Operation DOWNFALL - the invasion that was never launched.

[don5]

Great job Paladin! I read somewhere that we are still using the Purple Heart medals that were made in anticipation of casualties during the invasion of Japan. Great article and very interesting.

 

[goldenlight]

Wow, amazing post, PALADIN85020. I love WWII history, and this is an area I knew VERY little about.

I've only read bits and pieces of the American plan, before, and I've NEVER seen the analysis of how well the Japanese would have been able to defend the home islands.

It would have been an incredible blood-bath, on both sides, with the Japanese civilian population taking the brunt of the casualties from the American mass bombings, using conventional bombs and incendiaries.

By dropping the two atomic bombs, the lives saved may have numbered from the hundreds of thousands, into the million and above range.

I have heard this stated many times, but I never seen the 'alternative plan' laid out like this, ever before.

Great post. The best post I've ever read, on ANY forum.

I've saved it, to read again. It's too much information to really absorb properly, at one sitting.

 

[williamlayton]

The concept presented by many that the Japanese could be forced into submission and surrender by navel blockade was dismissed because most feared that we did not have the staying power to bring this to fruition.
Most demanded that this was at least a 2/3 year wait and those in the know knew the Japanese were near completion of their own "nuke".
Invasion or Atomic warfare seemed to be the most realistic choices.
Blessings

 

[cmort666]

The concept presented by many that the Japanese could be forced into submission and surrender by navel blockade was dismissed because most feared that we did not have the staying power to bring this to fruition.
Most demanded that this was at least a 2/3 year wait and those in the know knew the Japanese were near completion of their own "nuke".
Invasion or Atomic warfare seemed to be the most realistic choices.
Blessings

Every RELIABLE source I've seen says that the Japanese were a LONG way from building what we'd recognize as an "atomic bomb". On the other than, like the Germans, they probably had the ability to build some sort of radiological "dirty bomb".

While Japanese society as a whole probably would have collapsed before they got nuclear weapons, they certainly had the ability to produce chemical and biological weapons. In fact, they had tested such weapons extensively on the mainland, and indeed operationally in China. They also had multiple delivery systems, two of which were actually successfully used against the United States. Both balloon bombs and Seiran submarine launched float planes dropped incendiary bombs on the United States. The balloon bombs were in fact designed to carry biological weapons. Had both been rearmed with chemical or biological weapons and redirected towards west coast cities, the could have caused incredible panic and disruption.

A passive blockade without an invasion or atomic bombings would have allowed the Japanese to continue their asymmetrical attacks on the United States, probably with chemical and biological weapons.

 

[peyton]

I think the US military would of had issues with defending themselves against armed women and children that were definitely planning on protecting their homeland!
My father in law served on a ship as a Army radioman, (go figure), his ship had to dodge the kamikeze airplanes and won an heroism medal for scampering up the radio tower to fix the antenna when it got shot up during an air attack.
John came home, got a job, raised a family and never talked about the war, just like the millons of WWII vets. He only spoke of what he did during the war to my brother in law and me, because we were both Army Vets as well. All that time in a ship and he never placed a foot on Japanese soil.

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

This article proved to me beyond shadow of a doubt that the use of nukes was not only necessary but good for both sides and to be blunt, saved Japan from itself. The ill informed who decry our use of them just had their arguments rendered a mute point.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

The air generals argued that The Bomb was THE weapon they needed to conduct a truly effective strategic bombing campaign and mass production of them would eliminate the need for a ground campaign.
After Hiroshima Truman promised a "rain of ruin." Japanese scientists were able to convince Hirohito that this was a weapon against which there was NO defense.

 

[jasonfreeland]

Read the book 1945 by Robert Conroy if your interested in how the operations might have gone. In the book a group of army officers kidnap Hirohito and the surrender speech is never broadcast, despite the bombs being dropped. The guy does alternate history pretty well, but unfortunately he has passed on at this point. He really gets into the heads of the key figures of the time.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

A group of diehards did try to prevent the "Jewel Voice" broadcast but it had been pre-recorded, the discs smuggled out of the Imperial Palace.
Hirohito spoke in such archaic Court Japanese-think Middle English-that probably 99% of those who heard him-and they had never heard him before-couldn't understand him. A translator then announced, yes Japan was surrendering.

 

[jasonfreeland]

A group of diehards did try to prevent the "Jewel Voice" broadcast but it had been pre-recorded, the discs smuggled out of the Imperial Palace.
Hirohito spoke in such archaic Court Japanese-think Middle English-that probably 99% of those who heard him-and they had never heard him before-couldn't understand him. A translator then announced, yes Japan was surrendering.

Yep, they get the records too (in the book).

 

[Onomea]

My father was a Marine on Okinawa when the bombs dropped. He believed it saved his life.

 

[Autonomous]

Starvation was happening in Japan and had the war continued, many, maybe millions more of them would have succumbed to it in addition to combat casualties.

Those awful atom bombs saved lives.

 

[LittleAugieMo]

Lots of interesting reading& statements.....but at this pointnin the Pacific I doubt if any Japanese were " well fed".....jus sayin

 

[fordson]

For those interested this book (DOWNFALL) should be on your reading list.

 

[Harv 24]

This article proved to me beyond shadow of a doubt that the use of nukes was not only necessary but good for both sides and to be blunt, saved Japan from itself. The ill informed who decry our use of them just had their arguments rendered a mute point.

Agree, read the book titled OP Downfall, and you will realize that dropping the bombs was necessary. Anyone who says they were ready to surrender is clueless. The Japanese plan was to inflict as many casualties as the could, hoping we would finally have had enough and would settle for a conditional peace.

It was not to show the Russians, who already knew about the bomb.

 

[Harv 24]

For those interested this book (DOWNFALL) should be on your reading list.

Yup, that's the one, eye opening to say the least.

 

[erikpolcrack]

Over the years I have run across references to several plans put forth by the Navy and the Army Air Force to precede or replace the ground invasion. These plans were developed in ignorance of the Manhattan project. Their goal was to maximize Japanese casualties while minimizing US casualties. They involved attacking the Japanese transportation system in a way to cripple their food distribution system, isolating the food-producing regions from the population centers. In addition, all food production areas were to be attacked with defoliants and various plant-destroying fungi. One source claimed Agent Orange of Vietnam fame was actually developed as part of this effort. Sit back and watch them starve was the goal of the plan.

 

[sjmjax]

Thanks for your article.

Sad thing to me is that the people who opposed or criticized the use of the atomic weapons don't seem to grasp the consequences of the alternative in terms of life lost (American, Allies & Japanese) and utter destruction of a country and its environment.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi
Dad joined the Army Air Corps in June 1941 and went to Weather Observer and then Forecasting School at Chanute AFB. He was at Mitchell Field for the Pearl Harbor attack. He went overseas in a Dutch Cargo Ship the Tjisadane and served in Fiji, Wallis Island, and Guadalcanal (in 1944 and 45). He was in Panama training on using Radar on a B-29 to do weather forecasting when the bombs were dropped.

I have two quotes from Dad (he passed in 2011). After reading a book written by or at least with the last RAF survivor from WW1, he said that if the boys who would be fighting were the ones to discuss going to war, we wouldn't have any wars.

The second one was "If killing everyone in Japan saved one American Life it would be worth it, especially since it could have been mine. They started the war, not us."

Later

 

[jaguargolf]

How many troops did Japan have in China when they surrendered?

Towards the end, Japan was starving to the point where there are accounts of guards eating POW's.

 

[Kinman]

Thanks John, Excellent history lesson. My father and father in law both never saw combat in WWII, both were in the Coast Guard, both died just short of their 70th birthday. My father in law was a ship's captain with American President Lines, worked his way up from the deck with navigation training in the Coasties. He had spoken at great length about the proposed Japanese invasion that was cut short by the Atomic Bomb, he never gave it an operational name. His working history with APL had him spending much of his time back and forth to Japan a great deal of the time. He had developed sincere friendships with the Japanese and had a great deal of respect for their overall sense of being. He had stressed that they would fight to the very end with pitch-forks if need be and it would be a blood bath on both sides and would forever change the way our countries looked at each other, similarly with the animosity between Korea and Japan and both Korea and Japan with China. In my own way I have a great deal of respect for nearly all of the Asian peoples, while my people were running around in fur beating each other over the heads with clubs their people were developing high levels of education, culture and science.

 

[Muddyboot]

It makes me wonder, (while sipping my Burbon) if the invasion happened, how many people we know who would have never existed. That's a lot of dads who would never come home.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Rutgers Professor Paul Fussell wrote an essay entitled "Hooray for the Atom Bomb !" He was a platoon leader in the 104th Infantry Division in the ETO, as soon as the fighting stopped there the 104th along with other late war divisions was shipped back to the States to start training for the invasion. When they heard the Bomb had been dropped they knew the war was over.
Hirohito-who had some scientific knowledge-told his people that "the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage, is, indeed, incalculable , taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation....."

 

[gym cat]

They started it----- We ended it

 

[soFlaNative]

Any word on the OP Paladin?
John hasn't been around since late April.

 

[rwsmith]

I had never discounted the possibility of MASSIVE kamakazi attacks. And I read recently that more Ohka bombs had been sent to the Pacific than ever saw combat, but never got to the front on the transport ships that were being sunk before they could get through. It's guaranteed that many would have been deployed from the Japanese mainland.

THANKS for a great post!

 

[Deke Thornton]

Outstanding post.

Both my grandfathers were Pacific war navy vets (one Seabee, one on a destroyer) who would have been involved in the invasion of Japan.

One fact I didn't see anyone mention (apologies if I missed it) is that the US struck so many Purple Heart medals in anticipation of casualties from the invasion that the stockpile wasn't used up until the 1990s. That period includes the Korean and Vietnam wars. The bombs absolutely saved lives, Japanese as well as American.

One other thing that needs to be mentioned is the Soviet declaration of war on Japan on August 8, two days after Hiroshima and one day before Nagasaki. The Soviet onslaught in Manchuria the following day also helped convince the Emperor that Japan could not prevail. Japan had originally assumed that the Soviets wouldn't be ready for major action against them until 1946, this disaster piled on top of the A-bombings and inevitable US invasion of the home islands made it clear beyond any shadow of a doubt that Japan was finished.

 

[Greyman50]

Met Tibbets and Allbury years ago, talked to them and got them to autograph some pics Allbury was Co- Pilot of Enola Gay and was how he was Pilot of Bocs Car. Remarkable men.