Bear with me for a fun wee story

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Avatar for TengoLoTodo
3 years ago

July 7th 2021

So I was unpacking a box this morning and took out a bear, well a toy bear, actually Broxi my football team mascot bear. It got me thinking about bears and here is a wee true story about Wojtek an amazing bear that has a monument to him in Princes Street gardens in Edinburgh.

The Background

We need to go back to 1939. Perhaps you should get a cup of tea whilst reading this and the story from @Marinov about milk tea might help you!

As you know 1939 was during the second world war. Following the invasion of Eastern Poland by the Soviet Union in 1939, many Polish civilians were deported to the Soviet Union.

A new army called the Anders' Army left the Soviet Union heading for Iran. Thousands of Polish civilians who had been deported in 1939 accompanied this army.

8 April 1942 ~ A day to remember

Whilst the Anders' Army was in Iran they were at a railroad station in Hamadan. Hamadan is one of the oldest cities in Iran and is surrounded by foothills of the Alvand Mountain.

On 8 April 1942, some Polish soldiers met a young Iranian boy. This young boy had just found a bear cub whose mother had been shot dead by some hunters.

It so happened that one of the civilian refugees accompanying the army was eighteen-year-old Irena (Inka) Bokiewicz. She also happened to be the great-niece of General Boleslaw Wieniawa-Dlugoszowski who had actually been nominated to be The President of Poland on the same day that the Soviet Union invaded Poland, so he never actually became President. Meanwhile Irena was very taken with the cub, so much so, that she got Lieutenant Anatol Tarnowiecki to buy the bear cub from the young boy.

The bear cub and Irena then spent the next three months in a Polish refugee camp near Tehran, whilst Irena looked after the cub.

 In August 1942, the bear was donated to the 2nd Transport Company, which later became the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.

The soldiers of this Company named the bear Wojtek. The name Wojtek  is actually the nickname of Wojciech which means Happy Warrior, which is an old Slavic name and still used in Poland.

Wojtek discovers beer!

At the beginning Wojtek had problems with the swallowing of his food. So the soldiers fed him condensed milk from an old used vodka bottle. Once he could swallow the milk no problem, the soldiers then fed him fruit, syrup, honey and marmalade.

However, the soldiers often gave him beer for a reward, and beer soon became his most favourite drink.

Not content with drinking beer, he copied the soldiers and soon started to enjoy smoking (or eating) cigarettes and also started to drink coffee in the mornings. If the soldiers got cold, he would sometimes sleep with them at night.

The monument to Wojtek in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland

Wojtek was taught to salute when he was greeted and he also enjoyed wrestling with the soldiers. As you can imagine he was popular with the soldiers and civilians who saw him. He became the unofficial mascot to all the units that were stationed nearby. When the 22nd Company moved to Iraq, Wojtek went with them. He went with them to Syria, to Palestine, to Syria and then to Egypt

Wojtek joins the army

He joined the army, I can hear you laugh, well seriously read on readers...

From Egypt, the soldiers were needed to fight alongside the British Army in the Italian campaign. To get to Italy they had to travel by a British transport ship.

Problem - Regulations for the British transport ship forbade the transport of either pet animals or mascots.

Solution - It was decided to draft Wojtek, and he was officially drafted into the Polish Army as a private in the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. Henryk Zacharewicz and Dymitr Szawlugo were appointed as his caretakers.

Wojtek now had his own paybook, his rank of Private and his own serial number. He had his own special wooden crate, but preferred living in tents with the other soldiers.

Wojtek gets promoted!

It was during the Battle of Monte Cassino that Wojtek really made a name for himself. Wojtek helped his unit move ammunition by carrying 100-pound (45 kg) crates of 25 pound artillery shells. He never dropped any of these crates.

Wojtek copied the soldiers. When he saw soldiers lifting crates, he then lifted crates. He could carry boxes on his own that would normally take four soldiers to carry. He would stack these ammunition boxes either onto a truck or on top of other ammunition boxes.

It was for his service at the Battle of Monte Cassino that he received the promotion to the rank of Corporal. To celebrate the exploits of Wojtek in this Battle, a depiction of a bear carrying an artillery shell was adopted as the official emblem of the 22nd Company.

The plaque for Wojtek at his memorial in Princes Street Gardens.

Wojtek in Scotland after the war

At the end of World War II in 1945, Wojtek and the rest of the 22nd Company were transported to Scotland. They were stationed at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm, near the village of Hutton in the Scottish Borders. Wojtek became an instant star amongst the local villagers as well as the media. The Polish-Scottish Association even made Wojtek an honorary member.

Following demobilisation on 15 November 1947, Wojtek was given to Edinburgh Zoo where he spent the rest of his life. He was often visited by former soldiers he served with and some of them would throw him cigarettes to eat, just like they used to when they all were soldiers together.

Wojtek was popular with the media and was often on British television programs.

Wojtek died in December 1963 at the age of 21. He weighed nearly 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) and was over 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) tall.

The statue of the infamous Wojtek in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh

I had not heard of Wojtek until I saw his statue in the gardens and went to investigate. There is even a movie about him.

It just shows how amazing animals really are, and the unselfish things that they do for us.

Thank you for reading.

A big thank you to my amazing sponsors

@FarmGirl @Bloghound @Eylz2021 @CoquiCoin @JonicaBradley @Panky and @ARTicLEE

please do check them out and read their fantastic articles.

Copyright @TengoLoTodo 2021 and yes All Rights Reserved. All images and words are from the author.

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3 years ago

Comments

I just love them bears, uncle Ed :)

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3 years ago

Yes they cheer me up do bears Mrs. P!

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3 years ago

Aweee Wojtek has such a soft spot in his heart for animals just like me. And this article speaks history, which is another learning for me. I'm not good in history though, but I'm trying to analyze things written in there. Thanks for the mention sir 😍 I'm in awe.

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3 years ago

Well I enjoyed your tea article, well I enjoy all your articles if I am being honest. Well it is good to learn some history, so that we don't repeat our previous mistakes again.

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3 years ago

This is really interesting. I love animals. This is new, it is a bear. I have fun coz I'm given a chance to know Wojtek a cool and amazing bear. I'd like to watch the movie. May I know the title?

God bless you.🙏

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3 years ago

Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War ;)

I think it is called Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War ;) , I think there was another one which I am trying to find.

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3 years ago

Thank you maam..I'm going to watch this.❤️

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3 years ago

That kinda gave me a different view on Pooh bear hahaha. So cool to be fighting alongside a bear though. 🤔

It was for his service at the Battle of Monte Cassino that he received the promotion to the rank of Corporal. --> an achiever!

So cute he blended in adapted becoming human a bit. oh what a charmer!

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3 years ago

Big bears are the best charmers didn't you know na ;) He was an achiever though pp and yeah it would be way cool fighting alongside a bear!

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3 years ago

Awww. I love the story ❤. I dunno but I just really love animals ❤

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3 years ago

Yes me too, I love animals and this was just such an adorable story.

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3 years ago

That's a great story of wojtek I can imagine him being a soldier. Animals are intelligent by nature they use their instincts. I bet he really does played an important role during the war. Sometimes it is best to trust the animals rather than humans. They can be really faithful and loyal unlike humans that can betray us anytime. Oh Broxi says hi... Hahaha

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3 years ago

As usual you are so correct. Animals are very intelligent and fast learners and use their instincts, so was natural for him to copy the soldiers and do it much quicker too. hehe about time Broxi said hi hehe. Yes animals are the best just ask Broxi

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3 years ago

That's heartwarming. It's kind of ironic for animals acting humans while humans act like animals with these senseless wars. We should be like Wojtek. He is a reminder that we should help others in any way we can.

Who is the guy beside him though?

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3 years ago

The guy beside I think was one of his two caretakers .

You have nailed it perfectly regarding the irony. When we will ever learn , not in my lifetime that is for sure. Wojtek really is a great reminder of how we all should behave and help others when we can. Awesome comments kuya , thank you.

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3 years ago

I am going to search for the movie and hopefully watch it this weekend :D

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3 years ago

I liked this story so much! Although, I didn't like it so much that he ended in a zoo. It shouldn't have been easy for him to adapt. But he for sure became a great attraction. I imagine the image of the bear drinking beer and smoking. I'd have loved to see it. Do you know the name of the movie?

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3 years ago

Yes it is the smoking and drinking I see in my head. It is a wonderful story apart from the zoo, but Edinburgh Zoo was a very good zoo, so I hope he was well looked after. The movie I shall try to find but is Wojtek the bear I think, I shall let you know.

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3 years ago

Wojtek the bear

Ok, I found it. It's a documentary named Wojtek: The Bear That Went to War ;)

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3 years ago

ah yes I found that one, there is still an animated one I haven't found the title yet.

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3 years ago

I also read about the animated movie. But since I didn't get more information, it seemed to me that perhaps it could be just news and the film hadn't been made.

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3 years ago

Perhaps it was around 2018 when it was to be made, and I think the documentary was from 2011, I shall keep looking

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3 years ago

What a beautiful story of a bear soldier, or is it soldier bear?

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3 years ago

Corporal bear perhaps ;) or even a bare bear soldier haha now I have the giggles...

Yes a beautiful story I agree, I was fascinated when I saw the statue a couple of years ago.

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3 years ago

Corporal bear, that's better! as to bare bear isn't it obvious already :D

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3 years ago

He might have had a soldiers uniform covering his bare necessities , you never know.

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3 years ago

That we didn't know for sure :D

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3 years ago

And that is very true !

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3 years ago

I really enjoyed this story. As you know anything about animals will attract my attention. I'm a sucker for not only human interest stories but "animal interest" also. Would have been fun to know Wojtek when he was alive.

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3 years ago

It would have, as he did spend his days in Edinburgh Zoo it would have been fun to go and see him. Well I am more a sucker for animal interest stories, and I was fascinated by this drinking smoking bear. Also a bit of a fun article to write, I need to try and get hold of the movie too. Have a terrific Thursday Emily and thanks for stopping by.

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3 years ago

I read that he retired at the zoo but I can feel how sad he must have been to be away from his comrades. Even though they visited, it is just not the same. I can only hope that he had a large area to live in and not caged up.

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3 years ago

It must have been incredibly sad, he after all grown up with them from a little cub. I know he did do alot of television and publicity work so he did get out to meet people, but yes not the same as living with his comrades at all. Edinburgh Zoo was quite good in that they did have good spaces for their bears, but still no comrades.

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3 years ago

Would have been a great ending if one of the soldiers took him home like a family member. 😁

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3 years ago

That would have been the best if it was possible

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3 years ago