Wojtek - The Soldier Bear [16 photos] in NT25027373

Shared description

Wojtek - The Soldier Bear

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.

Link

Link

by M J Richardson

Created: Sun, 8 Nov 2015, Updated: Tue, 17 May 2016

16 images use this description:

NT2573 : Wojtek's memorial by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek's relief by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek in Princes Street Gardens by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek's relief - detail [2] by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : 22 Transport Company, Artillery Division, Polish 2nd Corps by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Have shell - will travel! by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek's acknowledgements by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek, soldier and relief by M J Richardson

2015

2015

NT7853 : Wojtek the Soldier Bear, Duns by Jim Barton

2017

NT2573 : Wojtek the Bear sculpture by Jim Barton

2022

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek's relief - detail [1] by M J Richardson

2015

NT2573 : Wojtek Memorial (dedication) by David Dixon

2019

NT2573 : Wojtek's relief - detail [3] by M J Richardson

2015

Shared descriptions

This shared description

Shared descriptions are specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse them on their own images, without restriction.

About shared descriptions

These Shared Descriptions are common to multiple images.

For example, you can create a generic description for an object shown in a photo, and reuse the description on all photos of the object. All descriptions are public and shared between contributors, i.e. you can reuse a description created by others, just as they can use yours.