Wojtek, the bear veteran of Monte Cassino, ended his days at Edinburgh Zoo in 1963.

1947 · 1963 · apart: 16 years

Polish comrades visited and tossed him cigarettes, which he had loved since his army days — he ate them rather than smoked.

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The event

• Wojtek the bear at Monte Cassino1944 · Monte Cassino. Polish soldiers bought the cub Wojtek in Iran in 1942 and enlisted him as a private so he could board a ship. At Monte Cassino, his comrades recalled, he carried crates of shells, and he became the company’s emblem.

20th century

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