In 1942, as WW2 went on, Stalin ordered the release of Polish soldiers from the Siberian gulags to fight against the Germans. Their rough journey included crossing Iran, Iraq, Palestine to reach Egypt from where they would board the ships to go to Italy, where they would join British troops. While crossing the Iranian mountains, the Polish soldiers came across a young shepherd, carrying a sack on his shoulder, who was obviously starving. To their surprise, the boy was actually carrying a bear cub he found on his way, abandoned after some hunters killed his mother. The unit immediately fell in love with the playful nature of the cub and gathered what they could in exchange for it. According to one soldier, a chocolate bar, a swiss knife, and some canned food were enough for the shepherd to accept the trade. And so, the Polish troops welcomed a bear cub and called him « Wojtek » (pronounced voytek), Polish for « Happy Warrior ».
Hiding the bear was impossible and eventually, the higher-ups of the camp knew about Wojtek but surprisingly, everyone welcomed him and considered him a valuable asset to the unit since he boosted the men’s morale and helped them cope with the hard times they were going through. Wojtek was well taken care of as one of the soldiers recalls, « He was like a child, like a small dog. He was given condensed milk from a bottle like a baby. Therefore, he felt that these soldiers are nearly his parents, he trusted us and was very friendly ».
Wojtek was allowed to sleep inside a tent of high ranked officers in a washbasin in the chilly nights. As time went on, Wojtek grew up and got used to the military routine. He spent most of his time fetching the oranges the soldiers used for grenade practice. He would stand up on his front paw and salute the high-ranking officers and even wrestle the men for fun. More peculiarly, the bear, seeing his comrades smoking, would ask them for lit ones, not to smoke but to eat. He was also given alcoholic beverages like beer, which became his favorite drink.
Undoubtedly, Wojtek got in his fair share of trouble. He would sneak in late at night into the storage room and devour what he could find. He was, after all, a 400-pound brown bear. He also learned how to break into the showers and open the water faucet, which caused, on many occasions, water shortages.
As the unit was preparing to board the ships and go to the battle of in Italy in 1945, the Polish soldiers faced a tough choice as the British officers wouldn’t let an animal onboard and only soldiers were allowed. The company quickly took action and issued Wojtek a service number, a rank, and a paybook. Private Wojtek was officially a Polish soldier, ready to go to war with his comrades.
Surprisingly, the bear didn’t simply provide a moral boost, but he also assisted the troops in combat. In Monte Cassino, according to officer Orr « Although Wojtek has never been trained to handle the unloading of 100 pounds of 25 pounder shells, the shells, the fuses and other supplies, he simply observed what the men were doing and joined in. Standing upright, he held out his paws into which he carried the munitions to their storage areas beside the artillery positions and returned to the lorries to collect more, ». After their victory in the battle, the 22nd artillery unit changed their insignia to an image of a brown bear carrying a shell.
Sadly, when the war ended, the Polish troop had to disband, and everyone was scattered. In 1947, Wojtek was welcomed in the Edinburg zoo where he spent his retirement. His former comrades, the ones who chose to stay in Scotland. In 1963, the bear passed away at the age of 21 and a memorial was made for the hero representing him and a polish soldier « walking in peace and unit ».
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