Wojtek the Bear: The Polish Army Soldier Who Carried Artillery at Monte Cassino

August 8, 2026

Wojtek the bear with Polish soldiers in WWII

In April 1943, Polish soldiers bought a bear cub from a boy on a roadside in Iran. They fed him from a bottle, named him, and brought him into the regiment. He never left the army.

Near Hamadan, April 1943

A local boy was carrying a small Syrian brown bear cub near the town of Hamadan in Iran when soldiers from the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, 2nd Polish Corps spotted him. They paid with food and supplies. The cub was weeks old and weighed almost nothing.

They named him Wojtek, a Polish diminutive of the name Wojciech, meaning "happy warrior." He was fed condensed milk from a bottle, kept warm by the men, and carried in arms when he was too small to walk the camp on his own.

Growing Up in the Army

As he grew, Wojtek grew into the regiment. He watched the men salute each other and started doing it himself. He wrestled with the soldiers — and usually won, though he was careful with the ones who weren't prepared for it. He drank beer when offered. He smoked cigarettes by swallowing them after they were lit, which the men found endlessly entertaining. He swam with them in rivers. He slept in the tents.

By the time the unit reached Italy, he was officially enrolled as a private in the Polish Army. Later promoted to corporal.

Monte Cassino, May 1944

The Battle of Monte Cassino was one of the most brutal of the entire war. The monastery on the summit had to be taken from German forces defending it from high ground. Supplies, including heavy artillery shells, had to be carried up by hand on steep mountain paths.

Wojtek watched the men carry the shell crates — wooden boxes weighing up to a hundred pounds. Then he walked over and started carrying them himself. He would pick up a crate, stand upright, and walk it up the path. The men fell in beside him. He never dropped one.

His silhouette — a bear walking upright carrying a shell — became the official emblem of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, where it still appears today.

Edinburgh Zoo, 1947–1963

After the war, Wojtek was transferred to Edinburgh Zoo. Polish veterans from his unit visited every week. They spoke to him in Polish, told him stories, brought him cigarettes. He recognized the language. He would respond specifically to Polish voices in ways he didn't with strangers.

Wojtek died on December 2, 1963. He was approximately 22 years old. A bronze statue of him carrying a shell stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh. Another is at the Imperial War Museum in London.