Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
    Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
    Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
    Audiobook9 hours

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

    Written by Vicki Croke

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

    The remarkable story of James Howard “Billy” Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world’s largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill

    In 1920, Billy Williams came to colonial Burma as a “forest man” for a British teak company. Mesmerized by the intelligence and character of the great animals who hauled logs through the jungle, he became a gifted “elephant wallah.” In Elephant Company, Vicki Constantine Croke chronicles Williams’s growing love for elephants as the animals provide him lessons in courage, trust, and gratitude.

    Elephant Company is also a tale of war and daring. When Japanese forces invaded Burma in 1942, Williams joined the elite British Force 136 and operated behind enemy lines. His war elephants carried supplies, helped build bridges, and transported the sick and elderly over treacherous mountain terrain. As the occupying authorities put a price on his head, Williams and his elephants faced their most perilous test. Elephant Company, cornered by the enemy, attempted a desperate escape: a risky trek over the mountainous border to India, with a bedraggled group of refugees in tow. Part biography, part war epic, Elephant Company is an inspirational narrative that illuminates a little-known chapter in the annals of wartime heroism.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 26, 2014
    ISBN9781490618920
    Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II

    Related to Elephant Company

    Related audiobooks

    Adventurers & Explorers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      'A Woman Of No Importance' Finally Gets Her Due

      Apr 18, 2019

      Virginia Hall was an American spy who worked for Britain and the U.S. and played a key role in undermining the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. Her story was rarely told — until now.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Some People Just Don't Matter Much

      May 8, 2019

      There are people who do not matter much. That's a painful truth, starkly at odds with our Jeffersonian creed and national mythology. But it is a truth, nevertheless, one frequently proven in actions if denied in words. In this country, by dint of rac

      2 min read

    • Article

      Havenfall

      Feb 26, 2020

      RELEASED 3 MARCH 304 pages | Paperback/ebook Author Sara Holland Publisher Bloomsbury Adolescence is hard enough at the best of times, but throw in a murdered brother, a mother on death row and a high school full of bullies that really don’t apprecia

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Last Ivory Hunter

      Apr 1, 2021

      The Last Ivory Hunter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Sharpshooter

      May 27, 2020

      Recently, a 57-year-old man and his 19-year-old son were killed, and his daughter injured, by a water buffalo in Wales. The animal in question was reported to be of the Mediterranean breed of water buffalo — a strain developed in Italy, where its mil

      2 min read

    • Article

      Biography of a Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel

      Feb 1, 2019

      Shields has composed a portrait of the complicated author and the darknesses that drove Williams to write, to overcompensate, to philander, to mansplain. The post Biography of a Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Book Shelf

      Nov 18, 2019

      IF WE LOOK back on the writings of Hemingway or Ruark, we can appreciate how the role of the African professional hunter has changed as the 20th century merged into the 21st. Today’s PH needs to be, first and foremost, a true conservationist and a cu

      6 min read

    • Article

      Boy Naturalist

      Jul 1, 2020

      Boy Naturalist
      4 min read

    • Article

      Watchful Wilderness

      Apr 3, 2019

      The beauty, splendour and sheer mystery of our ocean-going friends the whales have always mesmerized human beings. But very recent research reveals the lengths that they are prepared to go to in order to care for one another. Some scientists describe

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Prophet of Nothingness

      Sep 12, 2021

      The Prophet of Nothingness
      9 min read

    • Article

      Philippa Forrester

      Jul 2, 2020

      Why the lifelong fascination with wolves? One of the things that makes wolves most interesting to me is their relationships. I love to hear the stories of individuals that show ingenuity and extreme courage to protect or feed their family, and learn

      2 min read

    • Article

      LILLY Of The Field

      Feb 21, 2023

      LILLY Of The Field
      10 min read

    • Article

      Beavers By The Book

      Aug 30, 2019

      Beavers By The Book
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Feminine Heroic

      Apr 11, 2017

      The Feminine Heroic
      6 min read

    • Article

      Who Do Ewe Think You Are?

      Aug 12, 2020

      Who Do Ewe Think You Are?
      5 min read

    • Article

      Moments In Time

      Aug 12, 2022

      Moments In Time
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Passion For Painting

      Feb 10, 2022

      A Passion For Painting
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ted Williams

      Jun 20, 2023

      Ted Williams
      9 min read

    • Article

      Underwater Legends

      Oct 1, 2022

      Underwater Legends
      17 min read

    • Article

      A Sporting Life In Africa

      May 19, 2021

      A Sporting Life In Africa
      2 min read

    • Article

      Elijah’s Last Hurrah

      Aug 17, 2022

      Elijah’s Last Hurrah
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Elephant Company

    4/5

    166 ratings22 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Ahhhhh I loved this book!
    • 4/5
      The story itself was interesting enough to keep my attention. Here was a man raised in England who spent his whole life in Burma with elephants. It wasn't extraordinarily well written. The relationships didn't keep me enthralled. But the story was about a time and a part of the world I had never really learned about, and that was why I was interested enough to keep reading.
    • 3/5
      content: 3/5 Not gripping, but interesting enough.

      writing: 3/5 Some purple prose, but mostly good. A little bit challenging to decide where to place bookmarks as the author says in a paragraph what could be said in two sentences. Vicki Croke is not Jack London. A lot of visuals including descriptions of the body, movements and mentality of elephants, as individuals.

      narration: 4/5 One of my favourites, both kind and authoritative.

      disappointments: This is NOT a book on war elephants. Only about (I estimate) 18% is really about the company of elephants in WWII Burma, several chapters at the end. And there is almost no detailed information specifically about their martial role. For example, did they trample on enemy soldiers and did they use their tusks as weapons? The book is more about their military *transport* role. And more than that, about their industrial role in hauling teak logs. Also, instead of being chock full of facts, it was more about relationships -- Bill's with the elephants (and one in particular), the mahouts, staff and superior officers, even his wife and kids. In the effort to give us the 'full person' his accomplishments are not much explained.

      surprises: Much of the military activity actually takes place in Imphal (India)

      best feature: I might read some of the books written by 'Elephant Bill' himself. There is a bibliography in the final chapter. Second, the details on elephant anatomy and their habits was fascinating.

      general: Unlike books I typically read, which require and keep my full attention, BC was perfect light reading for while doing housekeeping.
    • 5/5
      This book was so moving. Rich in history, culture, animal pageantry and complex relationships. It was so fantastical I could hardly believe it was true. The depth of connection between Bill and Bandula forged them through trials that brought me anguish I did not know I could possess. The epilogue broke me. I will be reading more from this amazing man. This book changed me and compelled me to know more about the history others have suffered around the globe. This is a story worth reading and repeating.
    • 4/5
      Billy Williams, saw too many of the horrors of World War I. On returning to Britain he found he craved peace and solititude and so answered an ad to work for one of the giant British Teak companies in the jungles of colonial Burma.There he was given a job as a supervisor. Without any knowledge of the jungle, the Burmese people, logging teak or the elephants under his charge, he found it a steep learning curve.But he’d always had a fondness for animals and so was especially intrigued by the elephants. He oversaw their routine health problems, instituting more humane ways of caring and training them and putting an end to the cruel practice of shikar where wild elephants were captured and their spirits broken with starvation and abuse.When WWII erupted, Williams anticipated Burma would be a quiet backwater. Instead, it became a hotly contested battle zone as the Japanese used it as a stepping stone to China, their hated enemy.Williams convinced the British army that the logging elephants would be of great use – not just as pack animals but in actually building bridges and roads. And as the Japanese realized the elephants’ usefulness, they determined to capture or kill them. The only way out for the elephants and the people under Williams’ command was through rugged unexplored country to India – including over a cliff in a feat never attempted before with elephants. The elephants trusted Williams and he knew them almost like he knew his family. But was such an escape even possible?Another interesting facet of WWII that was unknown to me.
    • 4/5
      I seldom read stories of wartime events, but I sensed this book was much more than the title might suggest. Thankfully it was, being more of a biography of James Howard Williams, and of elephants his life intersected with.

      Though Elephant Bill (as he was dubbed) was nurtured in a time of British colonialism, his was a spirit of affinity with animals. There were many animals he cared for in his lifetime, the most striking of which were elephants, especially one elephant named Bandoola. The stories of various elephants (some heartbreaking, some joyful, usually both) interested me the most.

      James Howard Williams was a man whose thoughts included:

      “. . . big game hunting was a product of fear, not courage”

      “The more I saw of men … the better I liked my elephants.”

      “When someone else in the village tried to extort money from Williams over damaged banana trees, he felt it was a sure sign they were reentering civilization.”

      “. . . correspondents of the time touted what Williams did to help elephants. But Williams thought they’d gotten it backward. It was the elephants who had helped him.”

      It is an amazing story of courage and caring by both man and elephant, that eclipses the trivialness of many other books. Needless to say, it also exemplifies humankind's nature which has led us to the environmental crisis we are compounding.
    • 4/5
      The story of James H. Williams, a man who worked for years in Burma for a logging company that employed elephants. Williams' love of animals and especially the elephants with which he works is a focal point for this work. This is well researched and presented in a story format that flows keeping the reader's interest.
    • 3/5
      This was a well-written book about Billy Williams, who trained and worked with elephants in Burma during the days of the British Empire and WWII. Fascinating history of the area and the contribution of elephants to the timber industry and bridge-building during these years.
    • 4/5
      Jim (“Billy”) Williams went to live in the jungle in Burma in the 1920s and had such a connection with the elephants there, he stayed for decades. He was English and working for a teak logging company that used elephants as labour. Williams brought a kinder way of working with the animals, a way that seemed to work better for everyone – the company and the elephants alike. The subtitle of the book talks about WWII, but that was only about the last 1/3 of the book, and not my main interest in the book, though it was a pretty amazing story in itself! I loved learning about the elephants and reading about the incredible things they do. Billy, himself, I found interesting, as well, and loved that he was in favour of training the elephants with positive reinforcement. Hard enough to read of the working animals (not there by their own choice), but Billy’s way with them made it better. He also opened “hospitals” for the elephants. The book had photos interspersed, and the notes at the end were actually really interesting – there were quite a few good tidbits and stories added in there.
    • 5/5
      James Howard "Billy" Williams, twenty-three years old and recently released from military service after World War I, traveled from England to Burma to take a job as a "forest man" for a British teak company. Besides the experience and discipline of his war service, that main thing he brought to the job was his gift for understanding and handling animals--an important asset in an industry that depended on the labor of elephants to haul heavy logs, build bridges, and transport supplies and people.

      He expected to enjoy working with the elephants; in fact, he fell in love with them. Over the next twenty years, Williams made himself a first class expert on elephants, their handling, their care, their medical treatment.

      In the forests of Burma, there was no veterinary care except what he and the other elephant men could provide themselves. Williams became an advocate for their humane treatment, even establishing an "elephant school" and an "elephant hospital" to provide both more humane and effective training, and better care for elephants that were seriously injured. We also follow Williams' personal growth, his eventual marriage, and the births of three children.

      And then World War II started.

      Williams takes his teak industry elephants, including Bandoola, the big male whom he is closest to, and transforms them into Elephant Company 1, for the British Army in Burma.

      Williams, his Burman and British colleagues, and the elephants themselves make fascinating characters. Much of what Williams learns about elephants by practical experience, observation, and sensitivity while living and working in close quarters with them for years, would only be confirmed and explained by science decades later.

      Not all the drama is elephant-related. Over the decades of his career, Williams also encountered and coped with issues of British colonialism and how it affected the men he worked with and their families. The complex and sometimes strained relationship between Williams and Po Toke, the man who trained Bandoola and pioneered many of the ideas that Williams worked to advance regarding the training and handling of elephants, is compelling in itself.

      This is a truly absorbing slice of history. Highly recommended.

      I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
    • 5/5
      Burma, nonfiction, biography, action-adventure, historical-research, historical-places-events, historical-figures, audiobook A very moving and yet educational biography of one man, one elephant, and a kind of life obliterated by war and the passage of time referred to as progress. Learn about Burma and her elephants in the time from The Great War to the end of World War 2 as the elephant wallah enters the scene as a new recruit in the teak trade, learns how to care for them and love them, and lastly must return to a place that is no longer home. You won't want to miss a word of this well crafted and well researched biography studded with excerpts from his own journal. Simon Pebble is perfect as narrator.
    • 4/5
      Subtitle: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War IIJim “Elephant Bill” Williams was a veteran of World War I when he went to colonial Burma in 1920 to work as a “forest man” for a British teak company. He was immediately fascinated by the large beasts who were the true workers in this industry. He appreciated their intelligence and social structure, and keenly observed the relationships between the elephants and the uzis/mahouts who were their constant companions. One Burmese man, Po Toke, helped Williams develop a different method of training and caring for the valuable animals, and introduced him to the young male calf who would become his favorite tusker – Bandoola. The subtitle really intrigued me and I was eager to read about this particular episode, but the author gives us more than 200 pages of background before we get to World War II and the vital role Williams and his elephants played in the fight against the Japanese. Admittedly all that background was interesting and helped to explain the extraordinary relationship Williams had with these animals and their riders. His respect for and loyalty to them was returned in kind, making him an exemplary leader. Croke did extensive research. In addition to the memoirs written by Williams, she was able to access a treasure trove of personal papers kept by Williams’ children and other descendants of key people. I read all the notes following the main text, they were so interesting.
    • 4/5
      A Brit goes to Thailand to work for a British teak company, with all the advantages of a colonial power, and ends up devoted to the elephants that do a lot of the heavy lifting, connecting with them more than with most people. In WWII, he first tries to keep elephants out of the hands of the Japanese, then leads teams of elephants to construct bridges for Imperial troops. Sold as a WWII story, though most of it isn’t set during WWII; one ends up with a sense that elephants are far more interesting than most of the people involved.
    • 3/5
      Croke writes an interesting and informative book about the elephant of Burma. The story follows James Howard Williams in his life following and caring for elephants while working in the teak business. The biography gave me an enormous vision of the elephants and their personalities and life. I had never thought of elephants as extraordinary mammals, but this biography enlightened my prospection. Croke relates the story in fascinating language and extreme detail of the everyday life in the teak business. The teak business involves huge separation from human contact as the work centers in the jungle. That young men would sacrifice all to do this job amazes me. Croke weaves an excellent tale, but falls into too technical language too often.
    • 4/5
      This book tells well the story of Billy Williams, born in Cornwall on 15 Nov 1897 and of the elephant Bandoola, born 3 Nov 1897 in Burma. After his time in the English army in World War One Williams went to Burma, where he worked for a lumber company and came to be an expert in regard to elephants--n expertise put to good use during World War Two. The story told of Williams and the people and animals he came to know if often absorbing and the empathy existing between Williams and the elephants is good to read about.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely fascinating piece of history! The book reads like fiction, but it is true. Anyone who likes history and/or animals will love this story of a man and elephants, and their shared values of loyalty and courage.
    • 5/5
      Inspiring non-fiction about Burmese logging elephants, WW2 in SE Asia and an amazing man, Billy Williams, and his relationship with the elephants.
    • 5/5
      Here is another "Unbroken", "Seabiscuit", and "Perfect Storm" for us all! Vicki Croke submerges us in the Burmese jungle along with her protagonist, "Elephant Bill", and his life with the remarkable Asian elephants and their trainers and keepers. The book opens with a lesson in colonial rule, as Billy Williams hires on in 1920 to a British company that owns most of the logging rights to valuable teak from the Burmese jungle (the Brits allowed local Burma companies a tiny percentage of logging rights). He becomes a student of these incredible creatures and decides to train young elephants for the work instead of capturing them in the wild. The fierce jungle becomes home to him as he develops strongest ties with the hard working beasts and their trainers, who guide their charges by tradition and superstition.The most magnificent of them all is Bandoola, and Billy's strongest tie is to their "uzi", or keeper, Po Toke.In one of the most amazing scenes of this adventurous tale, Billy meets Susan, his wife-to-be and another Brit, at a clearing in the jungle. One would have to believe that a jungle spirit was responsible for this felicitous match.World War II encroaches upon this remote paradise and the Japanese rampage upon the land and the elephants. And therein lies what makes the reader hold his/her breath for the last forty pages of this riveting work of genius. Not to be missed, even if you were not a big fan of elephants, as I never was, until now. Thank you, Vicki Croke, for the drama and the education.
    • 4/5
      This is the third book about Burma in WWII I read recently, the second about a British elephant handler (different people). Curiously neither book mentions the other, even though they were both known in their day and operating just 100 miles apart doing much the same thing. In any case, this book has its strengths and weaknesses. There are some good stories here and Williams led a romantic life in the view of Croke. However it's not a harrowing story of incredible odds overcome. Rather endurance, loyalty and love are the themes. Both man for beast, and Williams' affair with his wife. I believe the other books gave me a better sense of the difficulty of life in the jungle with elephants, and the events of the war. Croke's book though is more gentle and humane and will be remembered filling in the picture of this fascinating place and time.
    • 4/5
      What an excellent book !! I enjoy and appreciate discovering and devouring books that introduce me to elements of history that I was unaware of. The author tells this magnificent tale in a very easy to read manner. "Billy" Williams was an incredible man - a true hero - with a passion for his adopted home of southeast Asia and his adopted family of Asian elephants.
    • 4/5
      NPR environmental and animal journalist Vicki Croke’s new book about the British elephant mahout and teak man James “Billy” Williams in Burma in the interregnum between the 20th Century’s World Wars easily began as the best nonfiction I’d read all year. Elephants and Burma--what a combination of mysteries. No matter how many non-specialist books about elephants that I read, I always learn something new. I love knowing of elephant skills, abilities, capabilities. In her introduction, Croke tells us: ”Williams had witnessed a life among the elephants that would be hard for those outside to fathom—in fact, he reported behaviors that many would not believe until they were validated decades later by biologists in the field. He had seen these creatures thoughtfully solve problems, use tools, protect one another, express joy and humor, stand up for something more important than their own safety, and even, perhaps, comprehend the concept of death. There was a largeness to them that was about more than their physical size, a quality triggered especially when their sense of decency or outrage was provoked.

      Could one really call it decency? Williams thought so. Courage defined them, He had witness their bravery—mothers defending babies, tuskers squaring off against each other, closely bonded females running toward danger, not away, to protect one another.

      These were simple lessons from the animals, like how to be content with what he had. And there were more complex ones, too: the realization, for instance that trust requires much more than affection; it depends on mutual confidence—strength, not niceness. Or that sometimes it’s not necessary to know what elephants or people are thinking, as long as one honors what they are feeling.”
      Croke explains the differences between African and Asian elephants, in size and temperament, and gets into details about living in the plains and mountains of Burma. Details of early teak harvesting are both sad and fascinating. It takes two or three years to harvest a tree, and “it could take anywhere from five to twenty years for a log to become a milled plank.” Demand for teak, a hard wood resistant to insects and weather damage increased exponentially in the first part of the 20th century, from “sixty-three thousand tons of teak a year in the late 1800s to more than five hundred thousand tons annually in Williams’s early years.” Additionally we learn that “a teak forest 10,000 square miles in extent may be capable of producing only seven or eight thousand trees a year.”

      Living as a teak forester sounds formidable, and lonely. The hardship of the sheeting rain of the monsoon and the isolation of the jungle life would keep most folks away, but Billy Williams had the consolation of working with the world’s largest land animals. Williams suffered innumerable bouts of malaria and other illnesses that nearly took him out, but he soldiered on without complaint and once recovered, raced back to his post and his elephants.

      The only thing that keeps this from being the best book I have ever read is the section on Williams’ involvement in WWII as it played out in Burma. Undoubtedly the Japanese had a strategy for domination that included rustling about in the jungles of Burma, but somehow that did not make any sense to me. No book can answer every question, but if the author makes the reader interested enough to seek out more information as a result of their reading, the book can be called a success. In this way, Croke's work makes one wish to know more. Many of us are more familiar than we’d like to be with the European theatre, but the war in Asia deserved a few sentences of intent and context.

      Once Croke began to talk about the war, the map of Burma given after the Introduction seemed too thinly marked. I could not find the locations she spoke of in terms of troop movements and distances became unclear. Details about the elephants’ involvement in bridge building required more than Williams’ diary would have provided. I understand the difficulties she must have encountered, but I would have preferred, then, not to have the title so focused on the participation of elephants in WWII. It was neither the most interesting nor the most complete section of the narrative.

      In any case, the elephants were involved in at least two long distance treks carrying refugees across vast distances and through difficult terrain, forgoing their usual regime of being river-washed and set free each night to forage and rest. Despite all the hardships of teak work and war, they made the best of their situation and came through when called upon for help. Williams himself earned commendation for his war effort which included mustering and handling the elephants behind enemy lines and we know from his own writings how much credit he gave the animals in his care, especially one exceptional bull called Bandoola, whom he loved.

      The resurrection of this riveting account of elephant teak and war work in Burma is due entirely to the research and attention of Vicki Croke, whose fluency makes the narrative absorbing. She has a sensitivity regarding animal and human behaviors that seems exceptionally perceptive. Despite my quibbles about the final third of the book, the story is packed with detail and photos of early teak work in Burma and is definitely one of the best books of my year. This extraordinary nonfiction title is well worth the investment to locate and read a copy and would be a great book to gift someone for the upcoming holiday season.


    • 4/5
      This book was just incredible, I learned so much and in such a wonde3ful way. The author has such a natural way of telling the story of this amazing man. So many fascinating facts pertaining to elephants, had not a clue how complex and intelligent they are in actuality. The book also highlights the many extremes of life in a British Colony. The bug, the snakes. Williams bouts with malaria, the heat and yet they dined on white tablecloths and on real china. Life in Burma, at the logging camps and the huge undertaking it was to cut as much teak as they could. Williams favorite elephant and faithful friend, Bandoola, an elephant thaw was trained in a new merciful way as opposed to the scarring, cruel ways of the past. I could say so much more about this book, Williams time in the war, and he and his animals part in the new wars. The Uzi's and how they kept track of their animals, the daily inspections, Williams learning curve in the Burmese language and in all things elephant. An amazing book, which I whole heartedly recommend.