Ramree , Burma February 1945 British vs. Japanese

Ramree, BurmaFebruary 1945British vs. Japanese

Mangrove Swamp

Crocodile

Japanese Soldier

What do these have in common?

WELL… • Around 1,000 Japanese soldiers fled to the Mangrove swamps to avoid being killed by British soldiers in a skirmish.

• They remained there overnight.• Only 20 were alive in the morning. • WHAT HAPPENED?• 980 of them were eaten by the crocodiles during the night.

• So you could say that the crocodiles joined forces with the Allied Powers!

British and Japanese Skirmish

“As no further fighting of any extent was taking place on the island, all that remained was for the naval forces to patrol the seaway between RAMREE and the mainland killing the few enemy who tried to escape from the swamp and of these few who drowned or were eaten by the sharks. Those, numbering about 1,000, who remained in the mangroves, were suffering most horribly without food or drinking water, attacked by malarial mosquitoes, scorpions and, most dreadfully, by the crocodiles attracted to them by the blood from their wounds which were covered in blowflies. What, to the Allies, made it worse was that this total sacrifice was completely unnecessary.”