The Story of Wojtek, the Soldier Bear, who helped to Win the Battle of the Mountain Fortress at Monte Cassino.
How did a Starving Brown Bear Cub from Iran become a Corporal in the Polish Army?
In 1944, when the Polish Armed Forces of the East helped to capture the impenetrable Mountain Fortress at Monte Cassino, in Italy, Wojtek the warrior bear fought with fearless dedication to help secure the legendary victory; but how did an orphaned brown bear cub from the heartlands of Persia rise to the rank of Corporal in the Polish Army to play his part in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II?
This is the story of Wojtek, the soldier bear, whose rags to riches story is one of the strangest incidents of a war that, between 1939 and 1945, brought out the very best and worst in humanity. Throughout his honourable service in the Polish military, Wojtek raised company moral with his good nature, fought with courage and always carried more than his fair share.
The Early Days.
A cub was born of a brown bear mother in Iran, sometime in in 1942. As the war sweeping the globe developed into a devastating world conflict poverty and hunger also spread their deadly hands to every corner of Earth.
In an unknown corner of the former Persian Empire, a tiny brown bear cub’s mother was shot to death by a local hunters, leaving him an orphan in a world at war. The hunters took away his mother, and after butchering her for meat they sold off her fur. The young bear cub was left alone in the arid landscape of Iran wandering without any chance of survival, yet alone a life of heroic fame.
After some days, the little cub was found alone, scratching desperately in the ground, by some young children, who were themselves starving, dirty and living in destitution. The poor children could not feed their new companion who had been separated from his mother’s milk by the bullet of a hunter, and as they walked around the countryside, already feeling the ravages of war, the tiny bear was wasting away with them; things were looking desperate for the bear cub and the children.
The Stars Shift and the Bear Cub’s Luck Changes.
One fateful evening, a group of Polish soldiers from Anders’ Army were out looking for alcohol, food and other supplies in the dusty countryside of Iran; just like off duty troops all over the world are apt to do during their precious hours of freedom. However, on this night they came across some children in rags who had with them a tiny, starving bear cub on a string.
The bear has always had a special place in the hearts of the Polish people, and they immediately set about negotiating the sale of the tattered little cub. The children bargained ferociously, realising this might be their best chance for a long while to come, and eventually, after some haggling that would make a Bedouin proud, the children parted with the young bear cub for a few dollars, some chocolate, a pocket knife and some of the men’s watches.
The Anders’ Army.
Following the signing of the Sikorski-Mayski agreement and the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, during the hot months of July 1941, after the war between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich had begun in earnest the Andres’ Army was formed.
The Army was made up of Polish citizens, many of whom had experienced terrible interrogations by the NKVD, spent years in the Gulag system and had been deported from their homelands to the labour camps of Siberia.
The army was named after its top commanding officer, Major General Wladyslaw Anders. Officially the army was under the command of the exiled Government of the Republic of Poland although operationally they were instructed by the high command of the USSR.
General Anders himself had been captured and detained by the NKVD, undergoing interrogations that lasted weeks. He was held in the infamous Lubyanka prison in Moscow that was one of the most feared torture chambers in the Soviet Union.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who recorded the testimonies of those who experienced the Soviet Gulag system in his book The Gulag Archipelago, wrote,
“And at the Lubyanka in 1926 (according to the testimony of Berta Gandal) they made use of the hot-air heating system to fill the cell first with icy-cold and then with stinking hot air. And there was an airtight cork-lined cell in which there was no ventilation and they cooked the prisoners. The poet Klyuyev was apparently confined in such a cell and Berta Gandal also. A participant in the Yaroslavl uprising of 1918, Vasily Aleksandrovich Kasyanov, described how the heat in such a cell was turned up until your blood began to ooze through your pores. When they saw this happening through the peephole, they would put the prisoner on a stretcher and take him off to sign his confession.”
This was however, just one of the countless methods of obtaining a confession in the nightmare halls of the Lubyanka prison of Moscow, and by the 1940s, many new techniques were in common use.
Anders’ Army was formed after war broke out between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, however, even after the army was formed it was extremely undermanned and never had full battalions, and yet, they earned a reputation for courage and effectiveness that was nearly unparalleled in a war that made heroes of millions.
In 1942, when the army was sent to Iran following it totalled 66,000 but including the Polish civilians who went with it the number was close to 115,000.
Following the deployment of the Anders’ Army Major General Anders took control of the Polish Armed Forces in the East, controlling operations in Palestine and Iraq. Later, Anders commanded the Polish 2nd Corps, which he led to victory in Italy, in battles such as Monte Cassino and Acona.
Iran, 1942.
Following the terrible years under the yoke of the USSR, enduring labour camps and NKVD torture, Iran in 1942 must have felt, despite the war, like a land of freedom for the Anders’ Army.
If there’s one thing that the Gulag Archipelago will do, it is strip you of your illusions. These survivors of the Soviet camps, massed together and now heavily armed, were tough, crafty and like swords sharpened against steel — the Polish Armed Forces in the East must have presented a terrifyingly formidable fighting force.
The Orphaned Bear is Given Hope, and a Name — Wojtek.
The little bear cub was taken back the unit headquarters and was an immediate hit with the men. The poor bear was seriously underfed and frightened but he was soon made to feel at home. In no time at all he was given plenty to eat and although it must have been strange at first, he soon became used to his new companions.
For the men of the unit, the bear cub was a welcome new brother that they could all band around together to help survive in a world that had become brutal, unforgiving and cruel. It is also possible that the scrappy, tattered little bear cub became a metaphor for their own lives, haunted by the Soviet Gulags and torture chambers; and so they put their hearts into keeping him safe and well. The little bear was a natural fit with the unit, and so, like men at arms all over the world, they vowed never to leave him behind.
Shortly after the bear cub was brought to the camp, it was decided that he would need a name. After some rowdy debate around the camp fire, it was decided that he should be called ‘Wojtek’, which means ‘soldier’ in Polish.
And so little Wojtek had become a conscript, at least informally, and a cadet of the 22nd Artillery Unit of the Polish Armed Forces of the East.
Little Wojtek thrived as he learnt to trust his new companions. Many of the soldiers would save him parts of their rations, to ensure he didn’t go hungry, and he always had a safe place to sleep at night.
The men would gather round the tiny bear and as his appetite grew his personality began to shine through.
Wojtek loved to take baths and play under the water tap in camp. He used a lot of water but the unit made certain allowances for their new conscript.
Camp Life.
Wojtek’s life in camp was a constant stream of escapades and fun much to the joy of all. The unit loved their new companion and he became a local celebrity. Everyone would share their rations with the growing bear cub while he quickly learned tricks to impress his new friends.
Wojtek soon started to grow larger on his plentiful rations and his personality started to show. He was cheeky and playful, fun loving and kind. He loved to wrestle with the men and would sit with them around the camp fire at night.
Wojtek was a friendly bear and became buddies with the other animals in camp. Wojtek was also a great hit with the ladies of the Unit!
Wojtek gave wonderful hugs and as he grew those bear hugs only got bigger and better! The happy cub grew fast on the enormous diet that the unit fed him, and often showed his appreciation, and when the unit moved to Palestine from Iran, the bear cub went with them.
While in Palestine, waiting on their call to duty in the war in Europe, Wojtek gave the men rides on his back and never lost his love of play fighting! He was growing huge and strong but he never scratched or bit the men while they wrestled and was careful not to hurt his companions. He was the life of the party, and would drink beer bottles in one gulp, but he would also help carry things around the camp, including the men sometimes! On one occasion the growing Wojtek ate 300 hundred apples in one sitting!
Wojtek worked hard to help his unit. Not only would he would carry wood for the camp fires but also boxes of ammunition and anything else he could help with!
Wojtek had grown up with the artillery unit and was part of the military family now and so when the call came to cross from Palestine into the centre of the European war, it was out of the question that Wojtek would be left behind. However Wojtek couldn’t get passage on board the transport ship unless he was officially enlisted as a soldier in the Polish army.
In order to solve the problem of Wojtek’s passage on the navy ship to Europe, the Commander enlisted the bear as a Corporal in the 22nd Artillery Unit of the Anders’ Army; he received a ration book and a salary that would be paid to him in food and beer.
Wojtek had other perks though as he was the only member of the army who could get away with drinking beer in camp, rough housing with the men and sleeping during the day! However Corporal Wojtek would always salute senior officers and would practise marching with the men during parade drills.
The War in Europe.
The Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Four units had already tried and failed to assault the fortress that was dug into an old monastery on a mountain top in which it seemed as if the devil himself had taken up residence and was determined not to leave.
Wojtek was hanging back with the artillery at first but seeing the heat of the battle he rushed into the heart of the action and began helping the floundering men carry the mortar shells forwards to the distant gun embankments on the front lines.
He launched bravely, and without being ordered, into the work and carried boxes of shells weighing over 100 pounds, which would usually take four men to carry!
He continued helping right through the battle and having found his role in the unit he worked with all his might. Wojtek would crouch in the mortar holes with the men between trips to deliver them cases of shells while helping to maintain the morale of his unit and keep them supplied with ammunition in this impossible battle. And so even when the odds seemed impossible Wojtek was by the side of his brothers in arms.
The battle was tough and many men died on both sides, but Wojtek and his Unit went on with their Allied support to finally take the mountain fortress. The Unit were unstoppable and won many more victories throughout the last years of the war and all the while Wojtek continued to carry shell cases up to the front lines in every battle they fought.
After the War.
The war had been long and hard and Anders’ Army had travelled all over the Middle East and Europe by the time it was through, with Wojtek by their side the whole way; growing from a tiny, hungry bear cub into a formidable warrior and ancillary troop.
Following their great successes and the bravery of their Warrior Bear, the artillery unit changed their regimental insignia to a bear carrying a huge shell, to commemorate Wojtek’s bravery under fire.
Some the men had died in the difficult fight , winning great battles against all the odds, but Wojtek and the surviving men went to Glasgow, Scotland, to recuperate, getting off the ships in the docks together, tired and weary after war.
Now that the war was over, like the rest of the unit, Wojtek was disbanded, and the men all went their separate ways back to their homes. Wojtek, who had already become something a local celebrity in the city of Edinburgh, where he resided after the war, settled down in the Edinburgh Zoo, to live out his days meeting adoring people and getting regular visits from his old war pals, who would jump into the enclosure and wrestle, drink beers and reminisce. Wojtek never forget his days in the Polish Army and every time he heard visitors to the zoo speaking in Polish he would stand up and salute them!
When Wojtek died, in December of 1963, his death was announced on the BBC Radio. He was 500 kg in weight and 6 foot tall. The amazing life of Wojtek, the brave soldier bear, who went from a starving orphan cub in the deserts of Iran to a Corporal in the Polish Army before retiring as a celebrity in a comfortable zoo in Scotland, is memorialised by statues in his adopted homeland of Poland.
