This particular incident of saltwater crocodiles devouring humans happened towards the Japanese troops occupying the Ramree Island in the Bay of Bengal during World War II in the early year of 1945. Those who had survived the battle reportedly did not fare well when they had to choose the doomed escape route across the crocodile-infested waters.
At the time, British forces needed an airbase in the area of Ramree Island in order to launch more attacks against the Japanese. However, thousands of the enemy troops held the island, causing an exhausting battle that went on for six weeks. The sides were stuck in a standoff until the British Royal Marines along with the 36th Indian Infantry Brigade outflanked a Japanese position. Maneuver split the enemy group in two and isolated about 1,000 Japanese soldiers.
The British then sent word that the smaller, isolated Japanese group should surrender. The unit was trapped and had no way to reach the safety of the larger battalion. But rather than accept surrender, the Japanese chose to make an eight-mile journey through a mangrove swamp. That is when things went from bad to worse. So horrendous. The mangrove swamp was thick with mud and it was slow-going. British troops monitored the situation from afar at the edge of the swamp. The British didn’t pursue the fleeing troops closely because the Allies knew what awaited the enemy inside this natural death trap that is saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptiles in the world. Typical male specimens reach 17 feet long and 1,000 pounds and the largest can reach 23 feet and 2,200 pounds. Swamps are their natural habitat, and also humans are definitely no match for the crocodiles’ speed, size, agility, and raw power.
The Japanese understood that saltwater crocodiles have a reputation for eating humans but they went into the mangrove swamp anyway. Soon after entering the slimy mudhole, Japanese soldiers began to succumb to diseases, dehydration, and starvation. Mosquitoes, spiders, poisonous snakes, and scorpions hid in the thick forest and picked off some troops one by one. Crocodiles appeared when the Japanese got deeper into the swamp. They are active at night.
Of the 1,000 troops who entered the swamp on Ramree Island, only a reported 480 survived. However, death toll estimates vary. What the British do know for sure is that 20 men came out of the swamp alive and were captured. These Japanese troops told their captors about the crocodiles. But exactly how many men died in the maws of the crocs remains unknown because no one knows how many troops succumbed to disease, dehydration, or starvation.
Sources: YouTube Simple History, History Of Yesterday, History Net.
