0:00 In 1944, Private Wojtek of the Polish Army’s 22nd Artillery Supply Company was serving on the Italian front.0:07 He had his own paybook, rank, and serial number.0:10 And to be perfectly clear, Private Wojtek was a five-hundred-pound Syrian brown bear.0:16 Correct.0:17 Last week we covered the Great Stork War, which was a strange, long-running misunderstanding.0:24 This, however, was official military policy.0:27 A bear was an enlisted soldier.0:29 The story starts in 1942.0:31 Polish soldiers, recently freed from Soviet gulags, were making their way south through Iran.0:37 Near Hamadan, they came across a young Iranian boy who had found a bear cub whose mother had been shot by hunters.0:45 And the soldiers, who were far from home and had been through hell, felt a connection to this orphan cub.0:53 Mm-hm.0:53 So they bought him.0:54 The price was a few tins of corned beef, a Swiss Army knife, and some chocolate.1:00 They named him Wojtek.1:02 Which translates to "Smiling Warrior." A fitting name, as it turned out.1:07 He was raised by the soldiers.1:09 They fed him condensed milk from an old vodka bottle, then fruit, marmalade, and honey.1:15 He was famous for drinking beer and for eating lit cigarettes.1:19 He didn't smoke them, he ate them.1:22 He ate them.1:22 He became the unofficial mascot of the company.1:26 He would wrestle with the men, salute when greeted, and sleep in their tents.1:31 But, you know, a mascot is one thing.1:34 Becoming a soldier is another.1:36 Right.1:36 That’s the turn.1:37 The Polish II Corps was being deployed from Egypt to Italy to fight alongside the British Eighth Army.1:45 When they arrived at the port of Alexandria to board the transport ship, the British commander refused to allow a wild animal on board.1:54 Regulations.1:55 No pets or mascots allowed on a military vessel.1:58 The Polish soldiers argued, but the port commander was firm.2:03 So the Polish command found a loophole.2:05 A bureaucratic one.2:07 They couldn't bring a bear.2:09 But they could bring a soldier.2:11 So they officially enlisted him.2:13 They processed the paperwork, gave him the rank of Private—or Szeregowy—and assigned him a serial number.2:20 And when the British official was presented with the enlistment papers for Private Wojtek, there was nothing he could do.2:29 He was a legitimate member of the Polish Army.2:32 So Wojtek sailed to Italy.2:34 And that’s where he had his most famous moment, at the Battle of Monte Cassino.2:40 It was a brutal, pivotal battle.2:42 And the 22nd Company was tasked with transporting vital supplies to the front lines—specifically, hundred-pound crates of artillery shells.2:52 It was grueling work under heavy fire.2:54 Wojtek watched the men struggling to carry these heavy boxes.2:59 And at some point, he just walked over, stood on his hind legs, and held out his paws.3:05 The soldiers, uh, I guess they just decided to try it.3:08 They placed a crate in his arms.3:11 And he just carried it.3:12 He started moving crates of ammunition from the trucks to the artillery positions, stacking them.3:19 He never dropped a single one.3:21 He just copied what his friends were doing.3:24 In recognition of his service, the company's command approved a new official emblem for the 22nd Company: a bear carrying an artillery shell.3:34 After the war, the unit was transported to Berwickshire, Scotland, for demobilization.3:40 And Wojtek came with them.3:42 But now they had a new problem.3:44 What do you do with a war hero who is also a bear?3:48 He couldn't be released.3:49 He was completely habituated to people.3:52 So in 1947, he was honorably discharged and given to the Edinburgh Zoo for his… retirement.3:59 His old comrades would visit him for years.4:02 They'd speak to him in Polish, and zoo staff reported he would become animated.4:07 Sometimes they'd throw him cigarettes, which he would eat, just like he did during the war.4:14 He lived there until 1963.4:15 There are statues of him today in Edinburgh, London, and Warsaw.4:20 A documented soldier of the Allied forces.4:23 It's a strange footnote.4:25 But it's a real one.4:26 It proves that sometimes the most unbelievable stories are the ones with official paperwork.
