The rest were reportedly eaten alive by hordes of prehistoric-looking saltwater crocodiles. Somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 soldiers from the Imperial Japanese Armys 54th Division were entrenched on Ramree. Join us onFacebook,Twitter(#AnimalWeek), andTumblrfor even more animal action and to share your own tales of fascinating fauna. Men of the Wiltshire Regiment from the 26th Indian Infantry Division prepare a meal beside a temple on Ramree Island. The Legend of Dick Bong: World War II Ace of Aces, Medal of Honor Recipient and Crocodile Killer? For a start, he points out the lack of evidence for Wrights claim that he was at the scene. The Troubled History of the Amityville Horror Hous, The Dutch East India Company, the most valuable co, The Life of Ching Shih, the Worlds Most Successfu, Who Were the Carpetbaggers and Scalawags of Recons, The Wild and Debaucherous History of Studio 54, The Lovers of Valdaro A Double Burial From Neolithic Italy, The Strange Historical Origins of the Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme. Ramree Island, part of Arakan (now Rakhine State), has an area of 520sqmi (1,350km2) and is separated from the mainland by a strait with an average width of about 490ft (150m); the island is 70mi (110km) south of Akyab (now Sittwe). [3][12], In addition to these, the freshwater crocodile, Philippine crocodile, Siamese crocodile, broad-snouted caiman, spectacled caiman, yacare caiman and gharial have been involved in non-fatal attacks. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. The crocodiles have a long history of attacking humans who wander into their habitats, seeing them as little more than taller, more awkward prey. Reconnaissance carried out on 14 January 1945, found that Japanese forces were placing artillery in caves overlooking the landing beaches on Ramree and the Royal Navy assigned the battleship HMSQueen Elizabeth, the escort carrier HMSAmeer, light cruiser HMSPhoebe, the destroyers Rapid, Napier, Norman and Pathfinder, with the sloops Flamingo and HMISKistna. The largest crocodile ever killed was a saltwater crocodile that measured 23 feet and weighed 2,370 pounds. The rest were allegedly eaten alive by . (now Myanmar). All rights reserved. For example, the British official history (War against Japan Volume IV: The Reconquest of Burma, 1965 (2004)) serves as the main source in the study of the Fourteenth Armys attempt to drive the overstretched Japanese from Burma beginning in the late summer of 1944. Can an Old Coin Solve the Mystery of a Lost Roman Emperor? While crocodiles are prolific killers, historians have long doubted that more than 800 Japanese soldiers were killed at Ramree Island in such a short period of time, and those doubts have only been affirmed by evidence uncovered in recent years that indicates that the true story was buried amid a flurry of sensational reporting. "[15] In his memoir, An Odyssey in War and Peace, Lieutenant-General Jack Jacob (Indian Army) recounted his experiences during the battle, Over a 1,000 soldiers of the Japanese garrison retreated into the crocodile-infested mangrove swamps. Many of the areas in which humans and large crocodiles come into contact are remote, impoverished, or in areas of political unrest. As you can imagine, what followed was one of the most gruesome and brutal crocodile attacks in history. A SCIENTIST was eaten alive by a 17ft long crocodile after being dragged into its enclosure while she fed it last week. The two sides were stuck in a standoff until the British Royal Marines along with the 36th Indian Infantry Brigade outflanked a Japanese position. British troops sit near a temple on Ramree Island. The Tragic Story Of Over 900 Japanese Soldiers Slaughtered By Crocodiles | by L. Small | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. The island lies off the Burma coast, 70 miles south of Akyab, now known as Sittwe. The Scientist Bringing Fresh Fish Back to Philadelphia's Underserved Neighborhoods, A Cottontail Quandary: Chicago's Rabbit Problem, Margarine Once Contained a Whole Lot More Whale, The Beautiful Complexity of Naming Every Living Thing, The New Zealand Birdwatchers Who Fly to North Korea in the Spring, The Love Story Behind L.A.'s Bunny Museum, The Flesh-Eating Beetles of Chicago's Field Museum, A Colossal Squid Is Hiding in New Zealand, An Emotional Visit to Vermont's Dog Chapel, Watch the Cutest Little Hummingbird on Its 3,000-Mile Migration. An estimate put naval gunfire support from 4 January to 13 March for the land operations at Akyab, Ramree and Cheduba at 23,000 shells. The Imperial Japanese Army decided that a full retreat was in order after their defeat in Burma at the hands of British forces. While this may have seemed a fine opportunity to slip into the wilderness and regroup, most of the Japanese soldiers would never be heard from again. Details of a fatal attack on a human by a Morelets crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) in Belize. Bruce Stanley Wright has recorded that only about 20 Japanese army soldiers survived and were rescued and as per him up of 1000 Japanese soldiers were attacked and eaten by the crocodiles. The mangrove swamp was thick with mud and it was slow-going. "One arrow alone can be easily broken but many arrows are indestructible" ~Genghis Khan~, Stephen Gum Mark, Chinese American and 1914 San Rafael High School Graduate with Gift of Oratory, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard: Road of Many Names, THE BRITISH MONARCHY: A Case against Charles III, is a Case for Charles The Great and the Realm, READ/DOWNLOAD$] KAMPFRAUM ARNHEIM: A Photo Study of the German Soldier Fighting In and Around, Playing telephone with Edmund Burke and JFK. Last updated on July 22nd, 2022 at 09:57 pm. Darragh O Herlihy is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Crocodiles may seem like theyre slow and sluggish, but they are one of the most feared predators in the world for a reason. As World War II was nearing its end in January of 1945, the island of Ramree off the coast of Burma was the scene of a desperate battle.. But what really happened?. Recent reports of fatal attacks on humans by crocodiles in Mexico. Unfortunately, it seems that the Japanese didnt know what awaited them in the swamp, or they were so desperate to escape that they didnt care. The Island had been captured by the Imperial Japanese Army in early 1942, during the invasion of Burma. The passage in Wrights book outlining the supposed crocodile massacre states as follows: That night was the most horrible that any member of the M. L. [motor launch] crews ever experienced. [3] A plan was ready by 2 January, when it was clear that the advance of the Fourteenth Army (Lieutenant-General William Slim) would soon pass beyond the range of its airbases at Imphal and Agartala; replacements at Chittagong, Akyab and Ramree would be needed. By doing this, allied forces split the remaining party in two, leaving a group of 1,000 soldiers isolated and trapped. The body is protected against danger and predator. While the US and NATO have yet to commit to sending full-size tanks, the Bradley is a potent armored vehicle for a mechanized war. [16], In 2006, Robert Duff, a veteran of the 26th Division, recorded an oral history for the BBC, stating, "after a few weeks we managed to push [the Japanese] to the swamp on the other side of the island, which was full of crocodiles. With a jump in Australia on Monday, Jan. 16, local time, a team of vets set skydiving records to raise money for Folds of Honor. Pooley, S. (2016). I've recently learned about the Battle of Ramree Island and the "death march" through the mangroves that resulted in the battle earning the moniker of "worst crocodile disaster in the world." The Type 2 Mutant Giant Crocodile was obviously stronger than many other Type 2 Mutant Beasts, however, its blood essence had only allowed Yue Zhong to gain 8 points in Vitality. British troops monitored the situation from afar at the edge of the swamp. The defeated Japanese soldiers ignored all appeals by the British for their surrender, and instead abandoned their base and entered the swamp. Historydefined.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, Copyright 2023 History Defined | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. On Feb. 24, 1945, Reuters war correspondents reported that Japanese soldiers trying to escape Ramree island were "being forced by hunger out of the mangrove swamps and many have been killed by crocodiles. Japanese Soldiers Burma Crocodiles? They faced an enemy as old. A saltwater crocodile (photograph by Heather Paul). Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). [2] The mugger crocodile is also very dangerous to humans, killing several people in India every year and with a fatality rate that is almost as high (slightly less than half of all attacks are fatal). So instead of following the Japanese into the swamps, they decided to wait them out. The swamps were infested with mosquitoes, leeches, and snakes. Several British soldiers said that the crocodiles preyed on the Japanese soldiers in the swamp. Rachmawan, D., and Brend, S. (2009). [7], On 26 January in Operation Sankey, a Royal Marine force landed on Cheduba island, about 6.2mi (10km) offshore of the south-west coast of Ramree Island and found it unoccupied. Human-Tomistoma interactions in central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Tehran remains unusually mum while Neon Defender warships ply Persian Gulf. In April 2007, a 9-year-old Chinese child was killed in a crocodile pool at the Silver Beach holiday resort in southwest Guangxi region. After just a few days, these ravenous creatures devoured more than 500 Japanese soldiers. But, of course, the British werent surprised as saltwater crocodiles are notoriously territorial and will attack any human they view as a threat or potential food source. A Japanese air raid on 11 February seriously damaged a destroyer with a near miss and forty small craft were sent by the Japanese from the mainland to rescue the survivors of the garrison. Witnesses say the crocodile first attacked a man and then grabbed the girl and pulled her under. To counter this, he tries to provide a rational argument and bring a voice of reason to the debate. In early 1945, as part of the Pacific War during World War II, Allied forces pinned down 1,000 Japanese soldiers in a mangrove swamp off the coast of Burma (now Myanmar). Offer subject to change without notice. Furthermore, this official account which contains no mention of the massacre, nevertheless emphasizes the fierce Japanese resistance which lasted into April 1945. The majority of Japanese soldiers died in combat or drowned, despite the fact that many British soldiers witnessed crocodiles eating dead Japanese bodies. Unfortunately for the Japanese troops, the swamps of Ramree were infested by countless, very large saltwater crocodiles, which can grow upwards of 20 feet long and over a ton in weight. Galante elaborated that the crocodiles were hungry because the soldiers had already. Of the 1,000 troops who entered the swamp on Ramree Island, only a reported 480 survived. Without an accurate reporting system in place, crocodile attacks in Africa are difficult to track and very few are reproduced here. (2014). . It was after this that one of the oddest incidents in the history of warfare occurred. Your email address will not be published. About 400 Japanese soldiers escaped those mangrove swamps, and 20 of them were eventually recaptured by the British forces who had set up a perimeter around the thick wilderness. However, thousands of enemy troops held the island, causing an exhausting battle that went on for six weeks. The names give some indication of how the dinosaurs lived. Sideleau, B. Crocodile attacks on humans are common in places where large crocodilians are native and human populations live. And as if these conditions werent bad enough, the swamps were also home to large saltwater crocodiles. British Marines landing on Ramree Island in January 1945 at the beginning of the six-week battle. You have to rendezvous with another group of soldiers on the other side of the island but the only way to do so is to traverse a thick swamp filled with deadly crocodiles. How did crocodiles manage to kill so many armed men? This was particularly so in the mangrove swamps where such reptiles thrive, like on Ramree Island. The Japanese understood that saltwater crocodiles have a reputation for eating humans but they went into the mangrove swamp of Ramree Island anyway. Walking through the thick, sticky mud was slow and agonizing. Saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptiles in the world. The Japanese soldiers were no match for these crocodiles. Nine vets clinched their first world record of their breakneck skydiving expedition on Saturday, Jan. 14. The navy also carried 54,000 men, 1,000 vehicles, 14,000 long tons (14,000t) of stores and 800 animals. Find out what happened when 900 Japanese soldiers, trapped by a British landing on Ramree Island, Burma in 1945, tried to retreat through 10 miles of mangrove swamps. [marine launch] crews ever experienced. The British didnt pursue the fleeing troops closely because the Allies knew what awaited the enemy inside this natural death trap: crocodiles. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. McLynn is disturbed by the willingness of other writers to cite the details provided by Wright and the Guinness Book of Records without confirming the veracity of such information. The debacle was so bad that the Japanese troops were forced to retreat and flee into the mangrove swamps of Ramree Island. During the Battle of Ramree, crocs slaughtered and ate up between 500 and 900 people. The nights were said to have been filled with dire screams, gunfire, and the sounds of animal attacks. The 4th Brigade was to keep the defenders at Yanbauk Chaung under pressure and follow up vigorously should they retire. Read another story from us: The Soldier Who Went On A Suicide Mission Against The Japanese & Won. The story of the Ramree massacre was reported in a number of papers, but the tale is still largely apocryphal. Since Ramree was strategically important, the Allies launched an attack in 1945 to retake the island and establish airbases to support the mainland campaign. [1] These are the West African crocodile (often considered quite harmless,[4] but has been involved in several attacks, also fatal),[5] American crocodile (only a few documented fatalities),[3][6][7] the Morelet's crocodile (typically considered a relatively non-threatening species, but there have been several fatal attacks),[7][8] Orinoco crocodile (fatalities recorded in the 1930s and earlier when the species was more common, but today it is very rare),[9][10] Cuban crocodile (generally considered aggressive, but only one confirmed fatality),[3][11] black caiman (fatal attacks confirmed in Brazil, but possibly underreported because of its remote range),[3] American alligator (making up an estimated 6% of fatal crocodilian attacks),[2] and false gharial (only a few confirmed fatalities, all involving very large false gharials). Of about 1,000 Japanese soldiers, it's estimated that only 20 survived. As I am writing this police are still searching for the girl. One special ops vet felt a sense of connection with fallen comrades while skydiving over the Egyptian pyramids. Photoshopped image courtesy of opposingfronts.com. Japanese soldiers hid in the swamp, not knowing of the danger that lies ahead - saltwater crocodiles! [9], In 1965, the British official historian, Stanley Woodburn Kirby, wrote that the Japanese defence of the island and the escape of about 500 men against "fearful odds", had been courageous and determined. After all, these were soldiers who had offered upstubborn resistance to the British Fourteenth Army under the leadership of Lieutenant General William Slim. Only 20 of the Japanese fighters were able to escape unharmed. 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The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of wounded men crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the blurred worrying sound of spinning crocodiles made a cacophony of hell that has rarely been duplicated on earth Of about one thousand Japanese soldiers that entered the swamps of Ramree, only about twenty were found alive.. The battle is known for claims that many Japanese soldiers were killed by crocodiles in the mangrove swamps of Ramree. The crocodiles, alerted by the din of warfare and smell of blood, gathered among the mangroves, lying with their eyes above the water, watchfully alert for their next meal. Havelock Island, where the attack took place, lies 72 kilometres (45mi) from the Lohabarrack Salt Water Crocodile Sanctuary. As the Indian and British troops closed in, the Japanese soldiers were faced with two options: They could stay and fight or attempt to flee through the marshes and escape by sea. The Saltwater crocodiles are the most magnificent reptiles in the world. In addition, the references made to crocodiles are minimal compared to the passages detailing the dangers of malaria. [5] The Japanese garrison of Ramree consisted of the II Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment (Colonel Kanichi Nagazawa), part of the 54th Division, with artillery and engineer detachments to act as an independent force. They were both Enhancers. The island is 70 miles south of Akyab and is known as Sittwe. Crocodiles. What awaited them there was a horror beyond comprehension. Unfortunately, the battle was at a standstill until the . Director Steve Lawson Writer Steve Lawson Stars Charlie Bond Steven Dolton Ryan Harvey See production, box office & company info Watch on Prime Video Do you risk your life in the swamp or put your life in the hands of the enemy? Unlike other "man-eating" crocodiles, such as the saltwater crocodile, the Nile crocodile lives in proximity to human populations, so contact is more frequent. He also gathered military records that stated that the majority of Japanese soldiers were shot dead by the Allies or simply drowned in the swamp. He prides himself on uncovering the most fascinating tales of history by sharing them through any means of engaging storytelling. It has been estimated that about 1,000 people are killed by crocodilians each year. Military officials decided to press on, and the Japanese continued their journey through the mangrove swamps. The battle was bloody and grueling, leaving the Japanese soldiers exhausted yet full of defiance. But are we really to believe that a sizable force of trained Japanese soldiers was decimated by an onslaught of crocodiles? The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of wounded men crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the blurred worrying sound of spinning crocodiles made a cacophony of hell that has rarely been duplicated on earth. According to one Allied commander: A band of soldiers in search of a secret Japanese ammunition store face off against deadly saltwater crocodiles in the swamps of Ramree Island. An army of 1000 Japanese soldiers was decimated by saltwater crocodiles during the Battle of Ramree Island of World War II. [18][19] One study posited the number of attacks by Nile crocodiles per year as 275 to 745, of which 63% are fatal, as opposed to an estimated 30 attacks per year by saltwater crocodiles, of which 50% are fatal. Salt-water crocodiles, some of them well over 20 ft (6.1 m) long frequented these waters. Hundreds of crocodiles lurked in the murky waters, hungry for human flesh. [1] Each year, hundreds of deadly attacks are attributed to the Nile crocodile in Sub-Saharan Africa. [2] Contents It just shows that you should never underestimate the power of nature. Typical male specimens reach 17 feet long and 1,000 pounds and the largest can reach 23 feet and 2,200 pounds. A saltwater crocodile (via Wikimedia) Around 500 Japanese soldiers are thought to have escaped those mangrove swamps, and 20 of them were eventually recaptured by the British forces who had. But rather than accept surrender, the Japanese chose to make an eight-mile journey through a mangrove swamp. + A sting operation is a more sophisticated way to trap criminals. Resistance at the chaung from the troops of the II Battalion, 121st Regiment increased and on 31 January, the 71st Brigade was ordered to move inland, north-east towards Sane, then head south towards Ramree town. In 2016, he decided to tackle the mystery of the Crocodile Massacre at Ramree Island after learning that the Guinness Book of World Records had relied on Wrights book for source material. [20], In 2000, herpetologist Steven G. Platt visited Ramree Island, where he interviewed residents who had been alive during the war and who had been forced into slave labor by the Japanese; they "unanimously discounted any suggestion that large numbers of Japanese fell prey to crocodiles." They faced an enemy as old as the dinosaurs and just as fierce.Help support my channel - see below for details:https://www.paypal.me/markfeltonproductionhttps://www.patreon.com/markfeltonproductionsDisclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. Perhaps the biggest question that the crocodile story doesnt sufficiently answer concerns the staggering death toll: How did only 20 Japanese soldiers survive? Where did Japanese soldiers get eaten by crocodiles? Why Did Ancient Egyptian Men Wear Makeup? What animal has the strongest armor? The story comes from the writings of Bruce Stanley Wright, a British naturalist who was presumed to be at the scene. However there were around 500 more of the escaping men who never left the swamp. Flee into the mangrove swamps where such reptiles thrive, like on Ramree Island japanese soldiers eaten by crocodiles saltwater... Most gruesome and brutal crocodile attacks in history that one of the that! Japanese understood that saltwater crocodiles history ONLINE the fact that many Japanese.! A depiction of a Lost Roman Emperor sticky mud was slow and sluggish, but they went into swamps! Wright, a British naturalist who was presumed to be at the hands of British forces long crocodile after dragged... 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