It’s February 1944.
Organized chaos reigns at the docks of the Italian city of Naples.
The Polish II Corps, with its 50,000 men and equipment, disembark to join the British in the Italian campaign.
Between it all, British courier Archibald Brown is processing the latest arriving unit, the 22nd Artillery Company.
“Private Wojtek!” He reads off the list, but no soldiers step forward.
“Private Wojtek?” He repeats himself, prompting chuckles and giggles from the lines of men in front of him.
“What’s happening? Who is Wojtek?” Brown asks again, his patience running thin.
“Well, he only understands Polish and Persian,” says a Colonel, causing the men’s composure to degrade further.
“Haven’t you seen him? He’s a beast,”
“Six feet tall"
“He can pick men up by their feet and throw them away.”
“He wrestles several men at once and wins every time”.
“And just the sight of him makes enemies flee in terror!”
The lines of men are taken over by poorly concealed laughter.
Brown is at a loss for words.
Confused and irritated, he orders an explanation at once.
In response the soldiers lead him to the cargo section, where there is a cage sitting among the crates.
Inside is a massive 200 pound brown bear.
“There is Wotjek.”
And now a short note from our sponsors: Gamer bread!
You need fuel.
Gamer Bread is the first high-performance bread made just for gamers.
Fuel up with maximum…
Today’s video is sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends.
The immersive RPG that’s taken over the world!
You can pick your champion!
We love Ursine Ironhide.
Ursine is a tremendous champion for faction wars and doom tower.
Armed with Confounding Crush, Beat Back, Rampaging Swipe and Ursine Brutality he’s a force to be reckoned with.
And there’s a ton happening in RAID this month:
join a special Deliana Chase event where you can get your hands on the amazing Deliana
Deliana’s one of the strongest support Champions in the entire game.
Play RAID for 7 days between now and July 20th, and you’ll get Deliana for free!
This is the best time to get started in RAID,
and if you click the link in the description or scan the QR code here on the screen,
you’ll get a free starter pack worth almost $40.
You’ll get 3 free Champions, plus 10 Magic XP Brews, 10 Force XP Brews, 10 Spirit Brews.
All this treasure will be waiting for you here.
And what’s more, once you’ve signed up, using the link in the description you can enter the Promo Code MYDELIANA
in the game and get 50 XP Brews to instantly get the legendary hero Deliana to max level 50!!
As well as a ton of silver.
Just click the link in the description, and I’ll see you in the game.
Back on the boat Brown can’t believe his eyes.
“How did a bear end up in a Polish army?”
What ? How?
The polish soldier says “Well it was April 1942, at a camp in the outskirts of Tehran, Iran.”
The soldiers are veterans of the invasion of Poland,
recently released from Soviet gulags in the wake of Operation Barbarossa.
It’s one of the many stops in their journey to join the British in North Africa, at first it looks like a night like any other,
but in a corner of the camp the men of the 2nd Transport Company have a surprise guest.
A poor child with a cloth sack hanging from his shoulder.
He appeared hungry so the soldiers offer him some of their rations,
however as the child eats, they notice the sack seems to move.
Curious, they ask to see what’s inside, the child undoes the tie,
and to the soldiers surprise the head of a little bear cub peeks out of the cloth.
The men are instantly won over by the little thing, it’s very docile and responds nicely to the pets and attention.
Was it another orphan of war or was it wrenched from it’s mother?
The soldiers, perhaps with more heart than sense, decide they will adopt this helpless animal.
Having no money they offer a bunch of knick-knacks to the child in exchange for the bear,
finally settling for a chocolate bar, a Swiss army knife, and a tin of corn beef, which the kid happily accepts.
The unit would give him his name, Wotjek, meaning “Happy Warrior”.
But it wouldn’t take long for the bear’s presence to be discovered,
his cuteness was overpowering, and no superiors raised any objection.
And so, Wojtek became the unit’s mascot,
being fed condensed milk out of a vodka bottle for the first weeks
by a young soldier by the name of Dymitr who became one of his main caretakers.
Wotjek was brought along as the unit traveled through Iraq, Syria, and Palestine; quickly growing the entire way.
It’s been a few months and Wotjek proved to fit right in.
He shares in all the soldiers rations and has taken a liking to beer,
even being given his own oversized mug.
It doubtless wasn’t the best diet for the young bear
but the young men wanted to share what they have and see him as one of the men.
He often stares at his empty mug with sadness, hoping a soldier will take pity and top him up.
He also takes coffee in the mornings alongside everyone else.
For sleep he would often stay inside a padded crate made for him,
but on cold nights he would opt to cuddle with Dymitr instead.
But taking care of a bear isn’t without it’s complications,
the searing heat of the desert prove tough on Wotjek who learned to love showering,
but also has loved to turn the showers on.
His lengthy unsupervised showers caused water shortages for the unit in more than one occasion.
He would also raid the kitchen if he felt like it,
most times he wouldn’t get very far
but in Christmas of 1942 the Christmas party meant no soldier was in the condition to keep an eye on Wotjek,
which allowed him to loot the kitchen all night long.
But the soldiers didn’t care, they love the bear despite, and even because of, his exploits.
During the day Wotjek entertains himself by playing in the camp,
he chases and eats oranges thrown by the soldiers during grenade practice and would even play fight with the men.
Soldiers lined up to try and tackle the bear, to predictable results, many torn uniforms and scratches were had.
Soldiers aren’t ones to leave a score unsettled and began taking him on in groups.
Wotjek remained undefeated.
But the humans were little compared to what was to come.
It’s September 1943, at a camp in Iraq.
The soldiers of the 2nd Transport Company
learn that an infantry unit stationed in the camp also has a bear of its own, named Michael.
Someone had the colossally bad idea to let the 2 meet and they bring them both face to face.
It’s tragic that these 2 wild creatures have been taken from the wild in times of war.
Maybe it’s the frustration of the animals in captivity but Michael pounces upon Wojtek the instant he sees him,
Wojtek sees it coming and charges in kind.
The two bears slash at each other with their massive claws and try to bite at each other’s throats with their sharp fangs.
The soldiers are aghast but there is nothing they can do to stop them, they just watch as Wojtek repels every attack,
Michael coming out worse for wear with each pounce.
Eventually Michael tires, bleeding from many scratches and bites, and retreats.
Fortunately, Both bears make a full recovery, and Michael would later be donated to the Tel-Aviv Zoo.
When the Polish II Corps finally arrived in Egypt they were reorganized to fight alongside the British.
Among the changes the 2nd Transport Company becomes the 22nd Artillery Company.
Furthermore, they were assigned to join the Italian campaign.
And there they stumble upon an issue, the transport ship that is to take them to Italy forbids pets and mascots.
But the Polish soldiers aren’t ones to leave the great Wotjek behind, so they come up with a clever plan.
With the help of their superiors Wotjek is officially drafted into the Polish Army as a soldier just like any other.
He is given a paybook with its salary, soldier serial number, and the rank of private.
The British begrudgingly allow him onto the ship.
Private Wotjek continued his misadventures throughout Italy, the promotion must’ve gotten to his head,
because he ramped up his antics.
The unit was driving by the beach and Private Wotjek decided it was a good time for a bath.
He leapt off the truck and ran for the shore,
the convoy immediately stomped on the brakes as beachgoers ran away in terror.
A soldier shouted “Don’t be afraid! The bear is good!”.
Wotjek happily played in the waves for a few minutes before returning to his handlers on his own
Throughout the Italian campaign
Wojtek also noticed how the soldiers routinely loaded ammunition crates into trucks and began trying to help.
The amazed soldiers encouraged him, and in time it became common for Wotjek to help a little when loading the trucks,
although he would often prioritize the empty boxes and leave the full ones to the humans.
But his rise to fame would come in May 1944.
It’s the fifth month of the brutal Battle of Monte Cassino
and the 4th attempt by the allies to break through the German defensive lines.
The once-grand abbey of Monte Cassino lies in ruins atop the mountains,
and the once lush forest has become a hellscape of charred soil and burned trees.
The 22nd Artillery Company sits in the rear, down in the valley, away from the clashes of tanks and infantry.
They fire their cannons, sending shells flying towards targets miles away.
Private Wotjek observes as fellow soldiers carry the heavy crates of ammunition closer to the firing cannons
and, remembering his training, he decides to help.
Private Wotjek braves the chaotic orchestra of war raging around him and
begins single-handedly lifting crates of artillery ammunition and carrying them over to the cannons,
to the glee and surprise of the men.
The allies would emerge victorious that day, finally breaking through the defensive line on the 12th of May 1944.
Following the battle,
the 22nd Artillery Company would change their emblem to a drawing of Wotjek carrying an artillery shell;
his actions also earned him a promotion to Corporal.
Wotjek didn’t see combat again and would retire to the Edinburgh Zoo
after the unit was brought to the UK for demobilization.
He would often be visited by journalists and former Polish soldiers, who would sometimes sneak in oranges for him.
He would also be a repeat guest of a UK children's show named Blue Peter.
Corporal Wotjek lived a happy retirement and died in December 1963, at the old age of 21.
10 monuments would be built in his memory across the UK and Poland.
Please help the channel and download Raid Shadow Legends using the link in the description. Thank you!