Title:
Elephant Company : the inspiring story of an unlikely hero and the animals who helped him save lives in World War II / Vicki Constantine Croke.
Author:
Croke, Vicki, author.
Publication Information:
New York : Random House, [2014]
Call Number:
D767.6 .C76 2014
Abstract:
"J.H. "Billy" Williams always had an affinity for animals. So, when he responded to job offer with the East India Company to work with logging elephants his family wasn't surprised, though worried that he had already come back from World War I in one piece, would he be so lucky with India? Not only did he find his calling with the elephants in India, Billy and his elephants became war heroes. At the onset of World War II, Williams formed Elephant Company and was instrumental in defeating the Japanese in Burma and saving refugees, including on his own "Hannibal Trek." Billy Williams became a media sensation during the war, telling reporters that the elephants did more for him than he was ever able to do for them, but his story has since been forgotten. Part biography, part war story, and part wildlife adventure, Croke delivers an utterly charming narrative and an important, little-known piece of the legacy of World War II"-- Provided by publisher.
Geographic Term:
Electronic Access:
Cover image 9781400069330.jpg
Edition:
First edition.
ISBN:
9781400069330
Physical Description:
xiv, 343 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Corporate Subject:
Contents:
Introduction -- Map -- The making of an elephant wallah. The shoulders of a giant ; Into the jungle ; Meeting the boss -- and the elephants ; Initiation rites ; How to read an elephant ; The fairest tusker of them all ; The burning boss ; Sex, cricket, and blue cheese ; School for men and elephants ; Drunk on testosterone ; Master class in trust and courage ; The jungle family has no wife ; "The murder of me" ; Bandoola : hero or rogue? ; A murder investigation ; Rebels and reunions -- Love and elephants. Tiger hour ; The cannibal islands ; Sunlight and shadow ; Into the cauldron -- War elephants. Fleeing Burma ; No. 1 war elephant ; The making of Elephant Bill ; Elephant Company hits its stride ; A crazy idea ; The elephant stairway -- Epilogue.
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Subject:
