36. Wojtek, The Bear Corporal
To make his enlistment in the free Polish forces official, private Wojtek was given his own paybook, assigned a rank and serial number, and lived with his comrades in tents or in a special wooden crate. He was no mere mascot, however: Wotjek actually gave credible service during the Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944. During that engagement, when his comrades conveyed munitions to the front, Wojtek pitched in by carrying 100-pound crates of artillery shells – a feat that usually took 4 men – and stacking them on trucks without dropping a single one.
Wojtek’s performance at Monte Cassino earned him a promotion to corporal. Higher-ups also approved his depiction, carrying an artillery shell, as the official emblem of his unit. Wojtek survived the war and then accompanied his comrades to Scotland, where they were demobilized in 1947. By then, he had become popular with the locals, so he was given to the Edinburgh Zoo, where he spent the rest of his life. Corporal Wojtek was often visited by former comrades from the war and became a popular figure on BBC TV children’s programs. He died in 1963, at age 21.
