Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II

Vicki Croke's "Elephant Company" is a fabulous book that brings to life, J.H. William's deep and passionate relationship with the teak logging elephants of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, and his exceptional contribution to the war efforts. During lashing monsoons, jungles of Burma become inaccessible, and the swollen rivers turn treacherous. The author has painstakingly researched and chronicled the formidable living and working conditions of both humans and elephants alike in the inhospitable Chindwin River belt. Elephant Bill's selfless service and sacrifice earned him so much respect, that during the Japanese occupation, he was able to lead herds of elephants, and weak and infirm refugees, hundreds of miles to safety in India, through uncharted and hazardous hill tracts. Author Croke took me back to my logging stint half a century ago chronicled in my book "An Elephant Kissed My Window". Reviewed in India by M. Ravindran.

very good book, worth reading

Very entertaining and informative!

Good book, highly readable

Wonderful book. Loved the accompanying pictures of the elephants as well. Definitely a keeper!

A fabulous account. Not to be missed

EXCELLENT BOOK

Una storia bella vera e da insegnamento per la vita da tanti punti di vista. E mi ha presentato Burmania!

new york times best sellerと表紙に書いてあって、自分の興味あるジャンルの本は、ハズレを 引いた事がない。 殊に今回は、ホームラン。それも、満塁ホームランクラスの満足感があった。動物が好きなひと、ペットを 飼っているひと全員に勧めたい。登場人物が象を観察して、人間的にも成長するだけではない。 ＜人生に大切なことは象から学んだ＞と、言い切っている様子が、手に取るように分かる。 もしも犬より遥かに大きな動物を ペットに持てるなら、象を飼ってみたい。しみじみ、そう思わされた。

Sehr schnell und gut

Great story! Love it because it is non-fiction...and it is about a time which I really knew nothing about, so the story is truly fascinating to me! I loved learning about that time in history, but especially about a man who becomes so inspired by an elephant and then elephants...his love was contagious and now I am reading all I can about Bandoola, the great elephant, and Bill Williams who loved these animals. GREAT book.

Captain James “Billy” Williams was discharged from the British Army in 1920 after serving in combat for four years in WWI. Looking for adventure and a change of scenery, he accepted a job with a British company in Burma (known as Myanmar today) that was harvesting teak from the jungles. Upon arrival, he was dispatched to an outlying camp and soon became intimately familiar with the native handlers (called uzis) and the elephants who were doing the serious work of hauling teak logs to dry creek beds where they would be washed downstream on arrival of the monsoon season. Williams soon picks up the native Burmese language to converse with his uzis and is also able to communicate well with his elephants, understanding all their sounds and movements. He gives them loving care and talks to them in Burmese, heals their wounds and massages their wrinkled hides. We learn many fascinating details about elephants and their physical makeup: how they can eat up to 600 pounds of vegetation daily while foraging in the jungle at night, the location and function of various body parts, and how their intelligence allows them to accurately place logs while building a bridge. It’s a lonely job for Williams because there are sparse opportunities to meet eligible females and establish a relationship. It all changes in 1931 when, at the age of 33, Williams meets a young British woman in one of the camps named Susan Rowland. Luckily for Williams, Susan loves the jungle and animals as much as he does and romance soon blossoms, followed by their marriage. In the late 1930s, the coming war in Europe seems far removed from the Williams family but a real threat arrives when the Japanese invade Burma and bomb Rangoon on December 23, 1941. Susan and their young son, Treve, must be evacuated to Mandalay but James has a different mission: gather up all the company’s elephants and move them to safety away from the Japanese soldiers. It becomes a superhuman task and I had to stay up late one night to finish the book’s exciting ending. Author Vicki Croke has done a superb writing job, gathering material from interviews with Treve and combing through James’ voluminous diaries, reports and records. A map of wartime Burma is provided with extensive Notes and Index sections at the end. Overall it’s an fascinating and inspiring story about one man’s courage and leadership in a part of the world seldom visited or written about.