Historical Facts Vol. 2 - Wojtek the Soldier Bear
Most people don’t even want a bear near them; after all they can be pretty dangerous. However, these Polish soldiers were certainly not afraid of this animal.
In today’s edition of Historical Facts I’m going to talk about a bear named Wojtek and how he managed to enter the 22nd Artillery Supply for the Polish Corps and fight the Nazis. But first I will explain you the context.
In 1942, during World War II, the Polish Armed Force was evacuated from the Soviet Union and started traveling through Iran to Palestine, along with thousands of civilians and prisoners that worked in labor camps in Siberia. Then, a new Polish Army was formed under the command of the British.
While they were on their way to Tehran (Iran’s capital city), near a town called Hamadan on April 8th, 1942, a group of Polish soldiers came across a young Iranian boy who was wandering through the desert carrying a sack. The men noticed the boy looked hungry and tired so they gave him food. After the kid thanked them, the men asked what was in his sack. To their surprise, he was carrying a small brown bear cub, and apparently the boy found it after the bear’s mother was shot by a hunter.
Among the civilians that were traveling with the soldiers, there was an eighteen year old girl called Irena Bokiewicz, she was very moved by the cub and this encouraged the lieutenant Anatol Tarnowiecki to actually purchase the young animal.
Near Tehran, they established a Polish refugee camp and the bear ended up spending 3 months there, mostly under the care of Irena. Later in August, it was donated to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company and the soldiers gave him the name “Wojtek”, pronounced “Voytek”.
Wojtek was very weak and had problems swallowing food, so they fed him condensed milk out of an old bottle of vodka. Then, they started giving him marmalade, fruit, syrup and honey. Since the beginning he became a very popular and important member of the Company and he spent most of his time with Dymitr Szawlugo and Henryk Zacharewicz, two of his closest friends. Soldiers would often reward him with beer and wine, so he eventually developed a taste for those two. Wojtek also enjoyed smoking cigarettes (well, he basically ate them).
He grew and became a strong and happy member of the unit. One of the other things he loved to do was wrestling with the soldiers, although only a few of them dared to confront him in a wrestling match.
They even taught him how to salute when they greeted him. Needless to say, he became quite an attraction for everyone in the camp, and as part of the 22nd Company he traveled to Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Egypt.
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In 1943, the Polish Army was preparing to enter the war zone in Italy. The thing was, animals were not allowed to accompany the army in the fighting. This is why Wojtek was officially listed among the soldiers as a Private of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. They gave the bear his own rank, serial number and paybook. Therefore, he traveled in a British ship, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and participated in the Battle of Monte Cassino.
Since he was always willing to copy what the other soldiers were doing, during the conflict he was seen picking up 100-pound crates of ammunition and moving them towards the cannons, he did all this without dropping a single one. Despite the sounds of gunfire, he was not disturbed and was brave enough to continue fighting.
After the battle, a symbol of the bear holding an artillery shell became the official badge of the 22nd Company.
World War II ended in May of 1945. Soon after, Wojtek and the rest of the 22nd Company were transported to Scotland and they stayed for a while at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm. Later, on November 15th of 1947 he was moved to Edinburgh Zoo and he spent the rest of his life there.
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At the zoo, Wojtek was often visited by former Polish soldiers and journalists. He died at the age of 21, in December of 1963 and his death was received with a lot of sadness. He became part of the history, a sign of hope at a time when the Polish had lost their country to the Nazis. His adventures and bravery will not be forgotten.
Fun facts:
He weighed about 220 kg and was over 1.8 meters tall at the time of his death.
“Wojtek” is the diminutive form of "Wojciech", which means “happy warrior” or “he who enjoys war".
References:
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://marugy99.vornix.blog/2018/07/09/historical-facts-vol-2-wojtek-the-soldier-bear/