Key Takeaways
In other 1945 , as part of the Pacific War duringWorld War II , Allied forces pinned down 1,000 Nipponese soldier in a mangrove swamp off the coast of Burma ( now Myanmar ) . Only 20 of the Japanese fighters made it out alive . The rest were reportedly eaten live by hordes of prehistoric - looking saltwatercrocodiles . According to one Allied commanding officer :
This horrific outcome is live as the Ramree Island crocodile massacre , and in 1968 the Guinness Book of World Records awarded it the dubious distinction of " most human fatalities in a crocodile attack " at roughly 900 dead .
But in late decades , historian and herpetologist have cast doubt on the macabre tale . While it ’s clear-cut that piles of Japanese soldier died in the conflict for Ramree Island , there ’s no mention of a " crocodile massacre " in prescribed military report ( either British or Japanese ) , and seawater crocodile are n’t known for " feeding frenzies " of this scale , especially on hot human quarry .
So where did this apocryphal tale add up from , and how did it disperse so far and wide ?
The Origins of the “Ramree Island Massacre”
The grim passage quote above was written by Bruce S. Wright , a Royal Canadian Lieutenant Commander credit withinventing the ideaof " frogmen social unit , " SCUBA - dive soldier who could spot on the enemy from the body of water .
In 1945 , Wright took part in the joint British and Indian rape on Ramree Island , which the Allies hope to capture from the Japanese and use as a strategic airfield . As the leader of his underwater diver unit , Wright ’s job was to do reconnaissance , but he also spent hours document the local ocean liveliness , which let in shark and octopi . After the warfare , Wright becamea prize wildlife biologistand writer .
Interestingly , it may have been Wright ’s clout as a natural scientist that aid launch the myth of the crocodile massacre into the public imaging .
Wright wrote his one - paragraph account of the killer crocodiles in his 1962 book , " Wildlife Sketches : Near and Far . " But then the story was picked up by another scientist , the conservationist Roger Caras . In his 1964 book " severe to Man , " Caras prognosticate the Ramree incident " one of the most deliberate and wholesale attacks on man by large animals that is on record . " Caras intromit that " had the story come from a source other than Bruce Wright , I would be tempted to dismiss it . [ But ] Bruce Wright , a extremely train professional naturalist , was there at Ramree . "
The job is that while Wright was technically at Ramree , he was n’t among the witnesses who take to have get word the cries of the Japanese as they were mauled by the giant crocodile . According to a later on retelling of the news report in his memoir " The Frogmen of Burma , " Wrightheard the storyfrom British Comrade on the sauceboat crew patrolling the island .
If you learn the transit closely , you see that Wright never said that he in person witness the massacre . " That night was the most horrible that any appendage of the M. L. [ motor launching ] bunch ever experienced , " write Wright using the third person . But it ’s on the dot because of Wright ’s reputation as a heedful observer of the rude world that his secondhand ( and likely embellished ) account was accepted as fact .
Are Saltwater Crocodiles Man-eaters?
Yes , the seawater crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus ) , also recognize as the estuarine crocodile , is one of two crocodile species that " on a regular basis prey on humans,“according to herpetologist Steven Platt .
Saltwater crocodiles can grow to lengths of 23 pes ( 7 cadence ) and weigh more than a ton ( 0.9 metric tons ) , and unlike alligators and smaller crocodiles , saltwater crocs will aggressively fight their territory and collation on the occasional man . Every twelvemonth , scores of people are killed by saltwater crocodiles , like the unfortunate 8 - class - quondam girl who was attacked and eaten in front of her Friend in Indonesia in 2021 .
How uncouth are saltwater crocodile blast ? In 2015 , there were180 total crocodile attacksin Southeast Asia , coastal India and Oceania — the region where seawater crocs survive — and 79 of those were black .
Given that fewer than 100 hoi polloi are killed by saltwater crocodiles each yr across all of Southeast Asia and Oceania , what are the odds that 900 Japanese soldier could have been rust animated by ravenous crocodile in a matter of week — much less during one horrific night — on one small island ?
Historian Frank McLynn , in his record book on the battle for Burma , concluded that the Ramree Island crocodile carnage " offends every single canon of historical verifiability " and also defies ecological logic . " If ' thousands of crocodiles ' were involve in the massacre , " McLynn ask ( consort to this history in The Avocado ) " how had these ravening monsters live on before and how were they able-bodied to outlast later ? "
Piecing Together the Real Story of Ramree Island
If the 900 Japanese soldiers were n’t gobble up by crocodiles , as reported by Wright , then how did they die ?
Well , for newcomer , the Japanese did n’t lose 900 soldier at Ramree . According to two probe — one by the National Geographic show " Nazi World War Weird " andanotherby herpetologist Steven Platt — just about 500 of the original 1,000 Japanese soldiers were capable to escape the mangrove swamp alert . That info was found in the Nipponese military archive . ( Note that the battle took placeover a monthand was not an overnight event . )
That still lead 500 Japanese soldiers dead on Ramree , but very few of them , if any , were victim of crocodile . grant to local Burmese villagerswho were alive during the battle for Ramree , including some who were conscript by the Japanese armed forces , most of the Japanese casualties in the swamp were due to dehydration and disease make by exposure and want of clean food for thought and water .
So , what were those terrifying sounds that British boat patrols reportedly see on that fateful Nox in February of 1945 ? There might be an answer for that , too . According to British military records accessed by the National Geographic investigating , in the other hours of Feb. 18 , 1945 , the Allies discovered a " desperate attempt " by hundreds of Nipponese soldiers to float across a channel tell apart Ramree Island from the Burmese mainland .
" Except for a few swimmers , it ’s doubtful that any survived the crossing , " reads the official British report ( according to the National Geographic show ) . " It ’s estimated that at least 100 Japanese were killed or drown that night … 200 kill is regarded as a conservative estimate — about 40 fuddled boat were make out to have drop . perchance another 50 Japanese died in the mangrove from exposure and deprivation of solid food and piddle . 14 prisoners were taken . "
This was most potential the real Ramree Island massacre , one commit by human soldiers in an dreaded war , and not by bloodthirsty predators .
Crocodiles Were on the Scene
Even though the immense majority of the Japanese casualty at Ramree Island were from conventional causes , there is some credence to the crocodile narrative .
When Steven Platt ’s team interviewed local villager , they suppose that 10 to 15 Japanese soldier may have been attacked and defeat by crocodile as they seek to float the communication channel . Another Allied air force officer reportedthat the turn tail Japanese soldier fell victim to naval patrols — and sharks — while attempting to reach the mainland . So , there ’s evidence that at least some soldier were killed by large piranha lurking in the body of water .
And then there ’s this gruesome clue to the origin of the Ramree Island myth . The break of the day after the Allied forces mowed down 100 of escape Nipponese soldiers , the British military machine noticed the arriver of some opportunistic hunters to eat on the dead .
" The next day presented a grim appearing to add to the repugnance of the scene , " says the prescribed British report . " crocodile antecedently cover as rarely see appeared on the TV channel banks in increasing numbers . "
Special thanks to Christopher Saunders andhis articleat The Avocado debunking the Ramree Island myth .
