The story is often told as the tale of a general who kept a pet bear. The truth is even better. The bear wasn't a general's pet at all. He belonged to a whole company of ordinary soldiers, and he ended up with a rank, a paybook and a serial number of his own.
His name was Wojtek, pronounced roughly VOY-tek, and he was a Syrian brown bear. Polish soldiers picked him up as a cub in Iran in 1942. He traveled with the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps through the Middle East to Italy, was promoted from private to corporal, and spent his last years at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland.
An Orphan Cub on the Road to Tehran
In the spring of 1942, a newly formed Polish army left the Soviet Union for Iran, along with thousands of Polish civilian refugees. Accounts of how they got the bear differ. In one version, soldiers met a young Iranian boy who had found a cub whose mother had been shot by hunters.
An 18-year-old refugee named Irena Bokiewicz fell for the little bear and urged a Polish lieutenant to buy him. She cared for the cub for about three months at a refugee camp near Tehran. In August, he was given to a transport company, and the soldiers named him Wojtek.
Raised by a Company of Soldiers
At first the cub had trouble swallowing, so he was fed condensed milk from an old vodka bottle. Later he enjoyed fruit, honey, marmalade and syrup. He was also often rewarded with beer, which became his favorite drink, and he liked coffee in the mornings.
Wojtek wrestled with the men, learned to salute when greeted and even marched alongside them on his hind legs. On cold nights, he slept with the soldiers to keep them warm. He traveled with his company through Iraq, Syria and Egypt, becoming a beloved unofficial mascot.
How a Bear Got Drafted
When the Polish forces were sent to fight in Italy, there was a problem. The British transport ship's rules banned mascots and pets. The soldiers' solution was brilliant. They officially enlisted Wojtek in the Polish Army as a private, listed among the men of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.
During the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944, Wojtek is said to have helped carry 100-pound crates of artillery shells, copying the men around him. Historians have debated how accurate the story is, but at least one British soldier recalled seeing a bear carrying ammunition. Wojtek was promoted to corporal, and the company adopted a bear carrying an artillery shell as its official emblem.
Retirement in Scotland
After the war, Wojtek moved to Scotland with his unit and was stationed near the village of Hutton in the Scottish Borders. He quickly became a local favorite. After the soldiers were demobilized in 1947, he was given to the Edinburgh Zoo.
There, he still perked up when spoken to in Polish and recognized many of his old comrades when they came to visit. He even appeared on the BBC children's show Blue Peter. Wojtek died in 1963 at the age of 21. By then he weighed nearly 1,100 pounds and stood over 5 feet 11 inches tall.
Today, statues of Wojtek stand in Edinburgh, Kraków and Cassino, among other places. Not bad for an orphaned cub who once drank milk from a vodka bottle.
