This story was featured in: Episode 3
Wojtek the Bear – a hero of World War 2, a Syrian brown bear found in Iran and adopted by soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. He was later officially enlisted as a soldier of the company with the rank of private, and subsequently became a corporal.[1]During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped move crates of ammunition.
The most recent statue of Wojtek. This bronze statue of Wojtek in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens was created by the sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot and unveiled on 7 November 2015. It represents Wojtek and a Polish Army soldier walking in peace and unity to show his journey from Egypt to Scotland alongside the Polish Army:
The statue of Wojtek in Grimsby, Great Britain – The Carpathian Lancers, the armoured element of the 2nd Polish Corps, in which Wojtek served, arrived in Grimsby in 1945 and made a camp in Weelsby Woods their home until 1947, when their demobilisation was complete:
On 25 April 2013, Kraków city council decided to erect a statue of Wojtek in Park Jordana. It was unveiled on 18 May 2014 – the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino:
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British songwriter Katy Carr released a music video called ‘Wojtek,’ on 17 September 2014 – the 75th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland:
This story was featured in our 3rd episode