I was, like a lot of people, keeping an eye on the TV news this week as the 33 miners trapped underground made their escape from a cruel death deep in the Chilean earth, to become (inter)national heroes. Many of them will never have to work again, dining off the book deals and TV, newspaper or magazine features which will already be being worked out.
The BBC was criticised by the Daily Mail for sending 25 staff to cover the event, pushing it to cut down on their reporting budgets for the G20 and Oscars. Well good, I say. There has been so much bad news recently that I for one was overjoyed to tune in and watch the historic moment those men rose to the surface like modern-day Lazaruses (or is it Lazari?), to be greeted by close family members and the odd skeleton in the cupboard. The saga of Yonni Barrios's love life was gripping enough to permit myself to stay up a little later than normal to see his reaction when he climbed out of the capsule, which will one day be hoisted up in the Chilean National Museum. I am not normally a gossip reader but this was different.
It is every man's dream to be a hero one day. For me, the real heroes of this story were the Chilean military personnel, who dreamed up the scheme to drop a capsule down there, put it together along with a lift mechanism and drill out a hole, completing the task as quickly as five weeks ahead of schedule.
But I would like to bring up the truly remarkable story of an unsung war hero called Private Wojciech or Wojtek, enlisted in the Polish 2nd Army Corps, who supported his comrades across the battlefields of the Middle East, northern Africa and southern Italy in the later stages of World War 2. Remarkable because Wojtek was a bear.
In the middle of the war, a Persian boy came across an orphaned bear cub. In the nearby town of Hamadan in Iran, some Polish soldiers were stationed and the boy agreed to sell the bear to them for a couple of days' food. Initially, the bear was fed on condensed milk from a disused vodka bottle as he was still less than one year old. His benign character and playful nature soon won the hearts of the soldiers, becoming a celebrity even to neighbouring garrisons and local people.
He picked up human habits, like smoking and drinking (he loved nothing more than a good beer) although his cigarette consumption still proved he was not totally human as he ate them too. He was fed on sweet produce and slept with the men in their dormitories. When the company moved location, Wojtek went with them in a transport container, and he went through a lot of places - Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and Italy.
According to one account, the army was forbidden from having live mascots, so his company's commanding officers, in that most Polish of ways to find a solution, enlisted him officially in the Polish army, being given the rank of Private. His finest moment came at the horror that was Monte Cassino, when he famously carried crates of ammunition shells for his comrades, not dropping a single one.
His active role was brought to the attention of senior command and it allowed Wojtek's company, then called the 22nd Transport Company to use a bear carrying a shell as its official emblem. His main role though was as a morale booster, and more importantly friend to the soldiers, at once replacing their families, wives, girlfriends and mates back home. He used to wrestle with the soldiers and often made a fool of himself which caused great mirth amongst the men. He wasn't just any old bear though, as he even managed to chase out an enemy spy. Being nearly two metres high and weighing two-and-a-half times that of an average man may have helped, but it shows just how close some members of the animal kingdom can be to us if given the chance.
At the end of the war, the company, bear included, was based near the Berwickshire town of Hutton. Wojtek's final journey was to a specially-built enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo, where he lived out his final days in well-earned retirement. Aileen Orr, the granddaughter of one of the Polish soldiers, visited the zoo one day with a Polish friend. When Wojtek heard her speaking Polish, he waved to them both, causing Aileen to have a life-long fascination for him. She wrote a book entitled "Wojtek the Bear: Polish War Hero" and along with the Cardinal of Edinburgh, the Lord Provost and the former governor of Edinburgh Castle, she has been campaigining to have a statue put up in the city in memory of this most unusual of war heroes. It will also be a memorial in recognition of the enormously important Polish contribution to the Allied victory.
Wojtek was a much-loved resident of Edinburgh Zoo right up until his death in December 1963.
He wanted for nothing and was looked after by an ex-soldier. Discussions are taking place about where in Edinburgh to erect his statue.
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