This story comes from the Indian theater of World War 2 - Battle of Kohima. Not a lot of people know about the Japanese attacks on the northeast of India and it is definitely not the most popular stories to go to when one thinks of World wars. There are different versions of this story passed on, some weirder than others, by the sepoys who fought against the Japanese and were traumatized by it.
As this version goes, we are talking about the late summer of 1944. Battalions of the British Indian Army with Indian soldiers and Indian or British officers are repelling waves of attacks by the fast moving Japanese. They are struggling to get food, water or even ammunition in the dense forests of present day Indo-Myanmar border. There is practically no medical or first aid supplies, no food and the only water you can get is from the rivers in the jungle, which are extensively monitored by the Japanese.
Bheem, who rose through the ranks and became an officer in the army - a position usually reserved for the brits, is commanding a unit of about 20 soldiers holding the outpost in the dense forests. Generally they came to expect some Japanese activities even through the night, although the nighttime battles were still uncommon. He, along with another soldier, was on guard duty at an elevated post. At the dawn break, he heard some rustling of the trees at a distance. Assuming that a Japanese attack might be imminent, he woke everyone up, shouted some instructions and went towards the sounds that he heard along with a couple of other soldiers who were ready.
Three of them walked through the dense flora of the forest, trying to get a visual of any activity of the Japanese. After walking for a few minutes, they saw light through the trees. Getting closer, they realize it is a forest fire in the middle of a cleared patch of land. What they saw next shocked them! There were four bodies right next to the fire. Three of them were in khaki soldier clothes resting against the trees, and one in red officer clothes, appearing to be a British army officer, was nailed to a big tree trunk in a T-shape, almost resembling a crucifix.
They got closer to the soldiers’ bodies but were horrified at what they saw. The bodies seemed to be missing skin in vital places. They could barely make out the faces with slashes and hanging skin from the jaws. The intestines and other organs form the torso lay exposed. Some limbs were either amputated and were lying close or as it seemed were crushed by something heavy. Suddenly, there was a loud noise of something falling. They looked around and saw that the officer’s body, which was in a similar state, had fallen from the nails and was now laid on the ground. But it showed some movement.
Bheem ran towards the officer but was too scared to touch him. The officer was breathing, but definitely not for much longer. Bheem could see the officer’s exposed lungs, trying to grasp for air, until there was no motion anymore. He just passed away.
Bheem and the soldiers said short prayers for the fallen soldiers and turned away to go towards their post, fearing that the Japanese might be close. They formed a queue to pass through the narrow path they were going to follow but suddenly, the last soldier noticed some motion through the corner of his eye. He turned around to see three soldiers who were seemingly dead, now standing without any support and looking at the officer’s dead body. He warned Bheem and the other soldier to look back. What they saw next was not something they were ready for, even in the middle of a tense battle of the world war. The three undead rushed towards the officer, sat on their knees and started tearing it apart and eating it. They were eating the exposed guts through whatever was left of their mouths. Bheem and his soldiers were frozen in their place and not a word was spoken, until one of the undead turned his face towards them and stood up. The other two undead stood up too and were now staring at these three on the living end of the spectrum. Bheem snapped back and loudly yelled, “Run!”
They ran through the forest and made their way back to the team. The sun rose but they were struggling to explain to others what they saw. Noone believed them, but saw no reason for them to be lying to them.
As it happened, they were attacked by the Japanese a couple of hours later, in broad morning. No one survived, except Bheem was found almost lifeless by the nearby villagers and was later rescued by another Indian Army unit. He recounted his horror of that night in official hearings and statements but was never believed… until other officers fighting the Japanese shared their experiences with the undead in those jungles.
Bheem lived a long life and became a celebrity and a local hero in his village after the British left India. People from far away would come to him to hear his tales.
There are different versions of these stories, of soldiers seeing the undead soldiers during the Japanese attacks in the north-east of India. The Japanese were also ruthless and quite brutal in their fights. They would capture entire units of the Indian army and take a few healthy prisoners. They would then impale them and cut them up intricately, making sure the vitals are not affected. And then, give them some chemical compounds which would not let these prisoners die, and in fact keep them alive long enough so that other Indians find them. Maybe Bheem did not see undead, but rather just glimpses of fellow soldiers just having the most horrible and torturous death.
We will never know.