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Visitors to the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London will see numerous displays, and in pride of place are items relating to a mighty warrior who was six foot tall. Not your average soldier, given that he weighed 200kg, was covered from head to toe in fur and wasn’t even human. Yet the story of this animal – a bear in fact – is one of the most personable stories to ever emerge from World War II.
The story begins in Persia (now Iran), where thousands of members of the Polish armed forces found themselves regrouping in order to fight the Nazis. At their camp, these Polish soldiers encountered a young Kurdish boy, who had found a Syrian brown bear cub whose mother had been shot by hunters.
Empathy
The soldiers felt a sense of empathy with this orphaned animal, who was homeless and wandering, just as they were. In turn, the cub became so much a part of their community that they named him Wojtek (pronounced Voytek), a diminutive version of Wojciech, which literally means “he who is happy in battle”. It was to become a most appropriate name.
When greeted, he would salute, if challenged, he would wrestle with a soldier and on cold nights, he’d sleep with the soldiers to keep them warm
At first, the young cub had trouble swallowing, but the soldiers came up with a brilliant solution – they fed the cub just like a baby, with condensed milk in an old vodka bottle.
Like all small creatures, Wojtek sought to copy those around him, and seeing the soldiers drink coffee in the morning, he too took to enjoying the same habit. Seeing some soldiers smoking, he sought to do likewise, but after one puff of a cigarette, he would let it drop to the ground and promptly eat it.
When greeted, he would salute, if challenged, he would wrestle with a soldier and on cold nights, he’d sleep with the soldiers to keep them warm.
Problem
When it came time for shipping out to Italy with the British Eighth Army, there was a slight problem for Wojtek. British transport regulations prohibited mascots and pet animals from boarding the transport ship. The Polish soldiers got around this rule by officially drafting the bear into the Polish Army. He had his own paybook, serial number and the rank of private.
In May 1944, during the final stages of the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek climbed a tree in a vain effort to escape the shellfire. From this vantage point, he saw his human companions carrying crates full of artillery shells up the mountain slopes with difficulty.
Either from his desire to help his friends – or having learned that copying humans was a way to get rewards – Wojtek climbed down the tree, stood on his hind legs and extended his two front paws.
Overjoyed
The soldiers were overjoyed to have Wojtek join them in this desperate moment, and gave him three crates of artillery rounds to carry. Despite the noise and confusion of battle, the gentle but mighty bear continued carrying the ammunition crates with ease, never dropping any of them.
For his heroic service at Monte Cassino, Wojtek earned promotion to the rank of corporal. His popularity was such that a depiction of a bear carrying an artillery shell was adopted as the official emblem of the 22nd Company.
After the war, Corporal Wojtek, like his comrades in arms, was without a country. The Polish soldiers, who had fought with the Allies, felt they could not return to a Poland run by the Soviet Union.
Instant sensation
Wojtek was transported to Berwickshire, Scotland, with the rest of the 22nd Company. Following demobilisation in 1947, he was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where Wojtek was an instant sensation.
He enjoyed the attention of all visitors, but it is said that whenever he heard a Polish accent at the zoo, the old soldier bear would stand on his hind legs and wave a paw, as if in salute.
Wojtek died in December 1963, at the age of 21. Yet his memory lives on in several children’s books, animation features, documentaries, and life-size statues in several cities, from Scotland to a Poland he never saw.
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