For military families living or traveling in Europe, Wojtek’s story is an easy entry point into the often overlooked history of the Polish Armed Forces during WWII. (dvlcom (Adobe Stock))
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Of all the stories about soldiers, refugees and civilians displaced during World War II, few are remembered as fondly as Wojtek. This Syrian brown bear officially enlisted in the Polish Army. For military families living or traveling in Europe, Wojtek’s story is an easy entry point into the often overlooked history of the Polish Armed Forces during WWII.
In 1942, soldiers from the Polish II Corps found themselves in the Middle East. While traveling through Iran, they encountered a local boy who had a young brown bear. The cub was thin, restless and struggling to survive without its mother.
By the time they reached Iran, many of the soldiers had survived deportation, Soviet labor camps and years of exile following the 1939 invasion of Poland. General Anders built his Army from these survivors, and together they traveled through Central Asia and into the Middle East before joining the Allied campaign in Italy.
Wojtek’s love for long showers would occasionally cause water shortages. (Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
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The soldiers, who had little more than what they could carry, struck a deal with the boy. What exactly was exchanged is unknown. Some say tinned meat; others mention a Swiss Army Knife or biscuits. In the end, the boy walked away with some supplies and the soldiers left with a scrawny cub.
That orphaned cub became part of the unit. The soldiers named him Wojtek, roughly translating to “happy warrior.” At first, Wojtek rode in trucks, slept in tents as a mascot and was fed condensed milk from a vodka bottle turned makeshift baby bottle.
Wojtek quickly began imitating the men around him. He rode in the front seats of military trucks and stood upright to “salute” soldiers who greeted him. He also developed a taste for beer, often biting caps off bottles before drinking from them.
When the soldiers threw oranges as part of makeshift grenade-throwing practice, Wojtek would dutifully chase after them and bring them back like a dog retrieving a tennis ball.
Soldiers also gave him cigarettes. Though by most accounts, Wojtek preferred eating them rather than smoking them properly.
He became famous for wrestling with troops at camp, sometimes alarming Allied personnel unfamiliar with the unit’s unusually large “soldier.” British troops assumed stories about an enlisted bear were elaborate jokes until seeing Wojtek for themselves.
At camps in the Middle East, Wojtek learned how to use communal showers by watching and mimicking the soldiers, leading to startled troops occasionally discovering a soaking wet bear standing under the water. Wojtek’s love for long showers would occasionally cause water shortages.
While en route from Naples to Egypt, British officials denied the bear passage aboard a military transport ship because Allied regulations prohibited mascots. Thinking fast, the Polish soldiers solved the problem in classic field fashion: They officially enlisted Wojtek, complete with rank, service number, pay book and ration card.
The 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy was one of the hardest-fought Allied battles of the war. The fighting went on for months, with repeated assaults against the well-fortified positions around the monastery. Even by Italian campaign standards, it was brutal, slow and exhausting.
The positions around Monte Cassino were well prepared and dug into high ground, and every advance came under fire. The Polish II Corps was pushed into the northern approach, where the terrain itself became part of the problem: steep slopes, exposed ridgelines and very little cover.
The image of a bear carrying an artillery shell eventually became the official emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. (Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
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Wojtek wasn’t formally “assigned” in any operational sense, but he stuck close to the men in his unit, following them as they loaded and unloaded ammunition. At some point, Wojtek began copying their movements by carrying crates of heavy mortar and artillery ammunition boxes from the supply trucks to the gun emplacements.
“He often carried munitions for us, but usually he was a lazy thing and looked for the empty boxes to carry. At Cassino, he carried full ones.”
— A Caretaker of Wojtek
The image of a bear carrying an artillery shell eventually became the official emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.
For many of the Polish troops, Wojtek symbolized companionship during a period when they had lost their families, homes and country.
“The most significant fact of the Wojtek story is that he was adopted by people who were also orphans in some way.”
— Polish military historian, Dr. Tomasz Trafas
After the war, many Polish veterans who fought alongside Allied forces could not safely return to Soviet-controlled Poland. Large numbers resettled in Britain. Wojtek traveled with them to Scotland and eventually lived at the Edinburgh Zoo.
Former Polish soldiers continued visiting him for years, speaking to him in Polish and tossing him cigarettes. Wojtek often recognized familiar voices from his wartime unit.
As unusual as Wojtek’s story might be, the men around him had remarkable stories of their own. Many had survived deportation, imprisonment and exile. Even after losing their homeland to occupation, they continued to fight alongside Allied forces.
Official records list Wojtek as a soldier. The men who shared trucks, tents, and battlefields with him might argue that was never in doubt. After all, not many service records end with a transfer to a zoo.
Not many service records end with a transfer to a zoo. (Imperial War Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
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Editor’s Note: This article was written by a member of the local military community, not an employee of Stars and Stripes. Neither the organization nor the content is being represented by Stars and Stripes or the Department of War.
