Harry Manners 180 pounder

[bakerb]

So I am reading John Kingsley-Heath’s “Hunting the Dangerous Game of Africa”. In the elephant chapter, he talks about Basil Reel’s pictures of huge elephants. I remember reading somewhere else about Basil Reel and his pictures, maybe in Terry Irwin’s book? Any ways, that lead me to a google search of Basil Reel.

One article that Google led me to was a discussion of where Basil Reel’s 165 pounder ranked in the overall ranking of biggest elephants. That article mentioned that Harry Manner’s 180 pounder was disqualified from Rowland Ward.

So that lead me to a google search for that, as I’d never heard that. I found some 8 or 9 year old article that I think was published in Magnum, that discussed the book Kambaku and Harry Manners. That article claimed that Kambaku was essentially fiction, and that the 180 pounder pictured in that book was actually an elephant killed by Wally Johnson.

I can’t find much more on this. Does anyone know anything about this? Or have links to more articles, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[Lancaster]

It's a great book Kambaku. It would be a shame if it had fictitious elements but, then he wouldn't be alone in that claim amongst African safari authors I guess

 

[Zinz]

What a shame if this was all a ruse...

Ed Z

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

My memory is fuzzy but it seems like something about that has been discussed before on AH. I’ll spend some time searching for it later

 

[bakerb]

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Found the article I read

 

[bakerb]

 

[uplander01]

Great book. I enjoyed reading it, is it all true, who knows, it did seem novel like when I read it? If I had to guess I'd say the guy shot a lot of big elephants. Seems like a lot written about Africa in the 20th century may be a bit farcical and had some base in romanticism.

 

[HankBuck]

Great book. I enjoyed reading it, is it all true, who knows, it did seem novel like when I read it? If I had to guess I'd say the guy shot a lot of big elephants. Seems like a lot written about Africa in the 20th century may be a bit farcical and had some base in romanticism.

@uplander01 - wouldn’t it be nice to live during an “Era” where you had to embellish a 150lb tusk ——into a 180 lb Tusk in order to garner attention? As Today we all DROOL for and 80 lb Tusk !!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I’ve read the book many times. I’ve always found it very suspicious how he claimed that Carmen was the love of his life, but never had any photos of her. And even the way she dies (drowning and disappearing in the beach) is a little too convenient since it eliminates the question of any corpse ever being found and identified.

Gregor Woods had a very good reason to doubt Harry’s claims since he found many inconsistencies in Harry’s stories about his elephant hunting experiences.

And then, there’s two hunters who claimed that Harry obtained most of his ivory by making his native assistants shoot the game by supplying them with a few rifles. There’s a saying in Swahili “Kinachotokea msituni, hukaa kichakani (What happens in the bush, stays in the bush).”

The late Brian Marsh & Tony Sanchez Arino speak favorably about Harry Manners, but they only befriended him long after he had retired from hunting.

So I don’t know…

But Wally Johnson was definitely the real deal.

 

[Lancaster]

It seems the marriage part was fictitious, I guess 'a woman scorned' would not hold back on discrediting Manners in other areas

 

[Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy]

I've enjoyed the book as well. So much so that I have multiple copies. Would be a shame if there were embellishments. It wouldn't surprise me either though.

 

[John Telford]

So I am reading John Kingsley-Heath’s “Hunting the Dangerous Game of Africa”. In the elephant chapter, he talks about Basil Reel’s pictures of huge elephants. I remember reading somewhere else about Basil Reel and his pictures, maybe in Terry Irwin’s book? Any ways, that lead me to a google search of Basil Reel.

One article that Google led me to was a discussion of where Basil Reel’s 165 pounder ranked in the overall ranking of biggest elephants. That article mentioned that Harry Manner’s 180 pounder was disqualified from Rowland Ward.

So that lead me to a google search for that, as I’d never heard that. I found some 8 or 9 year old article that I think was published in Magnum, that discussed the book Kambaku and Harry Manners. That article claimed that Kambaku was essentially fiction, and that the 180 pounder pictured in that book was actually an elephant killed by Wally Johnson.

I can’t find much more on this. Does anyone know anything about this? Or have links to more articles, etc.?

Thanks!

Sadly it’s true. Kambaku is a work of fiction and that elephant was the one shot by Wally Johnson.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I was always rather stupefied by how he recommends a bullet that rivets for the purposes of elephant hunting. I mean, seriously. Some unfortunate sportsman could actually get killed by following his advice.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I was always rather stupefied by how he recommends a bullet that rivets for the purposes of elephant hunting. I mean, seriously. Some unfortunate sportsman could actually get killed by following his advice.
View attachment 686201

That is quite counterintuitive…