339:" i.e. as part of the Royal Engineers for use in bridge building in places where heavy equipment could otherwise not be brought in, the Royal Indian Army Service Corps wanted them to be regarded simply as a branch of transport, an under-utilization of the real benefit of elephants Williams believed. Many elephants were captured by the Japanese, and some recaptured elephants had to be cured after being attacked by Allied fighters, or from acid burns from wireless batteries carried on their backs in straw-lined boxes.
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259:, it was expected that they would be held in Malaya and Singapore. Despite criticism, the Bombay Burma Corporation arranged evacuation of European women and children, though the government had no such plans. In 1942, elephants were used for evacuation rather than timber extraction from February till the end of April. The retreat from Burma was to Assam via
232:. The camps were 6 to 7 miles (11 km) apart, with hills of three to four thousand feet high between them. To mill them, one tree was killed by ring-barking the base, then felled after standing for three years, so it had seasoned and was light enough to float. The logs were hauled by elephant to a waterway, then floated down to
377:, as an author and market gardener. He married Susan Margaret Rowland in 1932 after they met in Burma; they had a son Treve and daughter Lamorna while in Burma. After his death, his wife Susan Williams wrote of her life with him in
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Plain. Williams was attached to one evacuation party, which included his wife and children. The Kabaw Valley was nicknamed "The Valley of Death" because of the hundreds of refugees who died there from exhaustion, starvation,
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216:, and decided he would be interested in a postwar job in Burma. So in 1920 he was in Burma as a Forest Assistant with the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation which milled
240:. Elephants were essential to the harvesting of teak, a single healthy elephant could be sold for $ 150,000 (2000 U.S.), and thousand of elephants were sold this way.
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Williams was born at St Just, Cornwall, the son of a
Cornish mining engineer who had returned from South Africa and his wife, a Welshwoman. He was educated at
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ever did for Greece. Without them our retreat from Burma would have been even more arduous and our advance to its liberation slower and more difficult."
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was "as important a munition of war as steel" so timber extraction was an essential industry. Williams was based at
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Elephant
Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
488:
Elephant
Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II
141:(15 November 1897 – 30 July 1958), was a British soldier and elephant expert in Burma, known for his work with the
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in ten camps, in an area of about 400 square miles (1,000 km) in the
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in Upper Burma. He was responsible for seventy elephants and their
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He served in World War I in the
Devonshire Regiment; he was in the
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418:(Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1953) (Bandoola, named after General
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531:"Lieut.Colonel J. H. Williams - "Elephant Bill"". Obituary.
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as a forester working with elephants to extract teak logs.
535:. No. 54217. London. 31 July 1958. col D, p. 10.
358:, wrote about elephants in his introduction to the book
444:(Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1960) (travel in Burma)
438:(Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1959) (about elephants)
327:area and jungle tracks. He was initially posted to
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185:of the British Army in the Middle East during the
303:Williams was then employed in timber surveys in
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193:, 1919–20. During this time he served with the
201:. After demobilisation he decided to join the
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711:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
701:People educated at Queen's College, Taunton
30:For other people named James Williams, see
214:The Diseases of the Camel and the Elephant
181:and went on to serve as an officer in the
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335:in Assam. While elephants were used as "
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319:Advisor to the Elephant Company of the
177:. Like his elder brother he studied at
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681:British Army personnel of World War I
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157:. He was made a Lieutenant-Colonel,
566:Account of the author on cover of
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657:(London) of 31 July 1958 page 10.
369:After World War II he retired to
203:Bombay-Burmah Trading Corporation
161:three times, and was awarded the
27:British army officer and forester
584:. New York: Random House Trade.
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465:; it was to have been filmed in
263:. The road to Assam went up the
706:Administrators in British Burma
495:The footprints of Elephant Bill
379:The Footprints of Elephant Bill
32:James Williams (disambiguation)
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628:"Sophia Loren Archives: 1956"
613:(William Kimber, London 1962/
469:from November that year with
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120:Soldier, Forester and Writer
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179:Camborne School of Mines
175:Queen's College, Taunton
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111:Camborne School of Mines
101:Queen's College, Taunton
457:was planned in 1956 by
159:mentioned in dispatches
18:Lt. Col. J. H. Williams
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477:in the leading roles.
342:Williams was known as
321:Royal Indian Engineers
244:World War II and after
230:Indaung Forest Reserve
128:Susan Margaret Rowland
580:Croke, Vicki (2015).
570:, Penguin Books, 1956
442:In Quest of a Mermaid
410:, Harmondsworth, 1956
257:Japan entered the war
135:James Howard Williams
615:David McKay Company
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436:Big Charlie
210:Camel Corps
195:Camel Corps
191:Afghanistan
145:during the
87:Nationality
665:Categories
502:References
356:XIVth Army
169:Early life
654:The Times
533:The Times
371:St Buryan
329:4th Corps
294:dysentery
165:in 1945.
97:Education
552:30 April
455:Bandoola
416:Bandoola
375:Cornwall
317:Elephant
298:smallpox
283:and the
265:Chindwin
238:Mandalay
79:Penzance
60:Cornwall
646:Sources
633:12 July
453:A film
346:, then
337:sappers
290:cholera
281:Manipur
255:. When
234:Rangoon
189:and in
91:British
56:St Just
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467:Ceylon
350:. Sir
333:Jorhat
305:Bengal
285:Imphal
269:Kalewa
261:Imphal
253:Maymyo
226:oozies
125:Spouse
62:, U.K.
385:Works
364:Helen
315:) as
309:Assam
199:mules
635:2011
586:ISBN
554:2009
473:and
461:and
344:Sabu
307:and
296:and
277:Tamu
249:Teak
218:teak
68:Died
49:Born
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163:OBE
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