WojtekSoldierBear's channel

I have made this channel in order to strengthen the remembrance of an amazing WWII history of a soldier bear - Wojtek.

Wojtek (1942--1963 ) usually spelled Voytek in English, was a Syrian brown bear cub found in Iran and adopted by soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped move ammunition. The name "Wojtek" or "Wojciech" is an old Slavic name that is still very common in Poland today. It derives from two words: "woj" (the stem of "wojownik", warrior, and "wojna", war); and "ciech", enjoyment. Thus the name has two meanings: "he who enjoys war" or "smiling warrior", but they are not known even by many Poles.

In 1942, a local boy found a bear cub near Hamadan, Iran. He sold it to the soldiers of the Polish Army stationed nearby for a couple of canned meat tins. As the bear was less than a year old, he initially had problems swallowing and was fed with condensed milk from an emptied vodka bottle. The bear became quite an attraction for soldiers and civilians alike, and soon became an unofficial mascot of all units stationed nearby. Because of this, he was officially drafted into the Polish Army and was listed among the soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. With the company he moved to Iraq and then through Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and to southern Italy.

The bear was fed with fruits, marmalade, honey and syrup, and was often rewarded with beer, which became his favourite drink. He also enjoyed smoking and eating cigarettes. He enjoyed wrestling and was taught to salute when greeted. As one of the officially enlisted "soldiers" of the company, he lived with the other men in their tents or in a special wooden crate transported on lorries. According to numerous accounts, during the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped his patrons by transporting ammunition -- never dropping a single crate. In recognition of the bear's popularity, the HQ approved an effigy of a bear holding an artillery shell as the official emblem of the 22nd Company (by then renamed to 22nd Transport Company).

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the bear was transported to Berwickshire in Scotland, along with parts of the II Corps. Stationed in the village of Hutton, near Duns, Wojtek soon became popular among local civilians and the press. The Polish-Scottish Association made Wojtek one of its honorary members. Following demobilization on November 15, 1947, Wojtek was given to the Edinburgh Zoo. There Wojtek spent the rest of his days, often visited by journalists and former Polish soldiers, some of whom would toss him cigarettes. Wojtek died in December 1963, at the age of 22. At the time of his death he weighed nearly 500 pounds (250 kilograms) and had a length of over 6 feet (1.8 meters).

The media attention contributed to Wojtek's popularity. He was a frequent guest of BBC's Blue Peter program. Among memorial plaques commemorating the bear-soldier are a stone tablet in the Edinburgh Zoo, plaques in the Imperial War Museum and the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, as well as a sculpture by artist, David Harding, in the Sikorski Museum in London. There are proposals to erect a memorial in Edinburgh. It is said that Prince Charles, when visiting the Imperial War Museum with his sons, remarked to the guide that there was no need to tell the story of Wojtek since all three of them knew it well.

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