43rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

The 43rd Division (第43師団) was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Honor Division (誉兵団)

The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) 42nd Division was raised as a triangular division (type B, standard) on 10 June 1943 in Nagoya, simultaneously with 42nd, 46th and 47th divisions. The nucleus for the formation was the headquarters of the 3rd division and the 63rd independent infantry brigade. The 43rd division was assigned to Central District Army upon formation.

In April 1944, the 43rd division was assigned to 31st army and reorganized to marine (mixed) division, with artillery and engineer regiments absorbed by infantry regiments. Also, the Yoshitsugu Saitō was appointed as divisional commander instead of Prince Kaya Tsunenori.

The bulk of the 43rd division has left Tateyama, Chiba 14 May 1944 and reached Saipan uneventfully 19 May 1944. It was the last successful (8th) of so-called Pine transport transfers. The 118th infantry regiment was late for the 8th Pine transport, has sailed from Yokohama 29 May 1944 as convoy 3530, and suffered two-thirds losses in US submarine attack 4 June 1944 before arriving to Saipan 9 June 1944.

About 9000 troops and 13 artillery pieces of 43rd division have dug in Mount Tapochau, with the rest spread over southern part of Saipan island. Overall, 43rd division has managed to add one line of trenches to the pre-existing defences before arrival of US invasion fleet 13 June 1944.

The battle of Saipan have started with US landing 15 July 1944. 17 June 1944 at 2:30 AM a large counter-attack was performed by 43rd division together with 9th armored regiment of 1st tank division. Although the division was able to re-capture a local high ground of Hinashita hill, the Japanese gains were dramatically reversed in the morning of 18 June 1944, when the US forces captured Hinashita hill and an airfield on south of island largely intact. By 24 June 1944, the 43rd division was reduced to four battalions of infantry and a half-battalion of artillery.

27 June 1944, as the Mount Tapochau defences were failing rapidly, the Yoshitsugu Saitō, the 43rd division commander, has radioed Tokyo asking for either reinforcements or evacuation by air. At that point, he estimated the resistance can continue until 10 July 1944. By the 5 July 1944 the position of the 43rd division was hopeless enough so Yoshitsugu Saitō have ordered to prepare for suicidal banzai charge, actually performing it at the dawn of 7 July 1944 with the force of 3000 men, most of them already wounded. The 43rd division was annihilated in banzai charge, killing 658 US servicemen in its final day.