Wojtek the Soldier Bear

AND ANDERS ARMY

1st September 1939 – Nazi Germany invaded Poland

17th September 1939-the Soviet Union invaded Poland

Soviets arrested hundreds of thousands Polish people. Whole families were deported to the Soviet Union to Siberia, Kazahstan, Kolyma,…

22nd June 1941-Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union

30th July 1941, London – treaty between the Soviet Union and Poland

the Soviets granted "amnesty" to many Polish citizens imprisoned just for having Polish nationality,from whom a 40,000-strong army (Anders Army, later known as the Polish II Corps) was formed under General Władysław Anders.

August 1941-March 1942: Anders Army created in the Soviet Union

Polish volunteers to Anders' Army, released from a Soviet Gulag camp

Forces of Polish Army in Russia 1942

March 1942 – based on the British-Soviet-Polish understanding, Anders’ Army was evacuated from the Soviet Union and made its way through Iran to Palestine.

There were about 120 000 Polish people, including 43 000 civilians with 18 000 children.

Polish people who left the Soviet Union with Anders’ Army in March1942. Photo: IPNPolish children in Iran in 1942. Photo: IPN

April 1942, near Hamadan in Iran – Polish soldiers bought a brown bear cub which

was named Wojtek.

Wojtek was subsequently given fruit, marmalade, honey and syrup, and was often rewarded with beer, which became his favourite drink. He later also enjoyed smoking (or eating) cigarettes.

Wojtek loved wrestling with the soldiers and was taught to salute when greeted. Wojtek became quite an attraction for soldiers and civilians alike, and soon became an unofficial mascot of all units stationed nearby. With the 22nd Company he moved to Iraq and then through Syria, Palestine and Egypt to Italy and finally after the war to Scorland.

To get Wojtek onto a British transport ship when the unit sailed with the rest of the Polish II Corps from Egypt to fight alongside the British 8th Army in the Italian campaign (December 1943), Wojtek was officially drafted into the Polish Army as a Private and was listed among the soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company.

As an enlisted soldier of the company, with his own paybook, rank and serial number, he lived with the other men in tents or in a special wooden crate, which was transported by truck. According to numerous accounts, during the Battle of Monte Cassino (May 1944) Wojtek helped by carrying ammunition – never dropping a single crate.

The badge of the 22nd Artillery Support Company of the 2nd Polish Corps. The unit made a design of Wojtek (Voytek) the bear carrying a heavy artillery their emblem after his work in such a role during the campaigns in the Middle East and Italy.

18th May 1944 Monte Cassino

After the battle of Monte Cassino Wojtek played in the sea. Wojtek

loved water.

After the war in September 1946 Wojtek with the rest of the 22nd Company went by ship from Naples (Italy) to Glasgow (Scotland).

Statue of Wojtek in Imola in Italy

They were stationed at Winfield Airfield on Sunwick Farm, near the village of Hutton, Scottish Borders. Wojtek soon became popular among local civilians and the press, and

the Polish-Scottish Association made him one of its honorary members.

Following demobilisation on 15 November 1947, Wojtek was given to Edinburgh Zoo, where he

spent the rest of his life, often visited by journalists and former Polish soldiers.

Wojtek died in December 1963, at the age of 21 in Edinburgh

ZOO.

Wojtek Journey map from Wojtek the Bear… by Aileen Orr, 2012

About Wojtek some books were written. One of them is Wojtek The Bear: Polish War

Hero by Aileen Orr

The are some statues and monuments of Wojtek in many countries.

In Edinburgh in Scotland At Sikorski Museum in London in England

In Imola in Italy In Cracow in PolandIn Żagań in Poland

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