Wojtek: image - wikipedia
Wojtek the bear ended his days in Edinburgh zoo in 1963, but a local campaign has led to a place being ear-marked for a monument in Princes Street Gardens, at the foot of the royal castle.
“As a council we are happy discussions have been fruitful in terms of getting the statue into Princes Street Gardens,” councillor Lesley Hinds told the Edinburgh Evening News.
It is hoped that the life-size bronze monument will be unveiled on 18 May 2014, marking the 70th anniversary if the Battle of Monte Cassino, at which the bear was present.
Wojtek was officially registered as a private of the 22nd Transport Company, having been adopted by the Polish Second Corps in Iran.
The Second Corps was chiefly made up of men released from Soviet forced labour camps, after Stalin signed a 1941 amnesty with the Polish government-in-exile in London, involving the release of prisoners and an alliance against Hitler.
The corps' leader, General Anders, led the recruits out of Russia to Iran, and the force became a wing of the British 8th Army.
Wojtek became the mascot of the 22nd Transport Company, and he learnt how to stack artillery cases on the backs of trucks.
The presence of the bear boosted morale among the troops, and Wojtek enjoyed play-fighting with his fellow soldiers, and indulging in a bottle of beer.
With a communist regime installed in Poland following the war, most of General Anders' soldiers remained in exile, including Wojtek.
A place was found for the bear at Edinburgh zoo, where he was regularly visited by Polish veterans, who used to throw him cigarettes – to eat, rather than to smoke.
The campaign for a Wojtek monument in Edinburgh was taken up several years ago, via the Wojtek Memorial Trust, led by Aileen Orr, who has written a book about the beloved bear.
In Poland, plans were recently approved to erect a monument to Wojtek in Krakow, likewise at Zagan, western Poland. (nh)