So, instead of accepting their fate, they chose to make an 8-mile journey through the mangrove swamps of Ramree Island. On 23 January, the 71st Infantry Brigade advanced southwards, down the west coast. This disease seriously hindered both sides attempt to gain control of the island. No purchase necessary. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Swamps are their natural habitat, and humans are no match for their speed, size, agility, and raw power. With the ebb of the tide, the crocodiles moved in on the dead, wounded, and uninjured men who had become mired in the mud, The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of the 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. 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. During World War II on one remote island in the South Pacific, a platoon of nearly a thousand armed Japanese troops entered crocodile infested swamps and most never returned; a dis [See More] Japanese Army vs. Killer Crocodiles 1945 Watch on Posted in these groups: WWII World War Two Military History World History Wildlife Posted >1 y ago He thanks you for reading his content. The maneuver split the enemy group in two and isolated about 1,000 Japanese soldiers. 1.7K views, 54 likes, 0 loves, 2 comments, 9 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Coffee or Die Magazine: Did crocodiles really eat hundreds of Japanese soldiers in World War II? Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 34(2): 21-22. Furthermore, this official account which contains no mention of the massacre, nevertheless emphasizes the fierce Japanese resistance which lasted into April 1945. In January 1945, two. 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. Some editions of the Guinness Book of World Records have attributed the highest number of fatalities in an animal attack to the battle; zoologists and modern military historians have dismissed these claims. Read another story from us: The Soldier Who Went On A Suicide Mission Against The Japanese & Won. They didnt know what exactly caused the shouts of terror they heard, but only that the Japanese troops were being ravaged by some evil menace. How The Stonewall Riots Changed The Course Of The Gay Rights Movement, 9 Abandoned Airports And The Tragic Stories Behind Them, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. He prides himself on uncovering the most fascinating tales of history by sharing them through any means of engaging storytelling. Mosquitoes, spiders, poisonous snakes, and scorpions hid in the thick forest and picked off some troops one by one. If you dont attempt the crossing, you must face the enemy troops closing in on you. Troops of Japanese Fifteenth Army on the border of Burma. 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. How he arrived at that number is unclear, but the Guinness Book of World Records accepted it as fact and began including Wrights version of the story in their annual book starting in 1968. 14 (4): 391405. Reviews indicate that at least half of all attacks by the Nile and saltwater crocodiles are fatal[1] (in Australia, however, only about 25% of saltwater crocodile attacks are fatal). British troops in a landing craft make their way ashore on Ramree Island, 21 January 1945. The quest for a bird that continues to defy international sanctions. Two days later Mayin was occupied and the troops reached the Yanbauk Chaung the next day. 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. 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. (now Myanmar). Unfortunately for the Imperial Japanese Army, the mangrove swamps of Ramree Island are home to an unknown amount of the largest reptilian predator in the world, the saltwater crocodile. In April 2010, a 25-year-old woman from New Jersey was killed by a saltwater crocodile while snorkeling in India's Andaman Islands. A biologist solves the mystery of two dozen missing animal mummies. During the night 980 Japanese soldiers are said to have been lost to saltwater crocodiles living in the swamp. 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 Legend of Dick Bong: World War II Ace of Aces, Medal of Honor Recipient and Crocodile Killer? An army of 1000 Japanese soldiers was decimated by saltwater crocodiles during the Battle of Ramree Island of World War II. So when nearly 1,000 panicked soldiers came dripping blood and sweat into the cramped confines of the Ramree mangrove swamp, the giant lizards likely had the feast of their lives. The defeated Japanese soldiers ignored all appeals by the British for their surrender, and instead abandoned their base and entered the swamp. Users Online Now: 2,152 : Visitors Today: 415,658: Pageviews Today: 948,169: 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 set up a perimeter around the thick wilderness. At dawn the vultures arrived to clean up what the crocodiles had left.. In January 1945, two infantry brigades from the Indian Army and a detachment of British commandos were dispatched to Ramree Island, the largest island off the coast of present-day Myanmar (then known as Burma). Moreover, even a medium-sized saltwater crocodile could easily kill a human. In addition, saltwater crocodiles are far from a misunderstood monster. 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. After weeks of bitter fighting, the Allies managed to drive the last surviving Japanese soldiers into mangrove swamps surrounding the island swamps populated by thousands of saltwater crocodiles. Various British soldiers did indeed witness crocodiles devouring dead Japanese bodies, but Willis ultimately determined that the majority of Japanese soldiers died in combat or drowned. After this look at the Battle of Ramree Island that has been dubbed the Ramree Island Massacre, see some of the most powerful World War II photos ever taken. "[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. One thing is for certain: When given the choice of surrendering or taking chances in a crocodile-infested swamp, choose surrender. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. The ecosystem of a mangrove swamp, with an exiguous mammal life, simply would not have permitted the existence of so many saurians before the coming of the Japanese (animals are not exempt from the laws of overpopulation and starvation). Join the list to receive special offers, updates, and everything about Black Rifle Coffee. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. However this has not stopped the Guinness Book of World Records to name the incident the Most Number of Fatalities in a Crocodile Attack. A dubious distinction for a horrible event, no matter the real numbers. Dangerous to Man; Wild Animals: A Definitive Study of Their Reputed Dangers to Man, Veterans' Voices: Coventry's Unsung Heroes of the Second World War, "BBC - WW2 People's War - Part 4: 1944 - August 1945", Crocodile massacre of troops debunked as wartime myth, "Man Eating by Estuarine Crocodiles: The Ramree Island Massacre Revisited", Bruce Stanley Wright, 17 September 1912 19 April 1975, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ramree_Island&oldid=1126172749, This page was last edited on 7 December 2022, at 23:07. [1] Each year, hundreds of deadly attacks are attributed to the Nile crocodile in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 1945 during the Battle of Ramree Island an estimated 500 Japanese soldiers entered the swamps of Ramree island, Burma, according to the stories less than 20 of them emerged. Death came to them from many different sources, scorpions, disease, drowning and of course the crocodiles. No Japanese survived . The island lies off the Burma coast, 70 miles south of Akyab, now known as Sittwe. The island that holds the world-record for largest human massacre caused by animals. Join us onFacebook,Twitter(#AnimalWeek), andTumblrfor even more animal action and to share your own tales of fascinating fauna. 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. Royal Flying Doctor Service/Reuters. As for the truth, however, that may have been lost to history. Estimated to be around 6 metres (20ft) in length and to weigh more than 900 kilograms (2,000lb). British troops sit near a temple on Ramree Island. 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. Soon after entering the slimy mudhole, Japanese soldiers began to succumb to diseases, dehydration, and starvation. Dr. Sam Willis, an award-winning historian, archaeologist, and host of National Geographics Nazi Weird War Two, investigated some of World War IIs most bizarre stories, including Hitlers methheads and Himmlers haunted castle. Crocodiles In One Night Slaughtered Over 900 Japanese Soldiers | by L. Small | THE CURIOSITY | Medium Write Sign up Sign In 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. It is undoubtedly a gripping tale, so its not surprising that this account has motivated a swathe of articles. As a result, saltwater crocodiles are the largest crocodile species in the world and the largest reptile. After a bloody campaign, British troops managed to drive nearly 1,000 enemy combatants off the island into the dense mangrove swamp that covered some 10 miles of Ramree. How Roman Military Tactics Won Them Their Empire. A depiction of a saltwater crocodile emerging from the water alongside British soldiers at Ramree Island during World War II. [7], The large number of ships was intended to provide more firepower in support of the landing force. [21] He established that Bruce S. Wright had not been present on Ramree Island at the time of the battle, and noted that although the other chapters in Wright's book were told in the first person, the account of the battle was in the third person; possibly, Platt speculated, Wright was repeating stories he had been told by friends. The majority of attacks recorded below have occurred in Southeast Asia and Australia. A depiction of a saltwater crocodile emerging from the water alongside British soldiers at Ramree Island during World War II. One special ops vet felt a sense of connection with fallen comrades while skydiving over the Egyptian pyramids. But rather than accept surrender, the Japanese chose to make an eight-mile journey through a mangrove swamp. The naturalist Bruce Stanley Wright described the scene unfolding in his 1962 book,Wildlife Sketches Near and Far: That night was the most horrible that any member of the M.L. The Japanese soldiers on Ramree Island during the nearing end of World War II had a dilemma that resulted in the deadliest crocodile feast ever. CrocBITE, Worldwide Crocodilian Attack Database: Sideleau, B., and Britton A.R.C. Imagine youre part of a military force outflanked by the enemy on a tropical island. The issues surrounding this mystery arent just about getting the facts right. The armor of the Pangolin is used to protect it. They were both Enhancers. When Crocodiles Attack: The Ramree Island Massacre. Her boyfriend caught the attack on film; the camera was recovered two days later along with her remains. [7] When the British outflanked a Japanese stronghold, the 900 defenders abandoned the base and marched to join a larger force of Japanese soldiers across the island. 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