DOWNFALL - THE INVASION OF JAPAN

Without a swift end to the war in sight, the Allies planned a gruelling campaign on the Japanese home islands – a potentially costly operation avoided only by the use of nuclear weapons and Japan’s surrender

By 1945 it was apparent that Japan would inevitably lose the Pacific War in a grinding, attritional struggle. Nevertheless, its military fought with dogged determination, with most of its soldiers defending to the death rather than surrender. In desperation, the Japanese introduced the kamikaze suicide air attacks that took a severe toll on US Navy warships. Still, large formations of American heavy bombers, taking off from airfields in the Marianas, devastated Japanese cities with intense raids.

In February, US Marines swept ashore on the island of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, only 1,200km from Tokyo. After more than a month of fighting, Iwo Jima was secure. All strategic effort was aimed toward an eventual Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands. However, there was still another amphibious operation necessary before the invasion of Japan. In what turned out to be the final battle of the Pacific War, American Marines and Army troops landed on the island of Okinawa, a mere 550km from the home island of Kyushu, on 1 April 1945.