Crocodiles against infantry: how the Japanese garrison died in the jungles of Burma. A terrible massacre on the island. Ramri Ramri crocodiles

Battle for Ramri Island(also known as Operation Matador) was a battle of the Burma Campaign of World War II, fought over six weeks between 14 January and 22 February 1945 between the Anglo-Indian (XXV Indian Corps) and Japanese (121st Infantry) Regiment of the 54th Division) troops on Ramri Island (Yangbye Kywan) located off the coast of Burma 110 km south of Akyab (now Sittwe), which was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army in early 1942, along with the rest of Southern Burma. In January 1945, the Allies launched an offensive to recapture Ramree and neighboring island Cheduba and create military air bases there on the islands for communication with the mainland.

The British victory over the besieged Japanese on the island was of little strategic importance, but went down in history due to the massive attack of the infamous saltwater crocodiles on Japanese soldiers wading through the swamp. British soldier and naturalist Bruce Stanley Wright, who participated in the battle, reported that of the more than a thousand Japanese soldiers who were on the island, the British captured only 20, who were in a state of shock. According to Wright, 1,215 people were torn alive by crocodiles while trying to pass through the swamps of the island.

Battle

Soldiers of the 26th Indian Infantry Division prepare food near a temple on Ramree Island.

The capture of Akyab began by the 29th Indian Infantry Division, which landed on Ramri Island in a place well suited for the establishment of airfields. The plan was ready by January 2, when it became clear that the offensive of the Fourteenth Army would soon require the creation of new air bases, including on the island. Ramri. On 14 January the 26th Indian Division was ordered to attack, while on 21 January a Royal Marine detachment from 3 Commando Brigade occupied Cheduba Island.

The Japanese garrison on Ramri Island consisted of the II Battalion, the 121st Infantry Regiment (Colonel Kanichi Nagasawa), part of the 54th Division, artillery and engineering units acting as an independent force.

The battle began with Operation Matador, an amphibious attack to capture the strategically important port on the northern part of Ramri Island and the airfield nearby. Reconnaissance carried out on January 14, 1945, discovered that Japanese forces had placed artillery in caves leading to the island's landing beaches. Therefore, several ships were assigned to provide fire support to the ground forces. On January 21, an hour before the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade, which had been sent as reinforcements, was to land, the shelling of the beach began. The assault troops were slightly delayed, but entered the battle in the afternoon. The next day progress was made.

On January 26, the capture of Cheduba Island began, approximately 10 kilometers from the Northwestern coast of the island. Ramri. On about. Ramri's Japanese garrison, meanwhile, was still resisting. But on February 1, as British troops approached, more than a thousand defenders—a commando corps considered second to none for repelling mobile infantry attacks—abandoned the fortress and moved to provide support for a larger battalion of Japanese soldiers on the island. After several days of travel, the route took them through 16 kilometers of mangrove swamp, and while they were moving through it, the British had already surrounded the area. The uniforms and weapons of the British soldiers were not designed for passing through swamps, unlike the Japanese ones, who were equipped with special suits and a decent arsenal of bladed weapons, and therefore, in this case, armed clashes did not occur. Despite this, Japanese soldiers very quickly began to suffer losses due to tropical diseases, mosquitoes, scorpions, snakes, and especially saltwater crocodiles that inhabited the mangroves.

On February 7, the 71st brigade, with the support of tanks, reached the city on the island. Ramri and met some Japanese resistance. A Japanese air raid on February 11 seriously damaged some of the British ships blockading the island. Resistance by Japanese troops on the island ceased on February 17, but the blockade of the island continued until February 22 - many rescue ships were sunk and many Japanese soldiers hiding in the mangrove swamps were killed; but approximately 500 military personnel managed to escape.

Crocodile attack

British soldiers, including naturalist Bruce Stanley Wright, who participated in the battle, claimed that a large number of saltwater crocodiles living in the mangrove swamps of the island. Ramri attacked Japanese soldiers crossing the swamp. Wright described this incident in Wildlife Sketches Near and Far (1962)

Ramri Island, located in the Bay of Bengal and belonging to Myanmar, has one distinctive feature. The main inhabitants of this island are giant crocodiles, whose length can reach seven meters. They became the main characters of one incredible story that took place at the end of World War II in Japanese-occupied Ramri. This story is still shrouded in mystery.

Japanese occupation

British Colony of Burma ( former name Myanmar) was strategically important for Japan, which entered the Second world war in December 1941. Firstly, the so-called Burma Road carried important military supplies to China through the port of Rangoon. Secondly, this country was an important outpost on the approaches to India.

The Japanese landed in Burma on the second day after their entry into the war - December 8, 1941. In March, the British were forced to leave Rangoon, and by May Japan already controlled the entire central part of the country. Soon the British troops retreated to India.

In 1943, Japan granted independence to Burma. However, the Chindits, partisan detachments operating in the occupied British colony in 1943-1944, caused a lot of problems for the Japanese occupiers. under the leadership of British General Ord Wingate.

But on Ramri Island, the partisans were not the main problem for the Japanese soldiers. As it turned out at the final stage of the war, much greater trouble awaited them here.

A terrible massacre on the island. Ramri

The event that made Ramree infamous occurred in early 1945 during the liberation of the British colonies from occupation. In January, British-Indian troops, in order to create an air base on Ramree, landed on the island, where at that moment there were about 1,000 Japanese soldiers, and began an offensive. After a long resistance, the Japanese were surrounded, but refused to surrender. They were forced to retreat deeper into the island to face certain death. Many of them died from the bites of poisonous insects and snakes, others from hunger and lack of fresh water.

But the largest number of soldiers died in battles with giant crocodiles that lived in the local swamps. At least that’s what Canadian naturalist Bruce Wright said, who witnessed these events and described them in detail in his 1962 book. Wright called the night of February 18–19, 1945, “the most terrible” night the Marines had ever experienced. According to him, the military liberating the island heard rifle shots coming from the mangrove swamps and “the screams of wounded people caught in the mouths of giant reptiles,” which, together with the sounds of “swarming” crocodiles, created a “cacophony of hell.” Wright noted that out of 1,000 Japanese soldiers, only 20 survived!

However, the veracity of this horrifying story is still in doubt, and researchers continue to look for facts that could shed light on what happened on Ramri.

Were there crocodiles?

Many details related to the battle on the island. Ramri, there is disagreement among experts. In his book on the Burma Campaign, historian Frank McLynn refutes the main arguments in support of the veracity of the story of the terrible massacre, and especially the way the story was presented by the naturalist Wright. According to McLynn, there is no documented evidence that Wright was on the island at this time.

In addition, the historian points out the inconsistency of the “myth” about the attack of crocodiles from a scientific point of view. According to McLynn, the number of reptiles that allegedly ate hundreds of Japanese soldiers would not have survived in natural conditions Ramri – they simply wouldn’t have enough food! The scientist also draws attention to the fact that neither the official reports of the British army nor the memoirs of the Japanese who survived the battle on the island speak of a massive attack by crocodiles.

The veracity of the story was also questioned in a National Geographic documentary released in September 2016. Doctor Sam Willis visited sadly famous island, and also studied surviving military documents. The researcher concluded that the number of victims of local crocodiles was exaggerated.

In 2017 after the release of this documentary film O. Ramree is once again included in the Guinness Book of World Records, where it was first included in 1968 as the site of the largest mass killing of people by crocodiles, citing the results of a National Geographic investigation.

As the editor-in-chief of the publication, Craig Glenday, explained, when assigning such a “title” to the battle of Ramree, the compilers of the annual directory relied on the memoirs of naturalist Wright, the reliability of which they had no reason to doubt. However, he stated that his editors are ready to consider new documentary data related to this story, if any are found.

Sergey Tikhonov “Expert Online”, February 18, 2014

On February 19, 1945, crocodiles ate up to a thousand Japanese soldiers trying to escape from the British in the swamps.

This story took place in February 1945, when Hitler's Japanese allies were still carrying out a counter-offensive in all strategic positions, including the so-called. Southwestern Front. His key territorial link was a long-range artillery base on the Yuhan Hills, located on the Burmese island of Ramri. It was from there that the most successful attacks on English landing craft were carried out. When the object was discovered by Anglo-American military intelligence, its destruction was designated among the top five priority tasks for the 7th Airborne Operational Squadron of the Royal Navy. To protect the base, the Japanese command sent the army's best special forces unit to the island - Diversionary Corps No. 1, which is considered unsurpassed in repelling attacks by mobile infantry.

The commander of the English airborne battalion, Andrew Wyert, turned out to be a very cunning and resourceful officer. He sent a reconnaissance group deep into the island, where there were impenetrable mangrove swamps, and having learned that they were simply teeming with huge saltwater crocodiles, he decided to lure the enemy detachment there at any cost. The major objected: “Our uniforms and weapons are not designed to go through swamps, unlike the Japanese, who are equipped with special suits and a decent arsenal of bladed weapons. We will lose everything." To which the commander, in his signature half-joking style, replied: “Trust me and you will live...”.

The crew was amazing in its tactical elaboration. After the Japanese detachment was led into the very depths of the swamp through positional battles (which, by the way, the Japanese officers were only happy about, thinking that they would gain an advantage here), Wyatt ordered a gradual retreat to coastline, ultimately leaving only a small detachment on the front line under artillery cover.

A few minutes later, the British officers watching through binoculars witnessed a strange performance: despite a temporary lull in the attacks, Japanese soldiers, one after another, began to fall into the muddy swamp slurry. Soon the Japanese detachment completely stopped resisting their military opponents: the soldiers who were still standing ran up to the fallen and tried to pull them out from somewhere, then also falling and falling into the same epileptic convulsions. Andrew ordered the vanguard detachment to retreat, although he met with objections from his fellow officers - they said, they had to finish off the bastards. For the next two hours, the British, being on the hill, calmly watched as the powerful, well-armed Japanese army was rapidly melting away. As a result, the best sabotage regiment, consisting of 1215 selected experienced soldiers, which repeatedly defeated significantly superior enemy forces, for which at one time it was nicknamed “Smerch” by the enemies, was devoured alive by crocodiles. The remaining 20 soldiers, who managed to escape from the deadly trap of the jaws, were safely captured by the British.

This case went down in history as “the largest number of human deaths from animals.” The article in the Guinness Book of Records is also named. “About a thousand Japanese soldiers tried to repel the attack of the Royal navy Great Britain ten miles off the coast, in mangrove swamps where thousands of crocodiles live. Twenty soldiers were later captured alive, but most were eaten by crocodiles. The hellish situation of the retreating soldiers was aggravated by the huge number of scorpions and tropical mosquitoes that also attacked them,” says the Guinness book. Naturalist Bruce Wright, who participated in the battle on the side of the English battalion, claimed that the crocodiles ate most of the soldiers of the Japanese detachment: “That night was the most terrible that any of the fighters had ever experienced. Scattered in the black swamp slurry, bloody, screaming Japanese, crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the strange alarming sounds of spinning crocodiles formed a cacophony of hell. I think few people could observe such a spectacle on earth. At dawn the vultures flew in to clean up what the crocodiles had left...of the 1,000 Japanese soldiers who entered the Rami swamps, only about 20 were found alive.”

The saltwater crocodile is still considered the most dangerous and most aggressive predator on planet Earth. Off the coast of Australia, more people die from attacks by saltwater crocodiles than from attacks by a great white shark, which is mistakenly considered the most dangerous animal by the people. This type of reptile has the strongest bite in the animal kingdom: large individuals can bite with a force of over 2500 kg. In one case recorded in Indonesia, a Suffolian stallion, weighing a ton and capable of pulling over 2000 kg, was killed by a large male sea saltwater crocodile, who dragged the victim into the water and broke the horse’s neck. The strength of his jaws is such that he is capable of crushing a buffalo skull or a sea turtle shell in a few seconds.

Of the documented cases of mass human casualties from animal attacks, also noteworthy is the World War II incident involving the attack of great white sharks, which ate about 800 helpless people. This happened after ships carrying civilians were bombed and scuttled.

On February 19, 1945, crocodiles ate up to a thousand Japanese soldiers trying to escape the British in the swamps.

IN military history There is one incredible incident: on February 19, 1945, during a fierce battle on Ramri Island (Burma), an English naval landing lured the Japanese army into mangrove swamps in which thousands of saltwater crocodiles lived. As a result, the thousandth detachment was destroyed - eaten by hungry reptiles. The British did not waste a single cartridge or shell. The report of Japanese Army Colonel Yasu Yunuko, declassified last year, testifies: “only 22 soldiers and 3 officers returned from that detachment alive from the mangrove swamps of Ramri.” An inspection by a special commission of the military tribunal, which conducted an investigation 2 months later, showed that the water in a swamp area with an area of ​​3 square kilometers consists of 24% human blood.

This story took place in February 1945, when Hitler's Japanese allies were still carrying out a counter-offensive in all strategic positions, including the so-called. Southwestern Front. His key territorial link was a long-range artillery base on the Yuhan Hills, located on the Burmese island of Ramri. It was from there that the most successful attacks on English landing craft were carried out. When the object was discovered by Anglo-American military intelligence, its destruction was designated among the top five priority tasks for the 7th Airborne Operational Squadron of the Royal Navy. To protect the base, the Japanese command sent the best special forces unit of the army to the island - sabotage corps No. 1, which is considered unsurpassed in repelling attacks by mobile infantry.

The commander of the English airborne battalion, Andrew Wyert, turned out to be a very cunning and resourceful officer. He sent a reconnaissance group deep into the island, where there were impenetrable mangrove swamps, and having learned that they were simply teeming with huge saltwater crocodiles, he decided to lure the enemy detachment there at any cost. The major objected: “Our uniforms and weapons are not designed to go through swamps, unlike the Japanese, who are equipped with special suits and a decent arsenal of bladed weapons. We will lose everything.” To which the commander, in his signature half-joking style, replied: “Trust me and you will live...”.

The crew was amazing in its tactical elaboration. After the Japanese detachment was led into the very depths of the swamp through positional battles (which, by the way, the Japanese officers were only happy about, thinking that they would gain an advantage here), Wyert ordered a gradual retreat to the coastline, ultimately leaving only a small detachment under artillery cover.

A few minutes later, the British officers watching through binoculars witnessed a strange performance: despite a temporary lull in the attacks, Japanese soldiers, one after another, began to fall into the muddy swamp slurry. Soon the Japanese detachment completely stopped resisting their military opponents: the soldiers who were still standing ran up to the fallen and tried to pull them out from somewhere, then also falling and falling into the same epileptic convulsions. Andrew ordered the vanguard detachment to retreat, although he met with objections from his fellow officers - they said, they had to finish off the reptiles. For the next two hours, the British, being on the hill, calmly watched as the powerful, well-armed Japanese army was rapidly melting away. As a result, the best sabotage regiment, consisting of 1215 selected experienced soldiers, which repeatedly defeated significantly superior enemy forces, for which at one time it was nicknamed “Smerch” by the enemies, was devoured alive by crocodiles. The remaining 20 soldiers, who managed to escape from the deadly trap of the jaws, were safely captured by the British.

This case went down in history as “the largest number of human deaths from animals.” The article in the Guinness Book of Records is also named. "About a thousand Japanese soldiers tried to repel an attack by the British Royal Navy ten miles offshore, in mangrove swamps where thousands of crocodiles live. Twenty soldiers were later captured alive, but most were eaten by crocodiles. The hellish situation of the retreating soldiers was aggravated by the huge number scorpions and tropical mosquitoes, which also attacked them,” says the Guinness book. Naturalist Bruce Wright, who participated in the battle on the side of the English battalion, claimed that the crocodiles ate most of the soldiers of the Japanese detachment: “That night was the most terrible that any of the fighters had ever experienced. Scattered in the black swamp slurry, bloodied, screaming Japanese, crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the strange disturbing sounds of the circling crocodiles made up the appearance of a cacophony of hell. Such a spectacle, I think, few could see on earth. At dawn, the vultures flew in to clean up what the crocodiles had left...from 1000 Japanese soldiers, who entered the Rami swamps, only about 20 were found alive."

The saltwater crocodile is still considered the most dangerous and most aggressive predator on planet Earth. Off the coast of Australia, more people die from attacks by saltwater crocodiles than from attacks by a great white shark, which is mistakenly considered the most dangerous animal by the people. This type of reptile has the strongest bite in the animal kingdom: large individuals can bite with a force of over 2500 kg. In one case recorded in Indonesia, a Suffolian stallion, weighing a ton and capable of pulling over 2,000 kg, was killed by a large male saltwater crocodile, which dragged the victim into the water and broke the horse's neck. The strength of his jaws is such that he is capable of crushing a buffalo skull or a sea turtle shell in a few seconds.

Of the documented cases of mass human casualties from animal attacks, also noteworthy is the World War II incident involving the attack of great white sharks, which ate about 800 helpless people. This happened after ships carrying civilians were bombed and scuttled.

- Sergei Tikhonov

Source - http://expert.ru

On February 19, 1945, during the Burma Campaign of World War II, an incredible and terrible incident occurred. During the fighting on the small island of Ramri, located southwest of Burma, the Japanese unit was attacked by saltwater crocodiles that live in the local swamps. This case has gone down in history as one of the worst episodes concerning the relationship between humans and these reptiles.

The Battle of Ramri Island, known as Operation Matador, began on January 14, 1945. On that day, troops from the 29th Indian Infantry Division were landed on the island with the aim of capturing a strategically important port in the northern part of the island and an airfield not far from it.

British landing on Ramri Island

The Japanese garrison at Ramree Island consisted of the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, part of the 54th Division, artillery and engineering units acting as an independent force. Heavy fighting began. The British, supported by naval artillery and aircraft, pushed the Japanese deeper into the island.

Japanese during the battles for Burma

On January 21, the 71st Indian Infantry Brigade was additionally landed on the island. It was then that a turning point came in the battle for the island. On February 17, hostilities ceased, the Japanese left their positions in the north of the island and began moving south in order to connect with the rest of the garrison. Their path ran through local mangrove swamps.

British units did not pursue the Japanese; the soldiers did not have uniforms for operating in swampy terrain. The command limited itself to sending small reconnaissance groups in the wake of the retreating enemy. Although there is an opinion that the British deliberately allowed the Japanese to go into the swamps.

The Japanese unit entered a swampy area. In addition to problems with water, which was undrinkable, the Japanese were plagued by snakes, scorpions and tropical mosquitoes. But the worst was yet to come. On the night of February 19, while moving, the Japanese were attacked by local saltwater crocodiles, which large quantities lived in swamps.

As a result, nearly a thousand Japanese soldiers who entered the mangrove swamps of Ramri Island were eaten alive by crocodiles. The 22 soldiers and 3 officers who managed to escape from the deadly trap and survived were captured by the British.

Captured surviving Japanese soldier

Naturalist Bruce Stanley Wright, who participated in the battle on the side of the English battalion, described what happened in his book “Sketches of Fauna”:

This night was the worst any fighter had ever experienced. Scattered in the black swamp slurry, bloody, screaming Japanese, crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the strange alarming sounds of spinning crocodiles formed a cacophony of hell.

I think few people could observe such a spectacle on earth. At dawn, the vultures flew in to clean up what the crocodiles had left behind... of the 1,000 Japanese soldiers who entered the Ramree swamps, only about 20 were found alive.

This incident was subsequently included in the Guinness Book of Records and is recognized as "the worst crocodile disaster in the entire world" and "the largest number of people killed by a crocodile attack."

The saltwater crocodile is still considered the most dangerous and most aggressive predator on the planet. The strength of his jaws is such that in a few seconds he can crush the skull of a buffalo or the shell of a sea turtle, and bite an adult in two.

Materials used: foto-history.livejournal.com