Wojtek was a Syrian brown bear found in Iran and adopted by soldiers in the
Polish Army. He was later officially enlisted as a soldier of the Polish Artillery Supply
Company with the rank of Private, and then promoted to Corporal. During the Battle of
Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped move crates of ammunition for the soldiers.
In the spring of 1942 the newly formed Polish Armed Forces in the East and thousands of
Polish civilians who had been deported to the labour camps following the Soviet invasion
of Poland, all travelled to Iran having been evacuated from the Soviet Union.
While en route to Tehran on 8 April 1942, a group of Polish soldiers encountered a young
Iranian boy who had found a bear cub after its mother had been shot by hunters. One of
the civilian refugees took a strong liking to the cub, and as a result a Polish lieutenant
purchased the young bear. The bear spent the next three months in the Polish refugee camp
established near Tehran, mainly under the care of the refugee. In August the bear was
donated to what was to become the Polish 22nd Artillery Supply Company, and he was given
the name Wojtek by the soldiers. Wojtek was initially fed with condensed milk
from an old vodka bottle and then given fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup. He was also often
rewarded with beer and that soon became his favourite drink. He later also enjoyed smoking
cigarettes, although he often just ate them. The soldiers taught Wojtek to salute when
greeted and he liked to relax by wrestling with the soldiers. As Wojtek became an attraction
for soldiers and civilians alike, he soon became an unofficial mascot of all the units
stationed nearby. He travelled with the 22nd Company to Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
In Palestine, Wojtek managed to capture a thief who had broken into an ammunition compound
where he was sleeping. The Arab was shocked to find himself confronted by Wojtek and the
ensuing commotion led to his arrest. Animals were not permitted to accompany the
army during the fighting but to get him onto a British transport ship when the unit sailed
from Egypt to fight alongside the British Army in the Italian campaign, Wojtek was officially
drafted into the Polish Army as a Private and was listed among the soldiers of the 22nd
Artillery Supply Company. Two soldiers were assigned as his caretakers.
As an enlisted soldier of the company, he had his own rank and serial number and he
lived with the other men in tents or in a special wooden crate, which was transported
by truck. According to numerous accounts from the time, during the Battle of Monte Cassino,
Wojtek helped by carrying vital ammunition and artillery boxes and never dropped a single
crate with the sound of gunfire not bothering him at all. In recognition of Wojtek’s popularity,
a depiction of a bear carrying an artillery shell was approved as the official emblem
of the 22nd Company. At the end of World War II in 1945, Wojtek
was transported to Berwickshire in Scotland with the rest of the 22nd Company. They were
stationed at an airfield near a village in the Scottish Borders. Wojtek soon became popular
among local civilians and the press. In November 1947 the 22nd Company were demobilised.
Wojtek was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where he spent the rest of his life. He was often visited
by former Polish soldiers. Some of them would toss him cigarettes, which he proceeded to
eat because there was no one there to light them for him.
Media attention contributed to Wojtek's popularity. He was a frequent guest on BBC television's
children’s programmes. Wojtek died in December 1963, at the age of
21. At the time of his death he weighed nearly 500 pounds and was over 6 feet tall.
There have been many memorials for the soldier-bear around the world, ranging from plaques in
War Museums in England and Canada, to statues in Poland and Scotland. He became part of
the history of the Polish Armed forces in the Second World War and his legacy lives
on.