Battle of Ramree Island 1945
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 14 January 1945 – 22 February 1945 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1945 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Myanmar | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Burma Campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Imperial Japanese Army, XV Corps | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 19.4305, 93.5458 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ramree Island (Burmese: ရမ်းဗြဲကျွန်း တိုက်ပွဲ), also known as Operation Matador, took place from 14 January to 22 February 1945, in the Second World War as part of the offensive on the Southern Front in the Burma campaign and was conducted by the XV Indian Corps.
Ramree Island, part of Arakan (now Rakhine State), has an area of 520 sq mi (1,350 km2) and is separated from the mainland by a strait with an average width of about 490 ft (150 m); the island is 70 mi (110 km) south of Akyab (now Sittwe). During the Japanese invasion of Burma in early 1942, the Island had been captured. In January 1945, forces of the Indian XV Corps landed on Ramree and the neighbouring island of Cheduba, to establish airfields for the supply of the mainland campaign.
The battle is known for claims that hundreds of Japanese soldiers were killed by crocodiles in the mangrove swamps of Ramree. Some editions of the Guinness Book of World Records have described this as the highest number of fatalities in an animal attack; zoologists and modern military historians have dismissed these claims.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ramree Island (revision 1370315677), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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Other battles of the Burma Campaign
- Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan 1943
- Battle of the Admin Box 1944
- Battle of Hill 170 1945
- Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay 1945
- Battle of the Sittang Bend 1945
All 6 battles of the Burma Campaign →
Browse more: battles in Myanmar · Asia · World War II era battles