is there any evidence that Wojtek the bear was promoted to corporal?
W jednostce nadano mu stopień kaprala.️
I see this very often, mostly in Polish texts.
Elzunia
Wojtek the bear
is there any evidence that Wojtek the bear was promoted to corporal?
W jednostce nadano mu stopień kaprala.️
I see this very often, mostly in Polish texts.
Elzunia
Hello Elzunia.
I found this -
We looked at the roster, and there was only one person, Corporal Wojtek, who had not appeared," Brown recalled in an interview years later. But the documents said that Wojtek belonged to the unit. Brown had his service number and his pay book, but the soldier himself seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Wojtek: The Bear that Joined The Polish Army - Axis History Forum
Kind regards,
Will
The Kronika of the 22 Artillery Transport Company is digitised and can be downloaded from the PISM website. Files C_621
https://pism.org.uk/img/archiwum/dok.../C/C_621_1.pdf
But Wojtek is barely mentioned - some photos and newspaper cuttings.
And from what I can see, but I may have missed something, that linked report of them being checked in at Naples cannot be right as they went to Taranto - 21st February 1944.
"Do Wloch przybijamy o godz. 11-tej przdoludniem.
Miejscem ladowania jest port Taranto.
Po przyjezdzie zostaje kompanja rozmieszczcona w Obozie "Okonon" 10 mil na polnoc od Taranto."
Seems pretty conclusive.
The practice of adding an animal mascot to the unit strength as if it were a human member has been widespread over time as it traditionally allowed for rations to be claimed in order to feed the mascot.
The story of promotion to CPL maybe apocryphal but it is not without credibility as during my own service I have encountered regimental mascots being given rank and awarded campaign medals which has no effect on the ration account at all. It could of course have been "Local" rank which is granted at the discretion of the Commanding Officer rather than higher echelon.
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Soooooo many myths, inaccuracies and exaggerations - and being added to all the time.......
is there anything in Sikorski about this promotion to Corporal?
Elzunia
Did you look through the Kronika? My Polish isn't good enough to skim read it quickly.
I couldn't see any mention of him other than as referred to by "Wojtek", never any rank.
I recollect that the story is he had to be made a private in order to be shipped from Alexandria to Italy, as only combatants were allowed onboard. Maybe part of the myth.
But as Andrzej has confirmed before, there is no record of a Monte Cassino Cross being awarded to him.
Ted
Seems like the article above was originally written in German and got its facts rather mixed up!
Archibald Brown is mentioned in this article, meeting Wojtek for the first time in Scotland
Smarter than the average big bear | The Scotsman
this one sounds more reliable.
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