What Is the Worst Recorded Crocodile/Alligator attack in History?

Question

Ive heard some vague details about a chine battalion or something but Im not sure. Thanks in advance

Answer 1

From http://www.wemjournal.org/wmsonline/?request=get-document&issn=1080-6032&volume=016&issue=03&page=0143

"The worst mass attack by crocodiles was said to have been on the night of February 19, 1945, when allegedly approximately 1000 Japanese soldiers found themselves pinned down in a mangrove swamp separating Ramree Island from the Burmese mainland. According to the British naturalist Bruce Wright, who was then a member of the British Armed Forces, only 20 Japanese allegedly escaped alive from the saltwater crocodiles. The veracity of this report has subsequently been called into question."

Wikipedia has a far different version of the same story:

"The most deaths in a single crocodile attack incident may have occurred during the Battle of Ramree Island, on February 19, 1945, in what is now Burma. 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 ten miles of mangrove swamps which contained Saltwater Crocodiles. Twenty Japanese soldiers were captured alive by the British, and almost five hundred are known to have escaped Ramree. Many of the remainder may have been eaten by the crocodiles, although gunfire from the British troops was undoubtedly a contributory factor."

Version 1 has 980 croc deaths, version 2 has about 400- and allows that at least some may have been killed by bullets and maybe eaten by crocs.

I have a hard time believing that armed soldiers could be dumb enough to let large numbers of themselves be eaten by crocs in a swamp.

Answer 2

Officially the attack on Japanese soldiers in Burma is the worst (and could be the very worst) BUT when I read the book The Complete Idiot's guide to the Crusades by historian Paul William he mentions that during the 5th Crusade the European Crusader army was ENGULFED BY CROCODILES when they walked into a flood plain (and were flooded after the muslims opened the flood gates). I cant find any info on how many European men got eaten but given the size of the army and the fact that they were "engulfed" by crocodiles it was probably a lot and maybe a lot more that the 1945 Burma attack.

Answer 3

This is certified by guinness world records. the worst attack in history took place in 1945 in the bay of bengal. 1000 japanese soldiers were trapped in a swamp. overnight, tons of crocodiles came, attracted by the smell of blood and started to eat the soldiers. the next morning, only 20 japanese soldiers were left. the comination of army strength and crocodiles took 980 men down in a day and a night.

Answer 4

ask steve corwin