japanese soldiers eaten by crocodiles

"[12] In his 1962 collection Wildlife Sketches Near and Far, Canadian naturalist and veteran of the Burma campaign Bruce S. Wright described the events of the battle, focusing on predation of the Japanese soldiers by the saltwater crocodiles. Unfortunately, the battle was at a standstill until the . The rest were according to legend, eaten by crocodiles. 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). The swamps were infested with mosquitoes, leeches, and snakes. They were both Enhancers. 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. However, the veracity of the crocodile aggression has gradually grown throughout the years, despite there being no other references to it within historical writings relating to the Far Eastern theatre in WWII. As the boat moved away from the shore and headed out to sea the intense heat and humidity of mid-summer began to fade as we sailed into an ocean climate. Crocodile Specialist Group Newsletter 34(2): 21-22. The fight for the island began after the Japanese landed on June 8, 1942, to begin construction of an airstrip. Typical male specimens reach 17 feet long and 1,000 pounds and the largest can reach 23 feet and 2,200 pounds. British veterans of the battle report hearing the piercing and never ending screams of the hundreds of Japanese soldiers in the night as the crocodiles attacked mercilessly. However there were around 500 more of the escaping men who never left the swamp. 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. 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.. Not a single one did. On Feb. 25, 1945, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that Japanese stragglers who are trying to escape from Ramree Island off the west coast of Burma, are being forced by hunger out of mangrove swamps and many have been killed by crocodiles. From there, the story took on a life of its own. 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. In Burma, the Allies faced a fierce enemy not only adept in jungle warfare and but also notorious for their suicidal kamikaze charges. Then, read up on Desmond Doss, the Hacksaw Ridge medic who saved dozens of soldiers lives during World War II. Conservation & Society. 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. Many of the Japanese troops succumbed to tropical diseases carried by swarms of mosquitoes, as well as the various poisonous spiders, snakes and scorpions found in the marsh. The island lies off the Burma coast, 70 miles south of Akyab, now known as Sittwe. The quest for a bird that continues to defy international sanctions. This was particularly so in the mangrove swamps where such reptiles thrive, like on Ramree Island. A thousand Japanese soldiers were purportedly killed by saltwater crocodiles in the Ramree mangroves. The rest were reportedly eaten alive by hordes of prehistoric-looking saltwater crocodiles. Nine hundred soldiers of an Imperial Japanese Army unit, in an attempt to retreat from the Royal Navy and rejoin a larger battalion of the Japanese infantry, crossed through sixteen kilometres (ten miles) of mangrove swamps that contained saltwater crocodiles. What the British do know for sure is that 20 men came out of the swamp alive and were captured. Although most attacks are not reported, the Nile crocodile is estimated to kill hundreds (possibly thousands) of people each year, which is more than all other crocodilian species combined. The maneuver split the enemy group in two and isolated about 1,000 Japanese soldiers. 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. The largest crocodile ever killed was a saltwater crocodile that measured 23 feet and weighed 2,370 pounds. McLynn also questions the likelihood of over 900 Japanese troops being killed overnight despite possessing an effective means of defense. 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). On Ramree, the Japanese garrison resisted with great determination but on 1 February, the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade reached Sane and parts of the 36th Indian Infantry Brigade, from reserve, took Sagu Kuyun Island and relieved the marines on Cheduba Island. The Japanese understood that saltwater crocodiles have a reputation for eating humans but they went into the mangrove swamp of Ramree Island anyway. [1][3][13] Four of them, the Siamese crocodile, broad-snouted caiman, spectacled caiman and yacare caiman, each are suspected to have been the perpetrator of a single fatal attack on a child (smaller and therefore a more likely target than an adult), although for each of these cases the identity of the species is not completely certain.[14][15][16][17]. How Roman Military Tactics Won Them Their Empire. Required fields are marked *. Frank McLynn, a prominent British historian on the Burma campaign, effectively denounces the crocodile aggression account in his thorough analysis of the Allied effort to retake Burma from the Japanese, The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph 1942-1945 (2011). The reptiles can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh 2,000 pounds, but even a midsize saltwater crocodile could easily kill a full-grown adult human, with many being known toeat animals as vast as Indian water buffalo. [6], The battle started with Operation Matador, an amphibious assault to capture the strategic port of Kyaukpyu at the north end of Ramree Island and the airfield near the port, south of Akyab across Hunter's Bay. Have you ever heard of Ramree Island? Of about 1,000 Japanese soldiers, it's estimated that only 20 survived. Wikimedia CommonsBritish Marines landing on Ramree Island in January 1945 at the beginning of the six-week battle. The new discoveries have been given the names Riparovenator milnerae and Ceratosuchops inferodios, translating respectively to "Milner's riverbank hunter," in honor of paleontologist Angela Milner, and the more colorful "hell-heron horned crocodile-face.". Japanese resistance on the island ended on 17 February and the Allied blockade was maintained until 22 February, sinking many of the rescue craft and inflicting many casualties on the Japanese troops hiding in the mangrove swamps; about 500 troops managed to get away. Reportedly, the Japanese troops, as if they hadn't endured enough, became victims to countless Saltwater crocodile attacks. As for the truth, however, that may have been lost to history. During one of the nights, the British could hear the Japanese soldiers trying to fight the man-eating crocodiles, but their screams were quickly silenced. In September 2005, Russell Harris, a 37-year-old British engineer, was killed by a large saltwater crocodile while snorkeling off Picnic Beach in Australia. Unfortunately, he died of congestive heart failure in February 2013. If you dont attempt the crossing, you must face the enemy troops closing in on you. The Japanese understood that saltwater crocodiles have a reputation for eating humans but they went into the mangrove swamp of Ramree Island anyway. Winner will be selected at random on 02/01/2023. While the Ramree Island Massacre story may seem far-fetched, it is a true story. During World War II, Ramree Island off the coast of Burma was the site of a number of military battles, but the truly terrifying action only began after the military maneuvers ended. Havelock Island, where the attack took place, lies 72 kilometres (45mi) from the Lohabarrack Salt Water Crocodile Sanctuary. With the ebb of the tide, the crocodiles moved in on the dead, wounded, and uninjured men who had become mired in the mud.. A saltwater crocodile (photograph by Heather Paul). Pooley, S. (2016). Why Did Ancient Egyptian Men Wear Makeup? So instead of following the Japanese into the swamps, they decided to wait them out. + When an insect or spider crawls along the leaves and touches a hair, the trap closes "only if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds . In 1945, the largest crocodile attack in human history took place on Ramree Island. However, there is no specific mention of the crocodile attack devouring over 900 Japanese. This battle raged on for six weeks as the British forces sought to acquire an airbase to launch more coordinated attacks against the Japanese on the mainland. Cheduba Island was not garrisoned and the 22nd East African Brigade was sent to hold Ramree Island. The battle was bloody and grueling, leaving the Japanese soldiers exhausted yet full of defiance. Despite these numerous hazards, one danger stood out as the greatest. On mainland Burma, diseases such as malaria accounted for almost half the total death toll of Allied forces. Imagine youre part of a military force outflanked by the enemy on a tropical island. Gas prices have fallen since mid-June. He writes for his micro-blog. 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. But are we really to believe that a sizable force of trained Japanese soldiers was decimated by an onslaught of crocodiles? The incident was even included in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1968 under worst crocodile disaster in the world as well as most fatalities in a crocodile attack (despite there being not a single death officially recorded). The story of the Ramree massacre was reported in a number of papers, but the tale is still largely apocryphal. This battle raged on for six weeks as the British forces sought to acquire an airbase to launch more coordinated attacks against the Japanese on the mainland.. Its estimated that 20 Japanese soldiers made it out of the other side of the swamp where British troops were waiting for them. Wikimedia Commons photo. The 4th Brigade was to keep the defenders at Yanbauk Chaung under pressure and follow up vigorously should they retire. An airstrip can reach 23 feet and 2,200 pounds soldiers lives during World War II soldiers... 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