A GI named Joe

KING CROC

(Aola Bay - Early November 1942)

At Aola Bay on Guadalcanal in early November 1942, my platoon and I met up with an impressive member of the local fauna. It happened about noon on our second day there. We had finished our patrol into the interior of the island and came out of the jungle just west of Aola village. We had been following the bank of a small but deep river. As we cleared the jungle we were on a beautiful black sand beach where the little river emptied into the sea. It was an inviting sight. We were hot, tired, dirty and sweaty, and the fresh deep water was too much to resist. We posted sentries for security just in case, and began peeling off clothes, ready to plunge into cool deep water, when someone yelled, 'Hey, Sarge! Look at the big alligator.' He was half wrong and half right. It wasn't an alligator, but a crocodile, and it was more than big, it was enormous. I believe it was over twenty feet long. The crocodile was lying peacefully on a sandbank opposite to where we were. After considering the situation, we decided that while the big croc was on the opposite bank he was not a threat to our planned swim and bath. It was great!

The next day we were again by the river's mouth, only a little earlier, about 11:00 a.m. We were ready for another swim but a careful search revealed no crocodile so it was instantly decided we should cancel our planned dip in the river. We were about ready to head back to our beach defense positions, when someone shouted, 'There he is!' Sure enough, proceeding majestically through the water like a small submarine, with only his nostrils and eyes above the surface, he slowly made his way to his private sandbank and lumbered up clear of the water to take his daily sunbath. With him on the bank we were soon in his river. I couldn't stay long to enjoy the swim, but those who were there told me that at 12:15 he finished his sunbath, and they finished their swim!

This little scenario was re-enacted during the four days we spent in that area. The old croc operated on an exact schedule, out on the bank at 11:00 a.m., back in the river at 12:15.

You know, we never once considered the possibility that he was not the only one of his kind in the river. I guess because he was so big we thought he would have it all to himself. Also I don't know why some of us didn't shoot him. We were shooting at Japs every day, and we always had our weapons with us. It may have been because he looked like he owned the river.

I didn't know much about crocodiles at that time, but I learned more about them as time went by. The old crocodile we met was a saltwater crocodile, which are the largest of all the species. The full-grown ones average 20 feet or more. The record was a 33 footer that was killed in the Philippine Islands and was estimated to weigh over 5,000 pounds. They are also man-eaters, as I learned a short time later from some of the natives on the island.

After the war I was reading some accounts of the British and American operations against the Japanese on Ramree Island in February, 1945. This particular battle took place along a swampy peninsula. The Japs were pushed back into an extensive saltwater swamp. It was crocodile-infested and during the night the crocodiles actually ate almost the entire force of about 900 men. That seems too far fetched to be true, but I have read of the incident in at least three different accounts of the battle, as well as in the Guinness record book.