Wojtek the Bear [paperback] (7 page)

What Vaughan-Thomas, one of the BBC’s most celebrated war correspondents, did not know was that in the roll-call just taken the men of the Black Watch had learned that they had suffered 60
per cent casualties.

John Clarke is now aged 86 and lives in Manchester. Still honorary secretary of the Monte Cassino Veterans Association, he said: ‘It was then that we all made a promise never to forget
those lads we were leaving behind. We have kept that promise. About this time a flag of some kind was raised in the ruins of the monastery. It was raised by the Poles. Just as we were leaving
Cassino another flag was raised. It was the Union Jack.’

Wojtek’s actions during the Battle of Monte Cassino
were to give rise to the proudest and most sought-after piece of military regalia in 22nd Company: a special
badge featuring Wojtek going to war. Based on a drawing by one of the soldiers, it depicted him carrying an artillery shell and also featured a truck steering wheel to indicate that he was part of
a transport company. The Poles wore it either as a cap badge or on the sleeves or lapels of their combat tunics. It was very much 22nd Company’s trademark: the bear logo even appeared on
regimental equipment. Within weeks of it being created and approved, shortly after the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Wojtek military logo was everywhere. The bear had pretty much become a legend in
his own not inconsiderable lunchtime as curious Allied soldiers from other regiments inquired about the badge’s significance.

Wojtek had been well and truly blooded in one of the most controversial and historic engagements of World War II. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of it was that being exposed to the rigours of
intensive warfare didn’t alter his temperament at all.

Some readers may suspect that Wojtek’s shell-carrying exploits have gained a little in the telling, but soldiers from other regiments witnessed the bear in action. In April 1944, in the
build-up to the final battle, Black Watch veteran John Clarke and a friend, Vincent Franchetti, were foraging for food near the village of Acquafondata, some six miles from Monte Cassino. Their
battalion had just been taken out of the front line and the men were making the most of the lull in the fighting. They had enjoyed a much-needed shower at the village and set off, as Clarke says,
‘on the scrounge’, into the heavily wooded countryside.

Clarke testifies: ‘I remember it clearly because it was my
twentieth birthday. We were making our way through the deserted fields, looking for stray hens and eggs,
when a nearby artillery unit opened fire. We went to look and found a battery of Polish gunners setting up for a barrage. The gun site was hidden in a clearing within a large wood. As we watched,
suddenly out of the wood came a large bear, walking on its hind legs. It seemed to be carrying something. Both Vincent and I shouted a warning to the gunners that a bear was going towards them, but
nobody responded.

‘The bear went up to the trail legs of the artillery gun and placed a shell on the ground. The bear then went back into the wood and reappeared with another shell. By this time, we had
realised that the bear was tame and most likely a circus bear. We just went on our way.’

There was to be an interesting postscript to Clarke’s memory of the encounter. After the war, when he told his wife the story, she refused to believe it, dismissing it as a tall tale he
had invented. She would often persuade him to recount it to friends, still scoffing about its accuracy. However, the tables were turned when the couple were at a function attended by Polish
veterans. Once more Clarke was persuaded to recite his tale. ‘Ah yes,’ said one of the Poles. ‘That would be Wojtek.’

Later on, on a memorial trip to Kraków, Clarke actually met Tomasz Skrzynski, who had been involved in looking after Wojtek and who was wearing the famed bear logo on his jacket lapel.
Clarke says he claimed that he had helped train the bear.

There is proof, too, from another quarter that Wojtek was used to toting burdens for his friends. One of the Polish DPs in Scotland after the war, Augustyn Karolewski, now
aged 82 and a retired river-salmon fisherman, recalled Wojtek’s behaviour at Sunwick Farm. At that time Karolewski, known as Kay to the Scots (a nickname which derived from the
fact that the only word of English he knew when he first arrived at Winfield Camp was ‘OK’), was living at Winfield Camp while employed locally as a farm labourer. Wojtek often
accompanied the men to the fields where they were working and was quite happy to carry fencing staves and logs for them, although it has to be said the bear was usually more interested in
attempting to steal the contents of the men’s lunch tins. Nevertheless, it is proof of a sort that Wojtek was well used to carrying heavy loads for his friends. The simple dynamic at work was
comradeship.

Monte Cassino was a turning point in the fortunes of the Allies. The months of May and June saw many successes. May saw American forces break out of Anzio after five long months, forcing a
German retreat. June saw the fall of Rome to the Allies – and the long-awaited D-Day invasion. Following the Battle of Monte Cassino, 2nd Corps took part in the drive up the Adriatic coast,
capturing the Italian port of Ancona on 20 July 1944 supported by 22nd Company. It was an important victory because it gave the Allies access to a port which greatly shortened their supply lines as
they drove their way northwards up the spine of Italy.

For the men of 22nd Company there was little respite. As the exigencies of war dictated, their billets were constantly changing, ranging from military camps to farm dwellings in the countryside.
It was during such a period when they were stationed at a farm that Wojtek rediscovered his primal hunting instincts – and for the first time challenged his mentor Peter’s authority in
a terrifying display of rage.

The men had noticed many times that around horses, and particularly donkeys, Wojtek’s whole demeanour would change: spotting them grazing in a field he would drop
onto all fours and would start stalking them. Usually a shout from his mentor, Peter, or one of the soldiers who knew the bear, was sufficient to deflect him from his purpose. But on one occasion
he set about stalking a donkey with serious intent to kill. The terrified animal broke free from its tether and tried to escape. It was only the intervention of Peter which prevented bloodshed. As
Wojtek loped after the donkey, Peter jumped onto his back and covered the bear’s eyes with his hands, a method he sometimes employed when Wojtek became overly excitable. But this time the
tactic to break the bear’s focus didn’t work. Wojtek reared up on his hind legs and Peter was forced to dismount and employ even more desperate measures. Running round to stand in front
of Wojtek, he blocked his progress and roared at him to stop. For one heart-stopping moment, Wojtek reared to his full height and bared his fangs at his mentor, prepared to destroy him. Then he
remembered who Peter was and immediately became submissive.

It was a confrontation which didn’t dent Peter’s calm faith in Wojtek, but he knew it was no longer possible for him to be constantly on hand to control the bear. If other minders
weren’t available, Wojtek would have to be tethered more frequently. The need for a restraint was underlined on another occasion when the company was quartered near Loreto, where Wojtek
stalked and cornered a pack horse in a field. However, this time the bear had met his match. Crazed with fear, the horse lashed out with its hooves and gave Wojtek a heavy blow to the head. Dazed
and disconcerted, Wojtek ran off. His hunting days were apparently over.

For the rest of that year, and into the following spring, as the Allied advance continued to press the Germans into retreat, 22nd Company was as busy as ever, but there were lighter moments. On
one occasion, while 22nd Company was in transit and taking a short break in a field, Wojtek snuck off along the road and went exploring. At a crossroads, he discovered a mobile crane parked at the
roadside and climbed up its tower to stage an impromptu acrobatic performance that brought military traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. There was an almighty snarl-up which
stretched back for the best part of a mile in every direction while Wojtek performed his aerial tricks high above the ground. Never happier than when he was the centre of attention, he refused to
come down until a bottle of beer was produced to tempt him back to earth.

In another legendary incident he almost got himself shot. At night, in camp, if Peter wasn’t around, Wojtek would often slip into his mates’ tents and bed down beside them;
he’d been doing it since he was a cub and the men were quite used to it. He liked the companionship as well as the warmth of body contact. However, on this occasion the company was sharing a
camp with numerous other Allied soldiers who had no knowledge of Wojtek’s nocturnal habits. The bear strayed off his section into another unit’s camp and invaded the tent of a group of
Indian soldiers who were greatly disconcerted at the appearance of a huge bear in their midst. Still in their nightclothes, the panic-stricken men grabbed their rifles and levelled them at Wojtek,
ready to shoot him if he made any move towards them. Alerted by the commotion, the camp guards dashed
to the scene. By good fortune they happened to be Polish and knew the
bear, so they were able to defuse the situation without a tragedy occurring. But it had been a close-run thing.

The last battle fought by 2nd Corps on Italian soil was in April 1945, when the Poles captured Bologna from the Germans. Again, 22nd Company was in the thick of it. The following month the war
in Europe ended with Germany’s surrender.

The end of the war was to herald in an idyllic summer for Wojtek and his companions. There were plenty of furloughs and he had many opportunities to indulge his passion for water sports; he
enjoyed many happy days swimming in the temperate waters of the Adriatic. As ever, his mischievous nature was given full rein. The beaches where he and the men bathed were shared with civilians.
Wojtek’s favourite trick was to swim underwater towards a group of unsuspecting women bathers, then suddenly surface in their midst. Their squeals of alarm as they found themselves in close
proximity to a huge bear were music to his ears. To Wojtek it was a great joke and he never tired of it. Perhaps you could say he was the furry Jaws of his time, long before cinemagoers were scared
witless by the creepy music that indicated the arrival of the giant shark. It was also an excellent way for the Polish soldiers to meet young women: Wojtek would ignore the men’s shouts for
him to come back, preferring to romp around in the water near his victims, so the soldiers would have to swim out and fetch him. There is no record of whether this unusual dating technique ever
brought about the desired results for the soldiers.

Wojtek was often genuinely reluctant to abandon his
new-found female friends when it was time to return to camp. When he refused to leave the water, his companions had one
sure-fire method of getting him back on dry land. One of the soldiers would wade ashore and leap into the military truck and start it up, as if to drive off. At the sound of the engine
Wojtek’s ears would prick up and he would immediately stop what he was doing and come tearing out of the water. He had a tremendous fear of being left behind and the truck trick worked like a
charm every time.

Indeed, on many of their trips inland Wojtek preferred to sit alone in the cab, awaiting the men’s return from whatever duties they were carrying out, just as he had done in the Middle
East. Given the immense shortages of goods in both theatres of war, it was not surprising that petty theft was rife, indeed raised almost to a national art form, so Wojtek’s presence acted as
a formidable deterrent. Nothing was ever stolen from Wojtek’s truck when he was in residence.

While 22nd Company was kept busy loading and unloading goods at docks along the coast, there was a more leisurely pace to life and everyone made the most of it. In September 1946 they finally
set sail for Glasgow from Naples. This time Private Wojtek was officially listed on the passenger manifest. As on his first sea crossing, from Egypt to Italy, Wojtek once again found himself the
centre of attention and his wrestling matches with his companions were very much the highlight of the voyage. That was the lighter side of military life, and a much-needed distraction. In truth,
the men and Wojtek had no idea of what lay ahead for them in Scotland, a country about which they knew virtually nothing.

When Wojtek proudly marched through Glasgow with the veterans of 22nd Company, Polish Army Service Corps (Artillery), to the cheers of the crowds lining the streets, it must
have seemed to the Polish troops that September 1946 was a special month. For the first time they felt they were genuinely entering a period of new beginnings. While it was gratifying to be hailed
by Glasgow citizens as the heroes of Monte Cassino – which they indubitably were – they were more interested in winning the peace than winning the battle.

It was a time when the future stretching out in front of the newcomers seemed filled with both optimism and hope: optimism that they would soon be reunited with their loved ones; hope that they
would be able to pick up the threads of their disrupted lives and create a new and secure future for themselves and their families.

They arrived in Scotland the same month that the UK set up the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC), a noncombatant unit of the British army. Its initial purpose was to help Polish troops to retrain
for civilian life in Britain. Over a maximum period of two years, those who became members of the PRC were to be housed in camps across the UK. There they would learn English and a trade before
being permitted to seek employment. The PRC was also to be used as a clearing house to help repatriate the
Poles. The men of 2nd Corps – including 22nd Company –
were the very first troops to be encouraged to participate in the new resettlement programme, and many of those stationed at Winfield Camp did.