The Heart Melting Story Of Wojtek The Soldier Bear

In the throes of the second world war, the newly-formed Polish army were joined by a rather unlikely comrade: a 6 foot tall, 440lb adult Siberian Brown Bear. It might sound like a disaster waiting to happen or like something from some far-fetched fairy-tale, but this altruistic animal has actually earned himself a rightful spot as one of history’s most fearsome war heroes. In fact, this four-legged fiend was even decorated with the rank of corporal and would be celebrated for decades to come.

German Invasion Of The USSR

Poor old Poland suffered the bulk of most WW2-related traumas. On September 1st, 1939, the country was invaded by a certain German fascist group (you know the one), only to face a subsequent Soviet invasion a few days later on September 17th. Following these invasions, Stalin, and the German head honcho, who has now ruined the toothbrush moustache for all eternity, agreed on a "nonaggression treaty" which essentially divided Poland in two.

Unsurprisingly, he who shall not be named went right ahead and broke that treaty on June 22nd, 1941 by ordering an invasion of the USSR. Stalin was obviously pretty cheesed off about it, so he declared all previous pacts between the USSR and Poland to be null and void.

Among a whole bunch of other stuff, this meant that the Poles could create their own army despite them technically still being on Soviet soil. With no time to waste, they went ahead and did exactly that. The army became known as the Polish II Corps and was led by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders.

Wojtek, The Bear

As that little history lesson is out of the way, let's set the scene. It was the Spring of 1942, and the newly-formed army led by Anders had just left the USSR alongside thousands of Polish citizens who had been released from Soviet Gulags. On the way to Tehran, the travelling Poles encountered a little Iranian boy in the town of Hamadan who was carrying a sack which looked suspiciously alive.

After enquiring about what might be wriggling around inside, the boy proudly presented its contents: a tiny bear cub. The bear had probably come into the boy’s possession after its parents were shot by hunters, leaving it orphaned in the mountains.

One of the Polish civilians, eighteen-year-old Irena Bokiewicz, the great-niece of General Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, was so smitten by the cub that she convinced the corps to take him in. So, one of the lieutenants went ahead and purchased him in exchange for a few Persian coins, a portion of chocolate, a Swiss Army knife, and a tin of beef.

For the first three months, the bear cub lived under Irena’s care in a Polish refugee camp that had been established near Tehran, and the rest of the men did their best to hide him from their senior officers. But you can’t exactly hide a live bear forever, especially when it starts growing at an alarming rate. In August that year, the cub was given to the Polish 22nd Artillery Supply Company. After becoming an official member, he even received his very own Polish name: “Wojtek,” which literally translates as “joyous soldier”.

At first, the energetic young bear couldn’t help but get himself into trouble. When the Poles moved to a large Allied military camp in Iraq, Wojtek allegedly stole an entire clothesline of ladies’ underwear belonging to female personnel that were stationed in the area. It’s safe to say they weren’t very amused.

Then, in 1942, when the Polish army came to prepare their traditional Christmas Eve feast, they discovered that Wojtek had got into the food store first. He not only trashed the place but ate his way through most of the stock too. Wojtek might not have got off on the best foot (well, paw) but he more than redeemed himself the following year, when he alerted his comrades to the presence of a spy in their camp.

The bear had traveled with the company through the Middle East as the unit made its way to join forces with the 3rd Carpathian Division of the British Army in Palestine. In the heat of Gaza, in what was then British-administered Palestine, the crafty bear had learned how to cool himself off by sneaking into the bathing tent and turning on the shower.

One evening, after gingerly entering the tent as usual, he unwittingly disturbed a man who had sneaked into the camp to try and steal some ammunition. The man, who was later revealed to be a local opponent of British rule, shrieked in terror at the sight of Wojtek. The piercing sound alerted the rest of the men to his presence, and he was swiftly arrested.

As a reward, Wojtek was awarded with two bottles of beer and unlimited shower time, and his comrades started to realize what an asset the bear could really be.

Playing With The Soldiers

As you might expect, Wojtek also picked up some surprisingly human-like habits as he grew up surrounded by a group of surly soldiers. As a cub, he would drink milk from an old vodka bottle, and would later develop a taste for the hard stuff, too. Wojtek would frequently drink under the table, guzzling beer and wine as if it was water.

According to Wojciech Narebski, a former Polish soldier who spent three years alongside Wojtek during WW2, for the bear, one bottle was nothing. Considering he weighed 440lb as an adult, it was virtually impossible for him to get drunk, which was probably for the best.

Perhaps Wojtek’s weirdest, and most unhealthy, habit was his penchant for cigarettes. But he wouldn’t just smoke them, he’d eat them too. According to legend, he would turn his nose up a cigarette unless it was lit, in which case he would take a single puff before gobbling it down in one gulp.

Of course, the idea of a wild animal drinking and smoking sounds all sorts of animal welfare alarm bells these days, but these were startlingly different times, and the bear knew nothing of life outside the army. Besides, most of the world was locked in a violent war; things were already pretty crazy.

Wojtek became a source of joy and light entertainment during these trying times. Because most of the men were far away from their families, having Wojtek around was considered a great psychological relief, and he even slept in their tents if it was cold at night. During the long, hot daytimes, he would often wrestle with the soldiers and even learned to salute whenever he was greeted by his company men.

Just like an excitable puppy, he would also chase after the oranges the soldiers threw as part of their grenade practice. His comrades would describe him as gentle and peaceful, and he quickly became so well-loved that he even got double rations of fruit, marmalade, honey, and syrup. It’s safe to say Wojtek had become part of the family, but it wasn’t long before his fate hung in the balance.

Soldier Bear: Private In The Polish Army

In 1943, the army unit prepared to board a ship to join the Allied campaign against Italy in Naples. Without even thinking twice, the Poles took Wojtek with them. But when they arrived, British officials at the port in Alexandria, Egypt refused to let the bear board the ship because he wasn’t “officially” part of the army, not to mention he was, fundamentally, still a potentially man-eating wild animal.

But the Poles weren’t deterred by this minor bump in the road. In a bizarre twist, which was also kind of genius, the soldiers decided to make Wojtek a private of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company right there and then. In what was essentially a big “screw your no pets policy”, the men gave the bear an official rank, service number and even a pay book to legitimate his “soldier” status. The officials couldn't argue with that, and Wojtek was allowed to join his comrades on the Italy-bound vessel.

By the time the unit arrived in Italy, Wojtek, now a legal member of the army, referred to as “Private Wojtek,” had grown significantly from a tiny cub to a 6ft tall, 440lb Syrian brown bear. When he was small enough, Wojtek would hang out of the passenger side of trucks, but now he had to be transported in the back of cargo vehicles. Very quickly, this orphaned bear cub had transformed from an entertaining plaything to the Artillery Corps’ very own secret weapon.

When the soldiers re-entered the warzone in 1944, they were thrown headlong into the battle of Monte Cassino, one of the most brutal chapters of the Second World War. When they arrived, Wojtek was initially terrified by the noise of the battlefield and scarpered up a tree, but as he watched his comrades at work, he finally came down and started to assist them.

The bear mimicked the soldiers as they carried crates of artillery shells across the dangerous terrain. Wojtek carried boxes that usually required the strength of four men with ease and would stack them onto a truck or other ammunition boxes. Each crate weighed around 100lbs and contained 25lb artillery shells, yet Wojtek never dropped a single one. The whole idea might seem like something out of a fantasy, but there’s at least one of account of a British soldier being totally blindsided to see a hulking 6-foot bear carrying artillery shells across the battlefield.

On May 18th, 1944, the Polish II Corps succeeded where other units had failed: they captured the seemingly impenetrably and strategically vital mountain fortress of Monte Cassino from the Germans, marking their victory.

Wojtek not only survived the brutal conflict, but his contribution was considered so vital to their overall success that the Polish high command decided to make the bear the official emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. The official patch shows the bear carrying a shell with ease, just as he’d done with ease out on the field.

Scottish Life After War

When the war drew to a close in 1945, Wojtek retired from army life and traveled to Berwickshire in Scotland with his fellow soldiers. Considering their previous treatment in Stalin’s Russia, most of the men weren’t too keen to return to a country that was increasingly coming under communist control. And they’d be damned if they were going to let their prized Siberian soldier bear go back there, either!

In fact, the communists had planned to move Wojtek to a Polish zoo and were pretty cheesed off to discover that the unlikely war hero wouldn’t be returning. After a grueling voyage, the men were stationed at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm near the village of Hutton, Scottish borders. As for Wojtek, he became so popular among the locals and the press that the Polish-Scottish Association made him an honorary member.

Following demobilization on November 15th, 1947, Wojtek was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where he was a beloved attraction for visitors from far-and-wide. Former members of his unit would continue to visit Wojtek during the rest of his life to reminisce about their time together.

Apparently, a couple of the men would even toss cigarettes his way when nobody was looking, which he’d happily chomp down just like he did in the good old days. It has also been said that, whenever he overheard someone speaking Polish or talking in a Polish accent, Wojtek would stand on his hind legs and wave a paw, as if in a salute.

Wojtek the 6-foot soldier bear eventually died in December 1963, at the ripe old age of 21. Although it’s one of the lesser-known chapters of wartime history, Wojtek’s story has been told throughout the ages, and has continued to amaze and inspire all those who hear it.

After growing up as an integral part of such a tight-knit group of men, it’s also said that Wojtek thought of himself as a human rather than a wild animal. This partly explains why he was given his own exhibition at Edinburgh Zoo after he apparently didn’t get on with the other bears in the park.

One thing’s for sure, Wojtek the smoking, drinking, soldier bear, was totally unique. There are countless statues and monuments around the world which celebrate his lasting legacy, including a bronze statue in the West Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, which was unveiled in 2013, and another in Krakow’s Jordan Park.

In 2018, it was even announced that Wojtek’s story would be turned into an animation feature film named “A Bear Named Wojtek”, which has been released in 2024. The guy behind it is Iain Harvey, who previously worked on the children’s Christmas classic The Snowman, so it’s a real tear-jerker!

I hope you were amazed at the heart melting story of Wojtek, the Soldier Bear. Thanks for reading.