A big brown bear with a "cute attitude" braved the rain of bullets and bullets to carry hundreds of pounds of shells and ran! Moreover, this brown bear also learned to smoke and drink in the army, as for playing cards? Of course not! That's right, it's the "net red" brown bear of World War II: Foytek.
Polish soldier and big bear
The child finds the abandoned little brown bear and takes it to the nearby military camp to exchange for canned food!
After the Soviet-German partition of Poland, the Soviet Union also held many Polish prisoners of war at that time! But who knows the "unpredictable": the Nazi German army later invaded the Soviet Union. Poland was also included in the anti-fascist alliance, so in this case there was no need for polish prisoners of war in the hands of the Soviet Union to continue to be imprisoned!
Polish Prisoner of War (film)
Therefore, the Soviets were ready to use these Polish prisoners of war to replenish their own troops. However, although the Poles hated Nazi Germany, they did not have much affection for the Soviet Union after all! The Soviets were also afraid that they would turn against them on the front lines.
After thinking about it, the Soviets finally thought of a good way: to hand over all polish prisoners of war to the British to join the British army, although they could not fight directly for themselves, but it was also an indirect help to their own patriotic war, but also to relieve their worries.
As a result, the Polish prisoners of war were later accepted by the British and formed into a new force, which was subsequently stationed in the Hamadan region of Iran.
But to be honest, this Polish army is not very famous on the battlefield, but they have one thing in their hands that is very famous: a big brown bear.
It was a very ordinary day, and a local child accidentally found an abandoned little brown bear while playing. Seeing that this newborn little brown bear was cute and pitiful, the child picked it up and went to the nearby Polish prisoner of war camp, hoping to exchange it for canned meat with the Polish soldiers, after all, the child himself could not afford to raise the little brown bear.
The soldiers and commanders also liked the little brown bear very much, thinking that with it, the boring barracks life would be more fun, so they happily agreed. The soldiers then gave the bear a long and allegorical name: Wojtek, which means "joyful warrior."
In this way, Fojtek the Bear stayed in the Polish barracks. Foytek the Bear also quickly adapted to military camp life, and he also fell in love with bathing on time every day! The soldiers usually take great care of Foytek, and everyone who has something delicious will give it some.
Foytek the Bear grew up in this barracks environment, and he even learned to smoke and drink like the soldiers. And the soldiers also regard the cute Foytek as their greatest spiritual comfort, and they play with it whenever they have time!
Later, when they went on missions, the soldiers carried this bear with them! Over time, a strong bond and trust was built between the brown bear and the soldiers.
It was extremely inconvenient for the army to fight with a brown bear, and the officer slapped his head on the door: let it officially enlist as a soldier!
In 1944, the Polish army was sent by the British to the Italian front. But at this time, they encountered a big problem: Foytek, who was more than two years old, had grown from a cute little bear to a fierce brown bear that was one meter tall and eight meters tall. At that time, all the people had to board the ship to Go to Italy, and such a big bear certainly could not take the boat with the army.
This upset the officers and soldiers, after all, they and Foytek had a deep affection and did not want to abandon it! So the commander asked the Supreme Commander of the British Army for instructions: give the bear a formal rank, so that it will become a formal member of the British Army! According to the british regulations: as long as they are official soldiers, they can board the ship with the army.
As a result, as soon as this instruction arrived at the British Supreme Commander, he almost frightened the "leader": my obedience! It turned out that you had also secretly hidden a ferocious wild animal in the barracks. Later, the commander learned that this bear also helped the army a lot in battle, such as it was very good at transporting ammunition.
Therefore, the British commander also "conformed to the hearts of the army" and happily agreed to this request! In this way, Foytek officially had his "corporal" rank. With honor and status, the big brown bear came to Italy by boat with the Polish soldiers.
As a "regular soldier", Foytek certainly can't sit idle! The soldiers began to strengthen their skills in moving ammunition. In the Battle of Rome, the strong and powerful Foytek lifted the ammunition easily and professionally. In the rain of bullets, it held the shell in its hand and fearlessly shuttled between the ammunition bases and positions, delivering a steady stream of ammunition supplies to the artillery.
What's even more amazing is that until the end of the war, Fojtek never had an accident at work, and is a "good comrade- and"good comrade" worthy of the trust of soldiers! Later, it held the appearance of the shell "cute", and also appeared prominently on the badge of the 22nd Gun Transport Union.
Of course, people work so hard, and they have the status of official soldiers, and the military salary must not be less! Therefore, Foytek also has a very special "soldier's salary book"! But it was a bear after all, and the usual amount of food was more than twice that of a soldier.
Such a large amount of food resulted in this industrious "bear soldier" not receiving any military pay at all. Because it eats so much every day, a little military salary is not enough to deduct food money.
Ending: "Enjoy your old age" at the zoo after retiring from the army! After his death, people erected monuments to it.
After the war, the fighting deeds of the "bear soldiers" Fojtek were constantly reported by various media in various countries, and quickly spread in Britain and Poland. Many people lamented its "heroic bear" deeds, and soon it became a World War II "animal star".
Later, as the Soviet Union continued to administer Poland, this army of Polish prisoners of war did not return to Poland, but to The British county of Granbervik. Foytek was later placed in a zoo in the United Kingdom to "spend his old age", and tourists who usually come to visit this "British bear" are endless! Foytek is sometimes invited to children's shows.
As long as many old comrades-in-arms have time, they will also go to the zoo to find it to reminisce about the past. Of course, they don't look at it empty-handed, and they all carry some delicacies in their hands. As soon as Foytek sees his former comrades-in-arms, he will become extremely excited, drink beer with them, and occasionally "wrestle" with his old comrades, as if he has returned to the years of war!
And when these veterans see Foytek, they can't help but burst into tears! One veteran once recalled: "As soon as I called it by its name, it would sit down and shake its head, which was actually asking me to smoke." It's like a big dog, not a big bear! Because none of us are afraid of it, we know that it has always liked to smoke and drink, and the way it looks when it comes to drinking beer is almost the same as ours, like a man. ”
In 1963, the world-famous "Heroic Bear" passed away at the age of 22! After its death, the British also set up a statue monument for it! Even today, on the graffiti of some British buses, people will still often see cartoons of "a bear holding a cannonball", which is actually a war legend!
Image source network, invasion and deletion!