A campaign is afoot to build a memorial to Voytek, a soldier-bear who fought alongside the Polish army at the Battle of Monte Cassino, carrying ammunition. After the war, Voytek lived out his days in the Edinburgh Zoo, occasionally visited by his old army buddies who tried to slip him the cigarettes and beer he’d come to enjoy while serving in the army.
When Polish forces were deployed to Europe the only way to take the bear with them was to “enlist” him.
So he was given a name, rank…
