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Wojtek [Voytek] was an orphan Syrian bear adopted by Polish soldiers [22nd Transport Company, Artillery Division, Polish 2nd Corps] in Iran during WWII. He travelled with the soldiers as they moved around, sharing their beer, wine and cigarettes, via Egypt to Italy, where he assisted the soldiers by carrying ammunition for the guns in the attack on Monte Cassino in 1944. The army was not able to take animals to Italy so, to get round that difficulty, Wojtek was enlisted in the Polish Army, with name, rank and number. At the end of the war in May 1945 the Polish soldiers went to Winfield Camp in Berwickshire, taking Woytek with them [ NT9051 NT9052]. When they were demobilised in 1947 the bear could not return with them to Poland, and he was demobbed to Edinburgh Zoo, where he lived until he died in 1963.

The memorial was unveiled on 7 November 2015. It was sculpted by Alan Beattie Herriot Link and, as well as Wojtek and the soldier, has a 4-m relief outlining the timeline of Wojtek from his adoption to his time in Edinburgh Zoo. See also NT7853 : Private Wojtek: The Soldier Bear.

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