Military Heffalump

I did not know this.

But by far, the most famous individual elephant of the [China/Burma/India] campaign was Lin Wang—an elephant who served on both sides of the war.

Lin Wang started his service as a pack animal for an Imperial Japanese Army unit. In 1943, Nationalist Chinese forces under the legendary Gen. Sun Liren captured Lin Wang, conscripting him and several other elephants into hauling supplies.

Lin Wang served under Sun for years. Chinese forces brought the animal across Burma to China—along with several other elephants—for use in construction projects. In 1947, Sun went to Taiwan, and brought the remaining three elephants with him, including Lin Wang.

The other two died of illness, and in 1952, the Nationalist army gave Lin Wang to the Taipei Zoo where he lived until 2003, dying at age 86.

I mean, I knew elephants were long-lived, but the idea of an octogenarian WWII veteran pachyderm living into the current millennium is pretty cool.

Elephant loading a USAAF Curtiss C-46 Commando

.