In the 1945 election, the Progressive Conservative leader John Bracken proposed conscription for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan, which badly hurt his chances. By contrast, Mackenzie King promised to commit one division, the 6th, to be recruited from veterans still wanting to fight in Japan. King handily won the election as Canadian public opinion was unwilling to support conscription for a campaign that would cause heavy losses. The invasion of Japan scheduled in two stages for late 1945-early 1946, was widely expected to be a bloody campaign as the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa were the "dress rehearsals" for the invasion of Japan. Moreover, it was believed the invasion would take at least a year, if not longer.