“Wojtek had the look of a bear but indeed had the heart of a Pole.”
I love learning something new every day, and discovering the story of Wojtek, the Polish bear soldier, was one of the most remarkable surprises I ever had. He was born in Iran, was adopted by the Polish army, lived in Iraq and Egypt among other places, went to Italy and died in Scotland.
A magnificent 500lb military bear, he liked beer and cigarettes! Wojtek’s greatest moment may have been at the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944.
In order to stay with the Polish Army when they joined the Allied military campaign in Italy, Wojtek was officially enlisted as a private, given a serial number, and was able to remain with his comrades in arms, the Polish soldiers. He not only carried artillery shells and ammunition crates between trucks and troops engaged in combat, but wounded soldiers as well. He received a promotion, to corporal. There was a documentary done about him in 2011.
A while ago, I remarked on Monte Cassino here:
How many people today remember that the Poles played a crucial role in the battle of Monte Cassino (1943), and that so many of them died there? It was on the fourth assault of the monastery, led by the Poles, that the Germans were defeated. The graveyard in Monte Cassino is numbing, and, in the context of history, it is overwhelming, because it was thanks to this assault that the road to Rome was opened and Rome was liberated 3 weeks later.
One of my favorite French words is “coquelicots“. Nowadays, I think of the jolie coquelicots, The Red Poppies of Monte Cassino, with a sadness and enduring admiration for all who fought there.
Wojtek, the Polish soldier, the bear that had the “heart of the Pole”, became emblematic of the determination and devotion to carry through against all odds, including the ultimate sacrifice.
The coquelicots of Monte Cassino:
Dum Spiro Spero 