During War-time all throughout history, you read accounts of soldiers bringing in or bringing
with various animals, stray cats, dogs, pigeons or what have you.
It's a way to boost morale, and bring a little bit of joy to an event that seldomly brings
anything but misery.
Some division pets became rather well known.
But, the Polish 2nd corp went well beyond what most others did.
Oh yeah, they went hardcore, and when you go hardcore, you go extreme, so far as to
recruited a Brown Bear into their army.
Yeah, can't get much more badass then that.
But, the tale of this isn't particularity well known, and a somewhat obscure part of
history, but not today.
In this video, we will be looking at Wojtek, the Solider Bear.
Following the German and Russian invasion of Poland.
Thousands of Polish civilians and military members were imprisoned in Soviet Gulags,
in accordance with the German-Soviet non aggression pact.
However, following the start of operation Barbarossa.
The Soviets renaged on this treaty, and released thousands of Polish prisoners, the Polish
government in exile, managed to get a military treaty signed on August the 14th of 1941,
that allowed a Polish army corp to be established on Soviet Soil.
Its first commander, General Micha?
Tokarzewski, began the task of forming this army in the Soviet town of Totskoye on 17
August.
W?adys?aw Sikorski, the prime minister of Poland at the time, ultimately chose Lieutenant
General W?adys?aw Anders to lead this new army.
The Polish Second corp would be made up of all Polish military contingents that were
fighting in the allied theaters of war.
With a large section being on men aiding the British in the middle east, and Polish army
units that had escape through the Persian corridor, and their, is where our story takes
place.
At a railroad station at Hamadan, Iran, on 8 April 1942, Polish soldiers encountered
a young Iranian boy who had found a bear cub whose mother had been shot by hunters.
One of the civilians with them, took a liking to the cub, prompting Lieutenant Anatol Tarnowiecki
to buy the young bear, which spent the next three months in a Polish refugee camp established
near Tehran.
In August the bear was donated to the 2nd Transport Company, which later became the
22nd Artillery Supply Company, and he was named Wojtek by the soldiers.
Meaning, Happy Solider.
From the beginning he became a popular member of the Company spending most of his time with
the soldiers of the 4th Platoon.
Two of his closest friends were two young soldiers, Dymitr Szawlugo and Henryk Zacharewicz,
later, his caregivers.
Wojtek initially had problems swallowing, and was eventually fed condensed milk from
an old vodka bottle with a twisted handkerchief.
The vodka bottle contained a few drops of alcohol which were accidentally mixed into
the milk.
The soldiers later thought that this may have been the reason why Wojtek had developed a
taste for alcoholic beverages, namely for beer, in his later years.
He was subsequently given fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup, and was often rewarded with
beer, which became his favorite drink.
He later also enjoyed eating cigarettes, because that's what you give a bear obviously, as
well as drinking coffee in the mornings.
Interestingly, the cigarettes had to be lit in order for him to consume them.
When offered an unlit cigarette he was quick to spit it out.
In Palestine, Wojtek became a hero one night by capturing a thief who had broken into an
ammunition compound where the bear was sleeping.
The intruder was shocked to find himself confronted by the animal and the commotion that ensued
resulted in his arrest.
I mean.. seriously, could you imagine sneaking into a room, and seeing a fucking brown bear
come out of nowhere and attack you..
yeah..
I want that as my security.
He wasn't the only bear within the corps though.
Another one by the name of Micheal, was granted to the 16th Lwow Rifles Battalion by the shah
of Iran.
This bear was a far more aggressive then Wojtek, and attacked him multiple times when the two
cubs met for the first time.
Micheal was eventually given to an Arabian regiment near Kirkunk, but it attacked the
soldiers and returned to the Polish Battalion and continued to act aggressively towards
both Wojtek and the other men.
By 1943, Micheal was granted to the zoo in Tel-Aviv.
He also would sleep with the other soldiers if they were ever cold in the night.
He enjoyed wrestling with the soldiers and was taught to salute when greeted.
He became an attraction for soldiers and civilians alike, and soon became an unofficial mascot
to all the units stationed nearby.
With the 22nd Company, he moved to Iraq, and then through Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
Wojtek had his own caregiver, assigned to look after him.
However, as the unit was to go onto a transport ship, to continue with the rest of the Polish
Second Corp, a rule was in place that mascots and pets were not allowed.
Not wanting to leave the adorable bear behind, and honestly, can you blame them?
I'd want a bear with me.
They went with the obvious solution, and enlisted Wojtek into their ranks with the 22nd Artillery
Supply company, with Henryk Zacharewicz and Dymitr Szawlugo being assigned as his caretakers.
As an enlisted soldier with his own paybook, rank, and serial number, he lived with the
other men in tents or in a special wooden crate, which was transported by truck.
Sidenote: I found a documentary talking about Wojtek online, a DVD, and was going to go
ahead and order it just to learn more, and they want to charge 295 dollars for this thing.
Are you insane!
Also, it has two, five star reviews.
Who in their right mind bought this for that price!?!?!
I found what possible would have been it on Vimeo for just ten bucks, but I ain't going
to throw money at this, too soured by that ridiculous, 295 dollar price tag.
The 22nd supply company had been preparing for their re-entrance into Europe since the
day they began their journey out of Russia.
In the early months of 1944 they were ordered to embark for Italy to join the Allied advance.
It was in Italy where Wojtek was exposed to the war which his friends had been preparing
for.
It did not take long for Wojtek to get used to the sounds of artillery fire at the front
line.
In fact, he often perched himself on the tallest trees in order to observe the distant explosions.
During the battle of Monte Cassino, the 22nd company came under heavy enemy fire as they
resupplied the men with ammunition, fuel, and food.
Wotjek had observed his comrades at the time, who continually loaded and unloaded heavy
shells and boxes with ammunition.
At one point it is said, that he walked toward a supply truck on his hind legs, stretched
out his paws and waited for the soldiers to give him something to carry.
To their amazement, Wojtek effortlessly lifted a heavy box of ammunition and carried it from
one truck to another and returned for more.
Filled with enthusiasm, the bear marched day after day and carefully carried vital supplies
until the Polish soldiers took Monte Cassino.
Wojtek was so careful that he never dropped a single shell, food sack or ammunition box.
Overnight be came a celebrity, and an image of him carrying an artillery shell became
an official army symbol, proudly affixed on the uniforms, pendants and vehicles of the
22nd Company.
After the fighting in Italy, the company was sailed to Glasgow, Scotland where it was later
demobilized.
Wojtek s fame continued as he was welcomed by by the locals who came to watch and cheer
for the famous soldier-bear.
Reporters streamed into the headquarters of the 22nd Company to take pictures and to write
about the the brave bear.
The local Scottish-Polish society nominated Wojtek as a fellow community member and presented
him with a bottle of beer.
Again, as you do.
Wojtek died in Edinburgh at the age of 22 in 1963.
He grew to be almost six feet tall and weighed approximately 500 pounds.
The Edinburgh Zoo authorities erected a plaque to commemorate the legendary bear.
There is also a commemorative plaque in the Imperial War Museum in London, and in the
Canadian War Museum in Ontario.
And a large sculpture of the soldier-bear can be found in The Wladislaw Sikorski Institute
in London.
Putting yet another story of war, to a close.