Operation Downfall: Difference between revisions
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
DOWNFALL had two main subsidiary operations, [[Operation OLYMPIC]] against the southern island of Kyushu, and [[Operation CORONET]], which would move against the [[Kanto Plain]] containing [[Tokyo]]. Only a few DOWNFALL planners were aware of the [[Manhattan Project]], the U.S. nuclear weapons development program, but plans were evolving to use nuclear weapons in tactical support. | DOWNFALL had two main subsidiary operations, [[Operation OLYMPIC]] against the southern island of Kyushu, and [[Operation CORONET]], which would move against the [[Kanto Plain]] containing [[Tokyo]]. Only a few DOWNFALL planners were aware of the [[Manhattan Project]], the U.S. nuclear weapons development program, but plans were evolving to use nuclear weapons in tactical support. | ||
==Operation OLYMPIC== | ==Operation OLYMPIC== | ||
Tentatively scheduled for 1 November 1945, the first phase of DOWNFALL would involve multiple landings in [[Kyushu]]. | |||
The Japanese expected that they would throw all possible resourcces into the defense, as they were uncertain they could stop an attack on the Kanto Plain. Regional command for the defense was under Second General Army, equivalent to a Western [[army group]], headquartered in [[Hiroshima|Hiroshima Castle]] before August 1945. | |||
==Operation CORONET== | ==Operation CORONET== | ||
Revision as of 15:24, 20 June 2010
Operation DOWNFALL was the overall planning U.S. planning term for the invasion of the home islands of Japan, should forcible entry and ground combat be necessary. Air, naval, and submarine operations, including the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, led to a Japanese surrender, making DOWNFALL unnecessary.
DOWNFALL had two main subsidiary operations, Operation OLYMPIC against the southern island of Kyushu, and Operation CORONET, which would move against the Kanto Plain containing Tokyo. Only a few DOWNFALL planners were aware of the Manhattan Project, the U.S. nuclear weapons development program, but plans were evolving to use nuclear weapons in tactical support.
Operation OLYMPIC
Tentatively scheduled for 1 November 1945, the first phase of DOWNFALL would involve multiple landings in Kyushu.
The Japanese expected that they would throw all possible resourcces into the defense, as they were uncertain they could stop an attack on the Kanto Plain. Regional command for the defense was under Second General Army, equivalent to a Western army group, headquartered in Hiroshima Castle before August 1945.