of course, these were expected figures, there expection was not purely a guess,
but an estimate based on recent experience of warfare in the Pacific.
- The US military was considering using atomic weapons and possibly chemical weapons (gas),
to assist the invasion.
- Destruction of the Japanese transport infrastructure during invasion could have resulted in famine among the Japanese civilian population.
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