Bandoola

by J.H. Williams

Those who have read Elephant Bill will remember the wartime exploits of that magnificent creature Bandoola. Bandoola and his oozie, Po Toke, are the principal characters in this delightful successor to a famous best-seller. But there are many others whom the author met and knew in the course of his work of extracting timber from the teak forests of Burma; Willie, who preferred wine to women; Millie, who could read the droppings of elephants like books; reckless Gerry Dawson and desperate Rasher; and—among the most intriguing—Molly Mia, the dog which Elephant Bill controlled by telepathy and which helped to select a wife for him.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Travel

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. ^^

Colonel James Howard Williams, also known as Elephant Bill, 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 dispatches three times, and was awarded the OBE in 1945.
He spent most of his working life in the forests of Burma. There he became so interested in the lives and habits of elephants that he acquired his nickname. He became so friendly with the elephants that they soon recognised him as a friend.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading this follow-up to Elephant Bill (which I now feel compelled to re-read). I didn't love it quite as much as the first one, probably because a large chunk of the book is a recounting of someone else's story rather than Williams' firsthand experiences. It's still a fascinating snapshot of a point in time, a picture of human-elephant relationships in Burma around the time of the second World War. It fits into the trope of highlighting "the first to use kindness instead of cruelty" story of every wild animal trainer who ever published a book (by particular definitions of kindness or cruelty, according to time and place), yet it does it well and with honesty (and some dry British humor).

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the writing gets a bit dry when scenes only include people, but anything that even marginally involves the title elephant is fascinating. I didn't realize there was a book before this one, having found this hidden away on a university library shelf - I'll have to look for it.

[Eva Tipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading my copy of Elephant Company, my friend bought herself a copy. Then when she saw Bandoola for sale, she also bought it and lent it to me.

This is the story of Bandoola, probably the first domestic working elephant to be raised from a calf. Why? The Burmese used elephants to harvest teak wood. Once the dead teak trees were toppled, the elephants would push, pull and cajole these immense logs to the dry stream beds. The logs waited there until the heavy rains of the next monsoon would cause water levels to rise. The logs would get picked up by the floods of and be carried downstream to where they could be processed. Elephants, being critical to this process, were captured from the wild and their spirit broken until they would behave and follow commands. However, Bandoola's trainer, Po Toke, thought a better way existed to increase the number of working elephants in a herd. He used discipline and gentleness to train Bandoola. Growing up with his mother in a working herd, the young calf learned the commands by copying her. He was a one-of-a-kind, extremely smart elephant! But that didn't mean he didn't have his own unique experiences, some good and some bad, and some really bad! The famous Elephant Bill lovingly wrote this memoir of Po Toke & Bandoola as he shares his memories and experiences and love of elephants with us.
(Someone asked me if this would be appropriate for children. Teens, probably, can handle the mild references to alcohol, sex, and drugs, but it's not for kids, in my opinion.)

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by J.H. Williams as an extension of his book "Elephant Bill". "Elephant Bill" was about his life in Burma and his work with elephants. One elephant he had dealings with was Bandoola. This is the fuller story of Bandoola and his oozie Po Toke.

Bandoola was born in 1897 in captivity and raised by 15 year old Po Take. At age 5 Po Take started training Bandoola to be a working elephant, which happens at age 20. Po Take was using an unheard of method of kindness with the elephant and the two were inseparable. In 1903 Williams goes to Burma to work and it is then he meets Bandoola. For the next 40+ years Williams and Bandoola crosses path several times.

Although this book is mainly about Bandoolas' life, there are a few stories that will reveal some of Williams life outside of having Bandolla in them. There are really only two stories that are told in "Elephant Bill" that are repeated here. The first only slightly. The second of which is actually completely copied from the first book and is most definitely important to this story. There were a couple of stories that were briefly mentioned , but Williams does explain that they are fully told in the first book.

This is a very enjoyable book that reads easy and fast. I would recommend both books mentioned here.

[Robert Hudder · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those man versus nature books. In this case, aside from all the leeches, diseases and hookworms, there is the elephants and Burmese people. This covers teak and war time activities and it is the work of a overseer for a company in a foreign land. There is a tension between new ways and old ways, colonization and independence centered around Burma.

We see only a little of the Japanese occupation but a lot more of the teak corporation. While there is kindness and an attempt to talk as a jungle man, there is still the undeniable mark of a white person in charge of taming and civilizing. It isn't dismissive but there are biases that show themselves.

Regardless, it was an interesting read; the second such in a few weeks. I am still going through 'Classics' and expect to come into hearing more of these stories. I do wonder how much we are still like this as a civilizing force. Yeah, that's sarcasm and dismay.

[Julian Bennett]

I have owned this for as long as I can remember and probably had it read to me as a child. Having been to Burma recently, I now want to read it again.