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

The author returns to finish the story begun in the first chapter: Bandoola has just helped to save Williams’s life, taking him across the violent Yu River as he is dying of malaria and the tropical disease, tinea sin wai, also known as “elephant itch” (125). However, it will take yet another miracle to save Williams entirely because he fears he will not survive the ten days it would take to get him to a doctor over land. Amazingly, some boats arrive near shore, and Williams is taken to Rangoon, where he is nursed back to health—fully healthy in time to return to his jungle post after the Christmas holiday.

He, his old boss Harding, his new boss Millie, and a young recruit named Tony make their way down the Chindwin River back to teak territory after Christmas. Revelries have been excessive, and Harding wakes his friend with a black velvet, “a potent half-and-half mix of champagne and stout” (127). Williams is to lead the great pack of elephants across the river, back to the jungle where logging work will resume. Harding is about to retire, and everyone acknowledges that Williams is now the most talented elephant man on the company payroll. The 35 elephants assembled finally plunge into the water, following a brave female—chosen not by the human wranglers but among themselves—and make it across without a hitch. Williams reflects that he is witnessing “another of life’s lessons from the elephants”: that “[d]ominance is not leadership” (129). All goes well, with no loss of beast or man—until, that is, Williams is notified of “a horrible message: Bandoola had killed his rider” (131).

Williams is deeply disturbed by the murderous actions of Bandoola, who, unlike other elephants who accidentally kill a rider, shows absolutely no signs of remorse or fear of retribution. Williams undertakes the investigation himself, noting that Bandoola’s rider was an opium addict—though some of the other riders were, as well, and it had not seemed to bother the elephants. He also observes that Bandoola is consuming large amounts of food, but there is no trace of defecation; it occurs to him that “Bandoola had been starved” (134).

The foreman confirms Williams’s suspicions, saying that his rider had been too high to release Bandoola for foraging as was customary and that Po Toke had been too preoccupied with “domestic drama” emerging from his two wives (134). Williams himself had been overindulging in drink over the last several days. Thus, it is decided that “[t]he killing would not go in Bandoola’s official record” (135). However, the matter of Po Toke’s distraction remains unsettled, as Williams is “mystified” (135) by the usually competent elephant master.

The final chapter of Part 1 addresses the growing unrest within Burma, where a resistance movement has been growing into a full-scale rebellion. Indigenous Burmans agitate for an independent government and more control over their land and resources. Burma itself had been conquered by the British in stages, after three separate wars, and was relegated to the status of a mere “province of India” under British rule (139). The company for which Williams works was instrumental to this process, and Williams “was aware that working for a British firm made him a target” (137). In 1928, Williams is assigned to a new territory where rebel unrest is especially strong.

However, more important to Williams is a new population of elephants he needs to know and treat. He quickly “memorized their names” (139) and inoculated them with anthrax vaccine. Nevertheless, “life with elephants was risky” (139), and he is one day almost stampeded by one of the violent charges in his camp, Taw Sin Ma or “Miss Wild Elephant.” He escapes unscathed but cautious. He also notes the sensitivity of the elephants to their surroundings: one day, when the troupe should be out foraging, they all come back to camp and stand silently under the hot sun. Shortly after that, an earthquake strikes. The elephants then return to their foraging in the forest.

Burma appears to fall into the hands of the rebels, which results in a months-long work stoppage and economic distress. Still, Williams believes his uzis “would never abandon their elephants” (144). Williams is conscripted by the British to use his men and elephants to root out rebels in the forest, but they never come across any of note. Instead, the pack is trailed by what appears to be a wild bull who follows them on their journey through the forest. It turns out to be Bandoola, who has been missing for about a year (Williams suspects Po Toke had a hand in freeing him). The uzis bring Bandoola back to camp, and Williams keeps the elephant close, even after quashing the rebellion. While he keeps Po Toke on as Bandoola’s handler, he demotes him; the trust between them has been broken by Williams’s suspicion that Po Toke participated in the rebellion. By the end of the chapter, though, the resistance has been thoroughly trounced—its leader “captured, tried, and hanged” (147)—as Williams continues to achieve personal success. As the author puts it, “Billy Williams was finally, unmistakably, an elephant wallah” (147).