James Howard Williams
Encyclopedia
James Howard Williams or 'Elephant Bill' (15 November 1897 St Just in Penwith
- 30 July 1958 Penzance
) was a British soldier and elephant expert in Burma, known for his work with the Fourteenth Army
during the Burma Campaign
of World War II
, and for his 1950 book Elephant Bill. He was made a Lieutenant-Colonel, mentioned in despatches three times, and was awarded the OBE in 1945.
and went on to serve as an officer in the Devonshire Regiment of the British Army in the Middle East during the First World War and in Afghanistan
, 1919-20. During this time he served with the Camel Corps and as transport officer in charge of mules. After demobilisation he decided to join the Bombay-Burmah Teak Company as a forester working with elephants to transport teak.
He served in World War I in the Devonshire Regiment; he was in the Camel Corps
, and later Transport Officer in charge of mules. He had read a book by Hawkes, The Diseases of the Camel and the Elephant, 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 Burma Trading Corporation” which milled teak, and used 2000 elephants. Initially he was at a camp on the banks of the Upper Chindwin River
in Upper Burma. He was responsible for seventy elephants and their oozies in ten camps, in an area of about 400 square miles (1,036 km²) in the Myittha Valley, in the Indaung Forest Reserve. The camps were 6 to 7 miles (11.3 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, than floated down to Rangoon or Mandalay
.
. The road to Assam went up the Chindwin to Kalewa, then up the Kabaw Valley to Tamu, and across five thousand foot mountains into Manipur
and the Imphal 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, cholera
, dysentery
and smallpox
.
Williams was then employed in timber surveys in Bengal and Assam, and raising a labour corps. But in October 1942 he joined the staff of the Eastern Army (later the Fourteenth Army
as Elephant Advisor to the Elephant Company of the Royal Indian Engineers. He was a Burmese speaker with knowledge of Burma, including the Irrawaddy River area and jungle tracks. He was initially posted to 4th Corps Headquarters at Jorhat
in Assam. While elephants were used as “sappers” i.e. as part of the Royal Engineers, the Royal Indian Army Service Corps wanted them to be regarded as a branch of transport. 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.
Williams was known as “Sabu”, then “Elephant Bill”. Sir William Slim, commander of the XIVth Army
wrote about elephants in his introduction to the book Elephant Bill: They built hundreds of bridges for us, they helped to build and launch more ships for us than Helen ever did for Greece. Without them our retreat from Burma would have been even more ardous and our advance to its liberation slower and more difficult.
Williams was born in west Cornwall, was educated at Queen’s College, Taunton and the Camborne School of Mines. After WWII he retired to St Buryan
, Cornwall, as an author and market gardener. He married Susan Margaret Rowlands in 1932; they had a son Treve and daughter Lamorna.
Film project
A film Bandoola was planned in 1956 by Hecht-Lancaster and United Artists
; it was to have been filmed in Ceylon from November that year with Ernest Borgnine
and Sophia Loren
in the leading roles.
St Just in Penwith
St Just is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to...
- 30 July 1958 Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
) was a British soldier and elephant expert in Burma, known for his work with the Fourteenth Army
British Fourteenth Army
The British Fourteenth Army was a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. Many of its units were from the Indian Army as well as British units and there were also significant contributions from West and East African divisions within the British Army.It...
during the Burma Campaign
Burma Campaign
The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and for his 1950 book Elephant Bill. He was made a Lieutenant-Colonel, mentioned in despatches three times, and was awarded the OBE in 1945.
Early life
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. Like his elder brother he studied at Camborne School of MinesCamborne School of Mines
The Camborne School of Mines , commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. It is now a specialist department of the University of Exeter. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment...
and went on to serve as an officer in the Devonshire Regiment of the British Army in the Middle East during the First World War and in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, 1919-20. During this time he served with the Camel Corps and as transport officer in charge of mules. After demobilisation he decided to join the Bombay-Burmah Teak Company as a forester working with elephants to transport teak.
He served in World War I in the Devonshire Regiment; he was in the Camel Corps
Camel Corps
Several military units bore the name of Camel Corps:*The U.S. Camel Corps, a mid-nineteenth century experimental unit that used camels for transport*The Imperial Camel Corps, an Allied unit that fought in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during World War I...
, and later Transport Officer in charge of mules. He had read a book by Hawkes, The Diseases of the Camel and the Elephant, 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 Burma Trading Corporation” which milled teak, and used 2000 elephants. Initially he was at a camp on the banks of the Upper Chindwin River
Chindwin River
The Chindwin River is a river in Burma , and the largest tributary of the country's chief river the Ayeyarwady . It flows entirely within Burma and is known as Ning-thi to the Manipuris.-Source:...
in Upper Burma. He was responsible for seventy elephants and their oozies in ten camps, in an area of about 400 square miles (1,036 km²) in the Myittha Valley, in the Indaung Forest Reserve. The camps were 6 to 7 miles (11.3 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, than floated down to Rangoon or Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
.
World War II and after
Teak was “as important a munition of war as steel” so timber extraction was an essential industry. Williams was based at Maymyo. When Japan entered the war, 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 ImphalImphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
. The road to Assam went up the Chindwin to Kalewa, then up the Kabaw Valley to Tamu, and across five thousand foot mountains into Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
and the Imphal 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, cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
, dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
and smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
.
Williams was then employed in timber surveys in Bengal and Assam, and raising a labour corps. But in October 1942 he joined the staff of the Eastern Army (later the Fourteenth Army
British Fourteenth Army
The British Fourteenth Army was a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. Many of its units were from the Indian Army as well as British units and there were also significant contributions from West and East African divisions within the British Army.It...
as Elephant Advisor to the Elephant Company of the Royal Indian Engineers. He was a Burmese speaker with knowledge of Burma, including the Irrawaddy River area and jungle tracks. He was initially posted to 4th Corps Headquarters at Jorhat
Jorhat
Jorhat is a city of Assam in India. Jorhat was established as a new capital in the closing years of the 18th century by the declining Tunkhungia Ahom Dynasty. Jorhat, as the name signifies, was just a couple of markets . Two parallel markets namely, Chowkihat and Macharhat, lay on the eastern...
in Assam. While elephants were used as “sappers” i.e. as part of the Royal Engineers, the Royal Indian Army Service Corps wanted them to be regarded as a branch of transport. 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.
Williams was known as “Sabu”, then “Elephant Bill”. Sir William Slim, commander of the XIVth Army
British Fourteenth Army
The British Fourteenth Army was a multinational force comprising units from Commonwealth countries during World War II. Many of its units were from the Indian Army as well as British units and there were also significant contributions from West and East African divisions within the British Army.It...
wrote about elephants in his introduction to the book Elephant Bill: They built hundreds of bridges for us, they helped to build and launch more ships for us than Helen ever did for Greece. Without them our retreat from Burma would have been even more ardous and our advance to its liberation slower and more difficult.
Williams was born in west Cornwall, was educated at Queen’s College, Taunton and the Camborne School of Mines. After WWII he retired to St Buryan
St Buryan
St Buryan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom.The village of St Buryan is situated approximately five miles west of Penzance along the B3283 towards Land's End...
, Cornwall, as an author and market gardener. He married Susan Margaret Rowlands in 1932; they had a son Treve and daughter Lamorna.
Works
- Elephant Bill (Rupert Hart-DavisRupert Hart-DavisSir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis was an English publisher, editor and man of letters. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd...
, London, 1950) (account of his experiences with elephants in Burma)- --do.--(Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1956)
- Bandoola (Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1953) (Bandoola, named after General Maha Bandoola, was one of the elephants he knew; the content complements that of Elephant Bill)
- The Spotted Deer (Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1957) (on forestry)
- Big Charlie (Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1959) (about elephants)
- In Quest of a Mermaid (Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1960) (travel in Burma)
Film project
A film Bandoola was planned in 1956 by Hecht-Lancaster and United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
; it was to have been filmed in Ceylon from November that year with Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
in the leading roles.