Orders of battle for Downfall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The units slated to participate in Operation Downfall—the Allied invasions of Japan—as of about August 1945.

Contents 1 Order of Battle for Olympic 1.1 Allied 1.2 Japan 2 Order of Battle for Coronet 2.1 Allied 2.2 Japan 3 Notes

[edit] Order of Battle for Olympic

[edit] Allied

• United States
  • U.S. Sixth Army (Gen. Walter Krueger)
    • Yakushima and Koshiki Retto — 40th Inf. Div. (Brig. Gen. Donald Myers) (22,000 men)
    • Tanegashima — 158th Inf. RCT (Brig. Gen. Hanford MacNider) (7,600 men)
    • Miyazaki — U.S. I Corps (Maj. Gen. Innis P. Smith) (95,000 men):
      • 25th Inf. Div., 33rd Inf. Div., 41st Inf. Div.
    • Ariake — U.S. XI Corps (Maj. Gen. Charles P. Hall) (113,000 men):
      • 1st Cav. Div., 43rd Inf. Div., Americal Div., 112th Cav. Reg.
    • Kushikino — U.S. V Amphib Corps (Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt) (99,000 men):
      • 2nd Marine Div., 3rd Marine Div., 5th Marine Div.
    • 6th Army reserves — U.S. IX Corps (Maj. Gen. Charles W. Ryder) (79,000 men):
      • 77th Inf. Div. 81st Inf. Div., 98th Inf. Div.;
    • 11th Abn. Div. (Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Swing) (15,000 men)

• • U.S. 3rd Fleet (Adm. William F. Halsey):
    • 20 CV and CVL;
    • 9 BB;
    • 26 CB, CA, CL, CLAA;
    • 75 DD

• • U.S. 5th Fleet (Adm. Raymond A. Spruance):
    • 36 CVE;
    • 11 BB;
    • 26 CA and CL;
    • 387 DD and DE;
    • 394 AKA, AP, APA, APD, APH;
    • 977 LSD, LSM, LST, and LSV

• • U.S. 7th Fleet (Adm. Thomas C. Kinkaid):

• • Far East Air Forces (Gen. George C. Kenney) (119,000 men):
    • US Fifth, Seventh, Thirteenth Air Force
      • 14 bomber groups, 10 fighter groups

• • U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces (Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay)
    • U.S. Twentieth Air Force (Lt. Gen. Nathan Twining) (77,000 men)
      • 1,000 B-29 Superfortresses
    • U.S. Eighth Air Force (Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle)

• British Commonwealth
  • British Pacific Fleet (operating as part of 3rd Fleet):
    • 6 CV;
  • Tiger Force (detached from RAF Bomber Command):
    • 480–580 Avro Lancaster bombers (about half to be used as tankers)
  • Australian First Tactical Air Force
    • 20 fighter/attack squadrons from the Royal Australian Air Force

[edit] Japan

• • 16th Area Army[~US Army] (Lt. Gen. Yokoyama Isamu) (600,000 men)
    • Northern Kyushu—56th Army[~US Corps]:
      • 145th Div., 312th Div., 351st Div., 124th IM Brig.;
      • 57th Div. (20,000 men), 4th Tank Brig.¹
    • Southeastern Kyushu—57th Army (Lt. Gen. Nishihara Kanji) (150,000 men):
      • Tanegashima—109th IM Brig. (5,900 men)
      • Miyazaki—154th Div., 156th Div.; 212th Div.¹ (55,000 men)
      • Ariake—86th Div., 98th IM Brig., 1 reg., 3 inf. bat. (29,000 men)
      • 25th Div., 5th Tank Brig., 6th Tank Brig. ¹
    • Southwestern Kyushu—40th Army (Lt. Gen. Nakazawa Mitsuo) (85,000 men):
      • 303rd Div. (12,000 men) (Sendai); 206th Div. (Fukiage); 146th Div., 125th IM Brig. (S. Satsuma Peninsula); 77th Div.¹, 1 tank reg.
    • 216th Div.¹, 4 brig.

• • 5,000 aircraft assigned as kamikazes, 5,000 aircraft available for kamikaze service, 7,000 aircraft in need of repair

• • 100 Koryu-class midget submarines, 250 Kairyu-class midget submarines, 1,000 Kaiten manned torpedoes, 800 Shinyo suicide boats

[edit] Order of Battle for Coronet

[edit] Allied

• United States
  • U.S. First Army (Gen. Courtney H. Hodges):
    • U.S. III Amphibious Corps:
      • 1st Marine Div., 4th Marine Div., 6th Marine Div.
    • U.S. XXIV Corps:
      • 7th Inf. Div., 27th Inf. Div., 96th Inf. Div.,
    • Follow-on corps:
      • 5th Inf. Div., 44th Inf. Div., 86th Inf. Div.

• • U.S. Eighth Army (Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger):
    • U.S. X Corps:
      • 24th Inf. Div., 31st Inf. Div., 37th Inf. Div.
    • U.S. XIII Corps:
      • 13th Arm. Div., 20th Arm. Div.
    • U.S. XIV Corps:
      • 6th Inf. Div., 32nd Inf. Div., 38th Inf. Div.
    • Follow-on corps:
      • 4th Inf. Div., 8th Inf. Div., 87th Inf. Div.

• • Army Forces Pacific Reserve:
    • 97th Inf. Div.
    • Follow-on corps:
      • 2nd Inf. Div., 28th Inf. Div., 35th Inf. Div.
    • Follow-on corps:
      • 91st Inf. Div., 95th Inf. Div., 104th Inf. Div.
    • 11th Abn. Div.,

• British Commonwealth
  • Commonwealth Corps, (Lt. Gen. Charles Keightley):
    • • UK 3rd Inf. Div., Canadian 6th Inf. Div., Australian 10th Div.

[edit] Japan

• 12 divisions (560,000 men) (as of August 1945)

[edit] Notes

¹

The majority of these units (86,000 men total) would have been ordered to counterattack at Ariake, though it's questionable how many of the tanks would have been able to survive air attack.