0:00:47 > 0:00:48DOOR SLAMS
0:01:35 > 0:01:39HEARTBEAT
0:01:40 > 0:01:44The cave, high up on the windswept mountainside,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47was warm and silent.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51He grew slowly in his world of darkness,
0:01:51 > 0:01:56conscious only of the closeness of his mother, who nursed and fed him.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01And so the days slipped by in happy hours...
0:02:01 > 0:02:03until the hunters came.
0:02:03 > 0:02:04GUNSHOTS
0:02:22 > 0:02:25HEARTBEAT
0:02:40 > 0:02:45In the spring of 1942, after Germany had attacked Russia,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49and Russia had become an ally of the Western world,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52large numbers of Polish prisoners of war in Russian camps were released
0:02:52 > 0:02:58to join the Polish army of General Anders in the Middle East.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08It was at this time that the men of this contingent,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11like many other Polish soldiers who landed in Persia,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14were on their way to Palestine and Egypt,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17where they were to be re-grouped in accordance
0:03:17 > 0:03:19with British army organisation.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55'We were already in Persia.'
0:03:56 > 0:04:01I had been undernourished for such a long time that...
0:04:02 > 0:04:03..I was weak.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09'We were spending the night in Alborz mountains.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15'And there was a group of Persian boys.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17'One of them was holding this small bear.'
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He lost his mother.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27The mother was shot by a hunter.
0:04:43 > 0:04:49It was the 8th of April exactly when I made his acquaintance.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51SHE LAUGHS
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And it was already warm.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58'As he was still very small...
0:04:59 > 0:05:04'..he needed the warmth of another human being,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'and he clung to me.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09'He was very, very affectionate then'
0:05:09 > 0:05:14and, of course, I was so enchanted by the little bear,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17cos I was young myself, you know?
0:05:18 > 0:05:20'And I liked him very much.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24'I stroked his fur and held him tightly.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27'Remembering that he had no mother
0:05:27 > 0:05:32'and he must have missed the mother very much.'
0:05:32 > 0:05:38In a sense, he must have sensed the fact that I liked him,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43that I held him near to me, it must have...
0:05:44 > 0:05:49..done something to him. He was like a human being.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58He already had his own character.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And at night, he used to walk over our heads!
0:06:04 > 0:06:11So, you see, my friends, my colleagues, didn't like it very much
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and then they told me that I must get rid of him,
0:06:15 > 0:06:19and I said, "I'm not going to get rid of him.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22"You must think up a way out."
0:06:24 > 0:06:26So in the end...
0:06:26 > 0:06:31it was decided to give him as a present to a Polish general.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35He made arrangements for the bear
0:06:35 > 0:06:40to be put where there were officers in a Polish regiment
0:06:40 > 0:06:45and it was arranged for the bear to be transferred there.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50So that's how he joined the regiment there,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53and started his army career.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23I first met Wojtek in the Gedera Camp in Palestine
0:07:23 > 0:07:26in November 1942.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Then it was Second Transport Company.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35Afterwards, it was renamed as 22nd Transport Company.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37And so I met Wojtek, you know?
0:07:37 > 0:07:40I was extremely astonished, because I said,
0:07:40 > 0:07:46"Oh, a bear is sitting near the tent of our commander."
0:07:46 > 0:07:47"Oh, it is Wojtek."
0:07:47 > 0:07:52"Wojtek?! Oh!" So, a second Wojtek in the company.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57I was at first astonished, but afterwards I was so accustomed
0:07:57 > 0:08:02that we'd been given the same name that it was no problem
0:08:02 > 0:08:07but only, you know, if friends from other units
0:08:07 > 0:08:12were coming to visit me, to see me, and are asking,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14"Is Wojtek here?"
0:08:14 > 0:08:17"But which one? Big one or little one?"
0:08:17 > 0:08:19HE LAUGHS
0:08:19 > 0:08:24And therefore I was afterwards called Little Wojtek.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Not only were they drawn to the helpless creature
0:08:31 > 0:08:33by his irresistible appearance,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37but, more importantly, because he was an orphan
0:08:37 > 0:08:42and homeless, and because in a sense they themselves were orphans, too.
0:08:48 > 0:08:56I first met Wojtek the bear in Palestine in 1943.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01The company which had got this Wojtek was next to us.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05He was about a year old, but was quite big, really quite big.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10And I have a photograph. The commandant lady said,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13"Girls, we'll make a photograph with this bear."
0:09:13 > 0:09:15And she said, "Irena, you must sit there."
0:09:15 > 0:09:19I said, "No, not next to him." I was sitting in the second row.
0:09:21 > 0:09:28We were so busy because we had to supply not only Polish units,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31but there were also other units.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Therefore we had little time to play with him.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41We were first in Palestine.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Afterwards, all the Polish Second Corp got moved to Iraq,
0:09:46 > 0:09:51because the Germans were already in the Caucasus mountains,
0:09:51 > 0:09:57and so very close to the petrol fields in Iraq, in Persia.
0:10:10 > 0:10:16'Iraq is a very hot country, a place where it's really like hell.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20'From ten o'clock in the morning to five o'clock,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24'we'd be lying under tents - naked, nearly -
0:10:24 > 0:10:27'and just putting water on myself.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32'And he was sitting all this hot time
0:10:32 > 0:10:36'in his hole in the soil, in the earth.'
0:10:47 > 0:10:54It must have been difficult for him, his own experience.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57He was out of his country.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02And in a sense, even being an animal,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06he must have felt it,
0:11:06 > 0:11:11because Iraq was a foreign country to him.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Even an animal must have felt the loss.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I'm a firm believer in it.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Perhaps after all, he could remember his mother
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and the cool mountains of his native land
0:11:28 > 0:11:30when he sat at the edge of the camp,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33looking over the monotonous desert wastes
0:11:33 > 0:11:37to the distant horizon, slowly whimpering to himself.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46He was like an immigrant, really.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49He was homeless.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51We'd been homeless too.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55He never came back to the place where he was born.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58We never came back to the place where we were born.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02It's difficult to explain,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06because today, this looks like it's not really true.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11'Sometimes I think, "Why am I alive?"
0:12:11 > 0:12:16'At this exhibition about Wojtek,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18'I was looking at these pictures
0:12:18 > 0:12:23'because there's a part of my life in these pictures, really.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28'The young generation, there's many things they don't believe.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30'They don't believe, really, that it's true.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34'For example, I've got my grandson.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39'He's only eight but I've been talking about it,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41'and took him to this exhibition about Wojtek
0:12:41 > 0:12:44'and he said, "It's not true!
0:12:44 > 0:12:50'"How can he drive? How can he do that? He's an animal."
0:12:50 > 0:12:53'It's difficult to explain for children.'
0:12:53 > 0:12:55- That elbow, that elbow.- Yeah.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- Look at the bottom!- I know!
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- I love that picture. - And the solidity.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02This is my favourite picture.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09'The story can't just be aired independently, just floating free.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11'Because of telling the Wojtek story,
0:13:11 > 0:13:16'people have to learn how it happened, why.'
0:13:16 > 0:13:21We were deported in 1940, 13th April, to Siberia.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33That was 1940, in February. I was ten.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37We heard the noise...
0:13:38 > 0:13:42..banging on the...on the door,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46and suddenly, very unceremoniously,
0:13:46 > 0:13:52six armed men entered our house.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56They came, about 20 people,
0:13:56 > 0:14:01soldiers, came to my home, and said,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04"Take everything you want in your hands,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08"put your coat on, because you are going somewhere."
0:14:11 > 0:14:15It was very, very cold - it was 30 degrees below zero.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Of course, they put us all... packed us on the sledges
0:14:18 > 0:14:22and took us to the nearest railway station,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27which was already packed with similar families.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29We were frightened...
0:14:29 > 0:14:30HORN BLARES
0:14:30 > 0:14:32..and terrified.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37After a few hours, they packed us to the cattle trains.
0:14:37 > 0:14:4330 to 50 people on the wooden planks,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46with a hole in the middle as a toilet.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52DOOR SLAMS
0:14:52 > 0:14:55If they hadn't deported us, if we hadn't been freed
0:14:55 > 0:15:01with the army forming in Russia then continuing to form in Iran,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04the bear wouldn't have been found.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07The bear went the same route as the Poles did.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20I first met Wojtek in Iraq...
0:15:21 > 0:15:22..in Kirkuk...
0:15:24 > 0:15:26..early in 1943.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31To be there in the Middle East, the situation was so unique,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33so unexpected.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38But I must say there was a particular sense of longing,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40no, nostalgia.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43We could go almost every other shop
0:15:43 > 0:15:46you could speak Polish.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49You could speak Polish and talk about the old country.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Wojtek displayed all the enthusiasm of a tourist,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15taking a great interest in his surroundings, wherever he went.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I think that er...his nature
0:16:18 > 0:16:21was rather exceptional -
0:16:21 > 0:16:25he liked to be with people...
0:16:25 > 0:16:28with soldiers, to play with them.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Sometimes you think he's smiling to you, or something.
0:16:34 > 0:16:42He was really a very sweet animal, especially very helpful too
0:16:42 > 0:16:46because Wojtek was looking after while he was in this company.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Every night, two soldiers in the company or something
0:16:54 > 0:16:57have 24 hours, you are on duty.
0:16:59 > 0:17:05Then Wojtek would go out until he was tired, had very little sleep
0:17:05 > 0:17:11and again go out with these men who were on duty - he was very helpful.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17He was a great sort of bodyguard,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20because they could leave him in a truck and nobody would ever think
0:17:20 > 0:17:25of stealing anything from it, with a socking great bear sitting in the front!
0:17:28 > 0:17:31You know, it was very strange for me
0:17:31 > 0:17:35if I say so, because now he was so popular but for us, we were
0:17:35 > 0:17:39so accustomed to his presence,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42that...it was quite something normal for us.
0:17:45 > 0:17:52But you've got to remember in that camp, there were mascots everywhere.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56It was just dogs, ferrets, you name it,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58everybody wanted to have something to love.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00It was the 13th February 1944,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03and with other units of the Polish Second Corps,
0:19:03 > 0:19:10the 22nd Transport Company were due to embark on the MS Batory for Italy.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13During the two years in the Middle East,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17this had been the point of all their training, and now they were relieved
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and excited that the time for action had arrived.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26They all knew the standing orders for embarkation...
0:19:26 > 0:19:29they forbade the taking of animals to Italy.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32But how could they leave Wojtek behind?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34It would break his heart, and their hearts too.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43I was interviewing all the Polish soldiers in that regiment.
0:19:43 > 0:19:50We looked at the roster and there was only one person - Corporal Wojtek -
0:19:50 > 0:19:52who had not appeared,
0:19:52 > 0:19:57and so when I heard who Corporal Wojtek was,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and how stubborn he was in not coming forward,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I wanted to find out why.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05This silly lieutenant who was helping me
0:20:05 > 0:20:10said, "Don't you think, sir, it would be a good idea
0:20:10 > 0:20:15"if we got the man himself to come up
0:20:15 > 0:20:18"and then we'd find out all about him?"
0:20:19 > 0:20:23So I said, "Yes, well, why not? Is that all right, Colonel?"
0:20:23 > 0:20:25And the colonel said, "Yes, of course,
0:20:25 > 0:20:30"we'll send two people down to collect him,"
0:20:30 > 0:20:32and I said, "Two people?"
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Two officers went down to collect him -
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I thought that was very funny
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and against all the rules of warfare.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47But anyway, down they went.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57I looked at the lieutenant and his face went as white as white.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59I looked at...
0:20:59 > 0:21:03his helper, the sergeant, and the sergeant was...
0:21:03 > 0:21:05So I thought, "Oh, God,"
0:21:05 > 0:21:08and I looked over my shoulder
0:21:08 > 0:21:09and there was Wojtek,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12standing there...
0:21:12 > 0:21:15marvellous, truly marvellous.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22The Port Authority wouldn't let him on.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28They had to phone the High Command in Cairo to ask permission
0:21:28 > 0:21:31to let Wojtek on and they got permission
0:21:31 > 0:21:37so he had the High Command of Cairo's permission to board the Batory.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42General Anders, he was the man who gave him the title Corporal.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47I didn't realise he had got a rank.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51I didn't realise they had got to that stage.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54This was the added incentive
0:21:54 > 0:21:57that people would recognise him
0:21:57 > 0:22:04as a genuine entity of the Second Polish Army.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10He had got his number, he had got his book,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12his money to get cigarettes,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15because he liked eating cigarettes.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18He was a soldier, a real soldier.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31And so it was that a little later, a small detachment of men
0:22:31 > 0:22:37marched smartly up to the boarding point, led by a huge brown bear.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Wojtek had officially joined the army.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56For us to reach a Polish ship,
0:22:56 > 0:23:01sailing under the Polish flag, we were crying.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05And our national anthem, you know, playing in honour of us.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07So it was something.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15We were already three or four years after leaving our houses,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18you know, our families...
0:23:22 > 0:23:26So it was something extremely moving.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29MUSIC: POLISH NATIONAL ANTHEM
0:23:34 > 0:23:37The winter campaign, from January to March 1944,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40had become locked in stalemate.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Three bloody battles in which
0:23:42 > 0:23:46the British, American, Indian, French and New Zealand troops
0:23:46 > 0:23:49had fought for the heights above Cassino town,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52had failed to dislodge the enemy.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Now, in April, preparations were underway for a fourth assault
0:23:56 > 0:24:00and into the lines to join the Americans, French and British
0:24:00 > 0:24:02had come the Second Polish Corps.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06People say to me, have done over the years,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09"Were you not frightened when you go into battle?"
0:24:09 > 0:24:11The first time, of course,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14you're not frightened, you're apprehensive.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18The second time, you're frightened, because you know what to expect.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26I always remember we were just behind the mountain
0:24:26 > 0:24:29facing Cassino town.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32We suddenly heard the sound of aircraft,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and there must have been about
0:24:35 > 0:24:38300 or 400 American airplanes
0:24:38 > 0:24:41came zooming over the top of us
0:24:41 > 0:24:43towards Cassino town.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And of course we didn't know it, but a few days later
0:24:52 > 0:24:55we would actually be in Cassino town, in the front line.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09We didn't know exactly what had happened to the Poles
0:25:09 > 0:25:10when we were fighting.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15They were to attack the Germans on their weakest point,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19which was at the rear of the monastery,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23and of course the Poles suffered terrible casualties there.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27If you're 2,000ft up, it's not easy to start scrambling over the rocks
0:25:27 > 0:25:29to try and take a position.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31For the Poles it was something special,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34different, though, that they were fighting for their homeland,
0:25:34 > 0:25:41and also for a Poland in the future years.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Well, our duty was to bring munitions,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49food and petrol
0:25:49 > 0:25:53to two heavy artillery regiments,
0:25:53 > 0:25:57and Wojtek was hiding under barrels
0:25:57 > 0:26:01but really, he was sometimes helping,
0:26:01 > 0:26:05because we were loading, you know, but the boxes...
0:26:05 > 0:26:10when he has seen that we are so very tired,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15already bringing these heavy boxes to the...
0:26:15 > 0:26:18to the lorry, you know,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23so he was trying to help us,
0:26:23 > 0:26:28and really I remembered he could take a log by himself.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32We took it by three or four, you know,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and he took it alone and put it on the lorry.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39So if he sees that the soldiers are tired, he thinks...
0:26:41 > 0:26:44.."So I will help them. I will help them."
0:26:46 > 0:26:51You know, he has such a nature that he liked to help,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54you know, in every possible manner.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I first met Wojtek, the Polish bear,
0:26:58 > 0:27:04in April 1943, near to Acquafondata in Italy...
0:27:04 > 0:27:07a magnificent animal.
0:27:08 > 0:27:15So as we came out of the line to be relieved by other divisions,
0:27:15 > 0:27:20we went into Cassino town, which was a mass of ruins
0:27:20 > 0:27:25and as always, when you come out of the front line, you try
0:27:25 > 0:27:30and get a delousing and a shower, and a change of underclothes.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34Some of us, of course, hadn't had a change of clothing for over a month.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39After we had the shower and had the delousing,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43our next job would have been to go scrounging.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45We walked down into the areas
0:27:45 > 0:27:50where the Italian civilians had departed,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54the idea being that there might have been a farm or a house
0:27:54 > 0:27:56where there were chickens and eggs.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00If we'd got that, of course, it would have supplemented our rations.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04We were walking through the country lane, and all at once we heard
0:28:04 > 0:28:07the sound of a battery opening fire.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11We moved towards it to see what was happening
0:28:11 > 0:28:13and there in the clearing in the woods
0:28:13 > 0:28:17was three 25-pounders.
0:28:17 > 0:28:24We could see by the dress of one, who was an officer, that they were Polish.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27We sat there for a minute or two, and suddenly,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30out of the nearby wood, came this bear,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34about six foot tall or more, carrying something,
0:28:34 > 0:28:39and as he came nearer we saw that it was kind of a bit bedraggled,
0:28:39 > 0:28:45had plenty of hair on it and its feet were massive... really big.
0:28:45 > 0:28:51You know, you realise when a bear stands up, how tall it really is.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55I shouted, "Look out!" Vinnie shouted, "Look out!"
0:28:55 > 0:29:00And it carried... Walked probably about 10 yards in front of us
0:29:00 > 0:29:05and suddenly stooped, put the shell it was carrying... it was a shell...
0:29:05 > 0:29:09at the trail legs of the gun.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12As it walked slowly back, it went on to its four legs
0:29:12 > 0:29:14and kind of shuffled along.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17It was massive! It must have weighed a ton.
0:29:17 > 0:29:22Lasocki has written that he once
0:29:22 > 0:29:28going to the...er...regiment
0:29:28 > 0:29:33we were supplying, but it was absolutely impossible, no no.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37We were, er...loading, you know,
0:29:37 > 0:29:42but the boxes, not individual,
0:29:42 > 0:29:48because it was much more fast than to put individual shells.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53So it is true, but not individual shells
0:29:53 > 0:29:56because it would be too dangerous.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59The huge creature, over six feet tall,
0:29:59 > 0:30:01moved easily amongst the men,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05and the men were so unconcerned, it might have been one of them.
0:30:05 > 0:30:06But that wasn't all.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11The bear was actually helping to unload the supplies.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Imagination can be a strong thing.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19We were wanting to take him back home to Poland,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24and were exposing him to the most vitriolic shell fire
0:30:24 > 0:30:29and gun fire that the generals were giving us at Monte Cassino.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32That was nonsense. No, he was there,
0:30:32 > 0:30:36but he certainly wasn't in full view.
0:30:36 > 0:30:42He came out a second time a few minutes later with another shell
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and we could see this time that it was kind of panting,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47because the weather wasn't too great.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50It stopped, looked near the right side of the gun
0:30:50 > 0:30:52and started to climb a tree.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56He was looking where the shells were going, you know.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00They just ignored it like it was part of the team,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02which obviously it was.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08They just didn't seem to want to acknowledge it, it was just there
0:31:08 > 0:31:13to do a job, like it was part of the party to get involved in shelling.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15He had to do what they did.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20They smoke, he smoked, they drank, they nodded, he nodded.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22He was a soldier.
0:31:22 > 0:31:29He must have done as they were very fond of their banners, regiments.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31They're iconic. Why change it?
0:31:33 > 0:31:39All the vehicles were stamped with it. Everything was done with it.
0:31:39 > 0:31:40They were very proud of him.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58He was almost human. But he wasn't.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04He was a brave, brave man.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08As a bear.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Because of my category of health, I was too...
0:32:25 > 0:32:30- Too ill to be killed. - Too ill. Not healthy enough
0:32:30 > 0:32:38to be killed by a German soldier in an attack on a stronghold.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39That was the paradox.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44The healthy ones were killed and the less healthy ones survived.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48My own battalion had lost over 60%.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51I think that was general throughout.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Which was pretty rough.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01It wasn't a pleasant job. It was all or nothing, succeed at all costs.
0:33:04 > 0:33:10Of course, we had seen these terrible losses which we had.
0:33:10 > 0:33:16But anyway, it was for us very important because as you know,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20our enemies, especially the Soviets,
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Stalin said the Polish don't want to fight.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30And here we have shown that the Polish are fighting for freedom.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36The Poles were amongst our best troops.
0:33:37 > 0:33:43They were so angry about the way they'd been treated by the Germans and Russians.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47It was kill or be killed, literally, all the time.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51When it was all over, we saw them coming down the mountain
0:33:51 > 0:33:56with their dead and wounded and it was a sad sight. It was a sad sight.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04It's given me something that people who are not in the forces
0:34:04 > 0:34:11or been in actual combat will never have.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13It's a comradeship.
0:34:13 > 0:34:19Even if you don't know someone but he was in a battle you were in,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21he's your brother immediately.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Family.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37In 1947 I returned to Poland.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Of course, I was a little afraid
0:34:40 > 0:34:46since my whole family was prosecuted and was imprisoned.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54Thanks to God, my father returned home,
0:34:54 > 0:34:59my sister and brother also returned home.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02I was the only one outside of Poland.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10During the war I think not only Polish soldiers but every soldier
0:35:10 > 0:35:16who was separated from their families and home countries,
0:35:16 > 0:35:24if he has contact with a nice friendly person,
0:35:24 > 0:35:31even if it's an animal, it's important for the moral state of the soldier.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36But only Wojtek became so famous with the British Army
0:35:36 > 0:35:40because we were fighting with him all the time.
0:35:40 > 0:35:48From baby's age, educated always amongst the same soldiers.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51This is something extraordinary.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56An animal who is so friendly.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59He's not dangerous.
0:35:59 > 0:36:06Usually bears are dangerous. They are wild animals.
0:36:06 > 0:36:07But Wojtek was...
0:36:07 > 0:36:13Of course, it was an exceptional animal
0:36:13 > 0:36:17and worth remembering now.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26This is a symbolic date, 18th of May,
0:36:26 > 0:36:33because the Polish flag was put on the ruins of the monastery.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41Cassino had been won, and the Allies were advancing on Rome.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45And though the war seemed far away, the occasional distant gunfire
0:36:45 > 0:36:49was a grim reminder that there were battles yet to come.
0:36:49 > 0:36:55But for that moment, the men of the 22nd Transport Company could relax.
0:36:55 > 0:37:01That summer on the Adriatic coast was a high spot of Wojtek's life.
0:37:04 > 0:37:09During this Italian campaign,
0:37:09 > 0:37:16I remember because Wojtek was just on this workshop lorry,
0:37:16 > 0:37:19and he was staying with...
0:37:19 > 0:37:22erm...
0:37:22 > 0:37:25his hands...
0:37:25 > 0:37:30front hands on the cabin, on the driver.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Once we were going,
0:37:33 > 0:37:40I was just in the first or second lorry after this workshop,
0:37:40 > 0:37:45and he had seen that to the Adriatic coast is 50 metres,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48because we were going along the coast.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52He jumped out and went to the beach where there were many Italian girls.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56You can imagine all the crying
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and us saying, "Girls! Don't be afraid!
0:38:00 > 0:38:02"This is a good bear!
0:38:02 > 0:38:08"Don't be afraid, he won't do anything bad."
0:38:08 > 0:38:14And he went...swimming a little,
0:38:14 > 0:38:19returned...and was going again!
0:38:19 > 0:38:22He rolled about with the soldiers and played with them.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27He took on four at a time with his claws all bunched up.
0:38:30 > 0:38:35He enjoyed giving them a buffeting
0:38:35 > 0:38:37and they went soaring head over heels.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42He never hurt any of them, never.
0:39:10 > 0:39:17He was inviting the soldiers to fight with him but was very polite.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23When he won, he was very fond.
0:39:23 > 0:39:28But never do something wrong to the beaten enemy.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18In the autumn, the Allies began to evacuate their troops from Italy.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22On the 26th of September the company embarked,
0:40:22 > 0:40:26and this time there was no difficulty in taking Wojtek aboard.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30His name was officially written on the passenger list
0:40:30 > 0:40:33and he was given his own ration card, which each man received,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37and which included his allowance of sweets and tobacco.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49We've always had two problems with the Wojtek story,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52especially trying to find people here in Scotland.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57That was, one - to get the Poles to talk about their past,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01because they'd settled in Scotland and as far as they were concerned
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Poland was another time, another place.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08The very thing they were fighting for which was freedom...
0:41:08 > 0:41:12freedom of speech, freedom to move, freedom to trade...
0:41:12 > 0:41:14had all been lost in the Second World War.
0:41:14 > 0:41:19And you're going into a regime that is worse than being bombed and shot.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23It was a time which they wanted to forget
0:41:23 > 0:41:27and they were living in Scotland, they were Scots, and they wanted
0:41:27 > 0:41:30to be part of the new regime, as it were. This is a new life.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33You didn't speak Polish.
0:41:33 > 0:41:39"You're Scots, you're British. Be what you are but you're not Polish."
0:41:39 > 0:41:43The interesting thing is, lots of people didn't understand or know
0:41:43 > 0:41:50that Wojtek had a Scottish element to his final years.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00At Winfield Camp at its height there would be between 2,500 to 3,000 people.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Men, civilians, people coming in and out on a daily basis.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11You had a small town plonked in the middle of a field,
0:42:11 > 0:42:16but remember, all these men had to be fed and looked after
0:42:16 > 0:42:21and their life had to be discussed at length.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24You can feel him here already!
0:42:24 > 0:42:26He was always curious.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Here's some of the original marks here. And there are some on there.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47You can see on there. Some of them are ripped as they go up.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52You'll see marks on all of the trees, the various damage he's done over the years.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56You can see how they have widened as they've got older.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59But he did incredible damage.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03The claws he had would have mauled a man in seconds,
0:43:03 > 0:43:04would have killed them.
0:43:10 > 0:43:16This strange collar appeared on the tree not that long ago,
0:43:16 > 0:43:17with "Wojtek" written on it,
0:43:17 > 0:43:22so we believe people have been actually leaving things.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Strange.
0:43:24 > 0:43:25DOOR SLAMS LOUDLY
0:43:28 > 0:43:30CHILD'S VOICE: Wojtek?
0:43:31 > 0:43:34Are you really a soldier, Wojtek?
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Wojtek, my daddy says you can speak Polish.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Is it true you're going back to Poland?
0:43:50 > 0:43:57I first met Wojtek the bear in October 1946.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05We got a message that there were soldiers coming from Glasgow,
0:44:05 > 0:44:12the bus arriving from Italy - with the bear with them - to Winfield.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14So we were curious,
0:44:14 > 0:44:18because looking at other soldiers in the Nissan huts,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20you got fed up looking at each other.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28Living in a camp away from a town, a village or whatever,
0:44:28 > 0:44:32you saw the same people day after day, so it was a change to see
0:44:32 > 0:44:40an animal like Wojtek the bear. He was so friendly and used to people.
0:44:42 > 0:44:47He liked a cigarette, he liked sweeties. He liked a bottle of beer.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50He saw them drinking, smoking and whatever,
0:44:50 > 0:44:55and he was accustomed to it. It was part of his life.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59He thought, "If it's good for them, it's good for me."
0:44:59 > 0:45:04He would sit on his backside with a bottle of beer
0:45:04 > 0:45:10between the front paws and would just drink it like a normal human being.
0:45:10 > 0:45:15He would dunk it and nod his head after he'd had it to say thank you.
0:45:21 > 0:45:27The time he was here, he saw quite a bit of the countryside,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30walking wise, or there were a lot of people who used to come
0:45:30 > 0:45:35from far and wide to see the bear at Winfield.
0:45:35 > 0:45:40They used to come and take photographs of Wojtek the bear.
0:45:40 > 0:45:46We were accustomed to it, but people that came from the towns or villages to see him,
0:45:46 > 0:45:51or if we took him in the lorry to Duns or Berwick,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54it's not often they saw anything like that.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59The majority of the Polish soldiers couldn't speak very much English
0:45:59 > 0:46:03and the local people couldn't speak Polish.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06So there was a gap. Just like the bear.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10You could say something to him and he nodded his head but he couldn't answer.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15It was the same with the British people that we met or they met us,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17the correspondence was the same.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21I was named "OK" because it didn't matter what anybody said,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I didn't want to be wrong, so I always said "OK",
0:46:25 > 0:46:29and that has stuck to this day. I'm still "OK".
0:46:29 > 0:46:35The morale wasn't too good because at that particular time,
0:46:35 > 0:46:41we were still struggling to get in touch with people in Poland.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46There were a lot of restrictions, everything was censored.
0:46:48 > 0:46:53Anything we sent to Poland or any correspondence from them.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57There were bits cut out and we had to guess what was on it.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04The morale, overall, we were accustomed to it and we'd make do.
0:47:06 > 0:47:07We had to.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17At the time he was at Winfield, he was happy.
0:47:17 > 0:47:24He was around the camp, taken out in the lorry to towns and villages...
0:47:25 > 0:47:31He was happy. But, unfortunately, it didn't last.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36This is Union Bridge, it's a very famous bridge,
0:47:36 > 0:47:39it's literally two minutes from the camp.
0:47:39 > 0:47:40What he would have done,
0:47:40 > 0:47:45what he did do with the men, is come down here, and would swim in here,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47and he loved it.
0:47:57 > 0:48:04The big problem for us then - for the men, anyway - was where would Wojtek go?
0:48:04 > 0:48:06What would happen to Wojtek?
0:48:08 > 0:48:14He was a hope on legs, as they called him,
0:48:14 > 0:48:19so they had a sad last day here before decisions were made.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22The options were very limited.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26He could either be repatriated with the men to Poland,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29which was really a no-no,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33or - the worst decision - to have him put down.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38They had made a definite... There was a definite agreement
0:48:38 > 0:48:42that if he was put down, they would do it themselves...
0:48:42 > 0:48:44to be shot.
0:49:34 > 0:49:41That was when I was told, "But we have one problem,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45"we have no accommodation for this bear for the winter.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47"Can you help us?"
0:49:48 > 0:49:52I said, "Have you tried Edinburgh Zoo?"
0:49:52 > 0:49:55The first thing that struck me.
0:49:55 > 0:50:01He said, "We don't like zoos because they tend to keep animals."
0:50:01 > 0:50:06I said, "You could make a proviso that, if Poland became free,
0:50:06 > 0:50:08"he would go back,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12"you must sign that."
0:50:12 > 0:50:15That is what they did.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17I took it, held it up to the colonel and said,
0:50:17 > 0:50:24"There you are, give that to General Anders, that's his passport."
0:51:13 > 0:51:19I first met Wojtek in Edinburgh Zoo, in 1961, when I was eight years old.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24I was actually with a Polish friend.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27We came out of the bus, clambered into the zoo,
0:51:27 > 0:51:31struggling through the crowds because he was very, very popular.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34She had obviously known about Wojtek...
0:51:34 > 0:51:39because she spoke to him in Polish and he responded.
0:51:39 > 0:51:40He waved at us...
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Just at us, not at anybody else, it was just us!
0:51:43 > 0:51:46It was totally magical, and love at first sight.
0:51:46 > 0:51:51It was one of these real moments.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56I said to her, "Ask him if he knows my grandpa."
0:51:56 > 0:51:59She said, "Yes, he told me he did!"
0:51:59 > 0:52:02We were only eight!
0:52:02 > 0:52:08I talked to Don Gillespie afterwards and I said to him,
0:52:08 > 0:52:14"We're willing to pay, you know, for his keep." "Not necessary,"
0:52:14 > 0:52:18he said, "Look at the thousands that are coming in here just to see the bear!"
0:52:18 > 0:52:20So, that was it.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24I spoke to him in Polish. I said, "Would you like a cigarette?"
0:52:24 > 0:52:28and he nodded his head,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31but to get a cigarette to him
0:52:31 > 0:52:36from that distance, there was a gutter in front
0:52:36 > 0:52:42and most of the cigarettes fell into there, he would try with his paw to get them
0:52:42 > 0:52:47out of there, and I practically threw a packet of cigarettes away
0:52:47 > 0:52:52before he got one. And he swallowed it
0:52:52 > 0:52:55and nodded his head to say thank you.
0:52:55 > 0:53:03His behaviour was impeccable and I remember Lieutenant Fritz taking a violin and playing a mazurka
0:53:03 > 0:53:08and the bear started to dance.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13He had obviously done it before.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17He appreciated the fact that he was hearing something
0:53:17 > 0:53:22and he could tell Polish because his little ears were going
0:53:22 > 0:53:27back and forward, back and forward, very quick
0:53:27 > 0:53:33and that's the only way you can tell a bear...when he's taking it all in.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Fritz spoke to him in Polish.
0:53:42 > 0:53:47It's the most...moving thing I've ever seen.
0:53:47 > 0:53:53He lost his freedom, as we understood the freedom he was used to.
0:53:53 > 0:53:59He was well looked after, I will not accuse anyone of neglect
0:53:59 > 0:54:04or anything, but he was not a free man, or free bear,
0:54:04 > 0:54:09as he was prior to that, but there was no alternative.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23Wojtek! Wojtek!
0:54:23 > 0:54:24Wojtek, papieros.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26Cigarette!
0:54:29 > 0:54:32HE CONTINUES IN POLISH
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Hey, do you remember?
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Papieros! Wojtek!
0:54:38 > 0:54:40Polish army...
0:54:51 > 0:54:56Throughout the years of war, they had dreamed of returning to Poland
0:54:56 > 0:54:58and parading through the streets of the capital
0:54:58 > 0:55:02while the crowds roared out their welcome.
0:55:02 > 0:55:08But now, Warsaw was in ruins and Russian troops were still in Poland.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11They could not go back,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and as Wojtek had settled down in his new world,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18so must they, too, in theirs.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32In Gdansk, Danzig,
0:55:32 > 0:55:37the General had asked to bring him to Poland.
0:55:39 > 0:55:45But the Communist authorities wouldn't, he was a symbol of free Poland.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51It was prestigious, a little,
0:55:51 > 0:55:55to bring him to show that Poland was nearly free,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58but my colleagues didn't allow it.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05It would have been very nice from Persia to Poland,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09not from Persia to Scotland.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11But it is the history.
0:56:15 > 0:56:21We can say that there is some similarity
0:56:21 > 0:56:25between the Poles who remained in the United Kingdom
0:56:25 > 0:56:28and we were dispersed all through the world.
0:56:33 > 0:56:39This CV of Wojtek can be an example
0:56:39 > 0:56:45of the fate of Polish exiles.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Churchill told Anders,
0:56:48 > 0:56:54"Now the war is over, we don't need you.
0:56:54 > 0:56:59"You have done what you have done, but we don't need you."
0:56:59 > 0:57:04It was, for us, something very painful.
0:57:12 > 0:57:19Not only could Wojtek not return to Poland,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21many soldiers too.
0:57:21 > 0:57:28So, he is also a symbol of this provisional liberty we had -
0:57:28 > 0:57:30provisional.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33Only in '89 we became really free.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:42 > 0:58:45E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk