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Soldier-bear during World War II
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Scottish campaigners are calling for a memorial to a soldier-bear which joined Polish troops on the front line during World War II and died in Edinburgh, media reported Saturday. Voytek, a 113-kilogram, 1.8-metre (249-pound, nearly six feet) brown bear, was adopted by the Poles after they found it in Iran in 1943.
They gave the animal beer and cigarettes, trained it to carry mortar shells and even enlisted it as a soldier so that it could keep travelling with them.
At the end of the war, the troops were billeted to southern Scotland and Voytek went along too, before being sent to Edinburgh Zoo when they were demobilised.
The animal remained at the zoo until its death in 1963.
Now a teacher from southern Scotland, Garry Paulin, is writing a book about the bear and a campaign has started to have Voytek's life commemorated in a statue.
Campaigner Aileen Orr said she first heard about the bear as a child from her grandfather, a Scottish soldier.
"The story is totally amazing and it would be good if we could have some memorial in Scotland, to celebrate the bear's life," she told the Scotsman newspaper.
Polish veteran Augustyn Karolewski, who still lives in Scotland, added: "He was like a big dog -- no-one was scared of him.
"He liked a cigarette, he liked a bottle of beer -- he drank a bottle of beer like any man."
(Agencies) |
據媒體上周六報道，蘇格蘭社會活動人士日前呼吁為一只“熊大兵”修建紀念碑，這只熊于二戰期間加入波蘭前線軍隊，后來在愛丁堡去世。
這只名叫“沃耶泰克”的棕熊重113公斤，高1米8，它于1943年在伊朗被波蘭部隊發現并收養。
波軍士兵給它喝啤酒、教它抽煙，訓練它運送追擊炮彈。后來為了能讓它隨部隊同行，軍隊索性將其“征召”入伍。
二戰快結束時，波軍到蘇格蘭南部駐扎，沃耶泰克也隨部隊來到了這里，之后因軍隊被遣散，它被送往愛丁堡動物園，直到1963年去世。
蘇格蘭南部的一名教師蓋里?鮑林目前正在撰寫一本講述“沃耶泰克”事跡的書，蘇格蘭當地也興起了呼吁修建沃耶泰克紀念雕像的運動。
運動參與者艾琳?奧爾說，她小時候聽身為蘇格蘭軍人的祖父說過這只熊的故事。
她在接受《蘇格蘭人》報的采訪時說：“沃耶泰克的故事讓人驚嘆，如果我們在蘇格蘭能有個紀念物來紀念他，那就太好了?！?/font>
仍居住在蘇格蘭的波蘭老兵奧古斯汀?卡洛勒維斯基說：“他就像一只大狗——大家都不怕他?！?/font>
“他喜歡來根香煙和一瓶啤酒——他就像人一樣，會喝上一瓶啤酒?！?/font>
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（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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