This week in the War, 9–15 July 1945: Preparing to invade Japan

This week in the war, on 15 July 1945, the first contingent of American troops that had been serving in Europe boarded their ship in Naples, Italy, and set sail for Japan.

The invasion of the Japanese homeland had been set for 1 November.

American warships had already been bombarding the Japanese mainland as a preparation, and the Japanese were making preparations of their own by training thousands of men for kamikaze air and sea attacks against Allied shipping.