| 43rd Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1943 - 1944 |
| Country | Empire of Japan |
| Branch |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | 13039 |
| Garrison/HQ | Nagoya |
| Nickname(s) | Honor Division |
| Engagements | Battle of Saipan |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Prince Kaya Tsunenori Yoshitsugu Saitō |
The43rd Division (第43師団,Dai-yonjūsan Shidan) was aninfantrydivision of theImperial Japanese Army. Itscall sign was theHonor Division (誉兵団,Homare Heidan).
TheImperial Japanese Army (IJA)43rd Division was raised as atriangular division (typeB, standard) on 10 June 1943 inNagoya, simultaneously with42nd,46th and47th divisions. The nucleus for the formation was the headquarters of the3rd division and the 63rd independent infantry brigade. The43rd division was assigned to theCentral District Army upon formation.
In April 1944, the43rd division was assigned to31st army and reorganized to a marine (mixed) division, with artillery and engineer regiments absorbed by infantry regiments. Also,Yoshitsugu Saitō was appointed as divisional commander instead ofPrince Kaya Tsunenori.
The bulk of the43rd division leftTateyama, Chiba on 14 May 1944 and reachedSaipan uneventfully on 19 May 1944. It was the last successful (8th) of the so-calledPine transport transfers. The 118th infantry regiment was late for the 8th Pine transport, which sailed fromYokohama on 29 May 1944 asconvoy 3530, and suffered two-thirds losses from a US submarine attack on 4 June 1944 before arriving inSaipan on 9 June 1944.
About 9000 troops and 13 artillery pieces of the43rd division then dug in aroundMount Tapochau, with the rest spread over the southern part ofSaipan island. Overall, the43rd division managed to add one line of trenches to the pre-existing defences before the arrival of the US invasion fleet on 13 June 1944.
Thebattle of Saipan began with US landings on 15 June 1944. On 17 June 1944 at 2:30 AM, a large counter-attack was performed by the43rd division together with the 9th armored regiment of the1st tank division. Although the division was able to re-capture the local high ground around Hinashita hill,[1] the Japanese gains were dramatically reversed in the morning of 18 June 1944, when the US forces captured Hinashita hill and an airfield in the south of the island largely intact. By 24 June 1944, the43rd division was reduced to four battalions of infantry and a half-battalion of artillery.
On 27 June 1944, as theMount Tapochau defences were failing rapidly,Yoshitsugu Saitō, the43rd division commander, radioed Tokyo asking for either reinforcements or evacuation by air. At that point, he estimated resistance could continue until 10 July 1944. By 5 July 1944 the position of the43rd division was hopeless, soYoshitsugu Saitō ordered to prepare for a suicidalbanzai charge, starting at the dawn of 7 July 1944 with a force of 4,000 men, most of them already wounded. The43rd division was annihilated in thisbanzai charge, killing 658 US servicemen in its final day.