Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
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15 Without that bridge Croft, “Gentlemen—‘The Elephants,’ ” pp. 192–98; “Bailey Bridge Over Chindwin: Great Engineering Feat in Burma,” The Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia), December 13, 1944; Brian Bond and Kyoichi Tachikawa, British and Japanese Military Leadership in the Far Eastern War 1941–1945 (Portland, Ore.: Frank Kass, 2004), p. 49.
16 For now Document 1, p.13.
17 his “religion” Document fragment 14, p. 4. Handwritten notes on the relationship between man and animals.
EPILOGUE
1 remote pockets of Burma Pointon, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, pp. 92–104.
2 Treve absolutely hated England Email from Treve Williams, November 7, 2012.
3 he did not speak of his distress FOEB, p. 350. Susan wrote, “I could not imagine Jim leaving the jungle and his elephants for good; they had been part of him for so long.”
4 Gone were Stanford, Far Ridges, pp. 18–19.
5 “in the sawdust ring” Document fragment 8a, the story of going to the Chipperfield Circus in 1950 or 1951 on a typewritten, single-page. The rest of the document is missing.
6 a long profile Williams said within twelve hours, his phone started ringing with calls from publishing houses, and within three days, he was signed on with Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. Document 25, typewritten speech by J. H. Williams prepared for the London Cornish Association. No date, though clearly the early 1950s. Covers writing and publication of EB, elephant intelligence, and movie interest in his story.
7 a contract “Tusk of Famous Elephant: Figures at Lecture at Penzance, Col. Williams & his Bandoola,” The Cornishman (UK), November 16, no year.
8 In the early fall of 1951 Document fragment 8, p. 1, typewritten story by J. H. Williams about trying to bring elephants to Borneo in the 1950s. See also Document fragment 8a.
9 Dick Chipperfield J. H. Williams, Big Charlie, p. 15.
10 “Having said goodbye” Document fragment 8, p. 1.
11 “I accepted with alacrity” J. H. Williams, Big Charlie, p. 15.
12 “Bandoola carried the brunt” Document 1, pp. 14–16.
13 Carved on a giant teak tree Document 7b, p. 2.
14 an American Document 21, letter from Richard E. Paulson, dated May 10, 1954. Letterhead: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SPECIAL TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC MISSION TO BURMA, AMERICAN EMBASSY, RANGOON.
15 He was led to them J. H. Williams, Big Charlie, p. 17.
16 to rub its lining Document fragment 8, p. 1.
17 Williams tried his hand “Lieut.-Colonel J. H. Williams, ‘Elephant Bill,’ ” The Times, July 31, 1958. See also handwritten and typewritten reports on the trip to Ceylon by J. H. Williams, a proposed elephant census for the country, and letters to and from government officials for a proposed trip for 1958 and/or 1959, from the archives of Treve Williams.
18 purchasing five elephants Pugh, “Let Animals Teach You to Live.”
19 transporting a huge circus elephant Noel Whitcomb, “The Elephant Billy Couldn’t Forget! To Shift Him Will Cost £1,000-Plus,” Daily Mirror, June 8, 1952.
20 As he stood waving Emails from Treve Williams, August 1 and 2, 2012.
BY VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE
Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal
Animal ER: Extraordinary Stories of Hope and Healing from One of the World’s Leading Veterinary Hospitals
The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos: Past, Present, and Future
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE has been exploring animal life for more than two decades—tracking the fossa in Madagascar, polar bears in the Arctic Circle, and Tasmanian devils in, of course, Tasmania. She now covers creatures great and small for WBUR-FM, Boston’s NPR news station, on air and as The Animalist online (theanimalist.wbur.org). Her work there earned a 2013 regional Edward R. Murrow Award. She is the author of The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal, The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos—Past, Present and Future, and Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II. Croke has worked on nature documentaries for Disney and for the A&E channel and anchored The Secret Life of Animals on NECN-TV. She also wrote The Boston Globe’s “Animal Beat” column for 13 years, and has contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The London Sunday Telegraph, Time, Popular Science, O: The Oprah Magazine, Gourmet, National Wildlife, and Discover magazine, among others. She lives in the Boston area.
www.vickicroke.com
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