The was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

was the . The

(IJA) ''42nd Division'' was raised as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...

(type B, standard) on 10 June 1943 in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, simultaneously with

42nd 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, 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 The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of the Japanese home islands during the Pacific War. It was one of the regional commands in the Japanese home islands reporting to the General Defense Command. Comman ...

upon formation. In April 1944, the ''43rd division'' was assigned to 31st 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 of

Prince Kaya Tsunenori , was the second head of the Kaya-no-miya collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family. A general in the Imperial Japanese Army, he was first cousin to Empress Kōjun (Nagako), the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). Early life Prince Ka ...

. The bulk of the ''43rd division'' left

Tateyama, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 44,865 in 20,558 households and a population density of 410 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Tateyama is located at the far sou ...

on 14 May 1944 and reached

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

uneventfully on 19 May 1944. It was the last successful (8th) of the so-called Pine transport transfers. The 118th infantry regiment was late for the 8th Pine transport, which sailed from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

on 29 May 1944 as convoy 3530, and suffered two-thirds losses from a US submarine attack on 4 June 1944 before arriving in

on 9 June 1944. About 9000 troops and 13 artillery pieces of the ''43rd division'' then dug in around

Mount Tapochau Mount Tapochau is the highest point on the island of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is located in the center of the island, north of San Vicente village and northwest of Magicienne Bay, and rises to a height of 474 m (1555 ...

, with the rest spread over the southern part of

island. Overall, ''43rd 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. The

battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with th ...

began with US landings on 15 June 1944. On 17 June 1944 at 2:30 AM, a large counter-attack was performed by ''43rd division'' together with the 9th armored regiment of 1st tank division. Although the division was able to re-capture the local high ground around Hinashita hill,Saipan battle with japanese map
/ref> 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, the ''43rd division'' was reduced to four battalions of infantry and a half-battalion of artillery. 27 June 1944, as the

defences were failing rapidly, Yoshitsugu Saitō, the ''43rd 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 the ''43rd division'' was hopeless so Yoshitsugu Saitō ordered to prepare for a suicidal

banzai charge Banzai charge is the term that was used by the Allied forces of World War II to refer to Japanese human wave attacks and swarming staged by infantry units. This term came from the Japanese battle cry , and was shortened to banzai, specificall ...

, starting at the dawn of 7 July 1944 with a force of 4,000 men, most of them already wounded. The ''43rd division'' was annihilated in this

, killing 658 US servicemen in its final day.

Notes

References

* 秦郁彦編『日本陸海軍総合事典』第2版、東京大学出版会、2005年。 * 外山操・森松俊夫編著『帝国陸軍編制総覧』芙蓉書房出版、1987年。 {{DEFAULTSORT:43rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Infantry divisions of Japan 1943 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan