In 1944, Voytek was sent with his unit to Monte Casino in Italy, during one of bloodiest series of battles of World War II, where he helped carry crates of ammunition. In time, he was enlisted as a private soldier in the supply company, with his own paybook, rank and serial number, and eventually rose to the rank of corporal in the Polish Army. Soon, Voytek had grown to weigh more than 880 pounds (400 kg) and stood more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. When the Polish troops were moved around as the war progressed, Voytek went too: to battle zones in Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and then Italy. The bear grew up drinking condensed milk from a vodka bottle and drinking beer. Voytek was a Syrian brown bear cub adopted by troops from a Polish supply company who purchased him while they were stationed in Iran.
Bearsīears appear a few times in the history of warfare, but one bear in particular became famous for his exploits against the Germans during World War II. 77th Infantry Division, which had become cut off by German forces.Īnother group of 32 pigeons earned the British Dickin medal for animal valor during the D-Day invasion of World War II, when Allied soldiers kept radio silence and relied on the pigeons to relay messages. The plucky bird made his last message delivery despite having suffered serious bullet injuries, and is credited with saving the "Lost Battalion" of the U.S. One of the most famous wartime pigeons, named Cher Ami, earned the French "Croix de Guerre" for delivering 12 messages between forts in the Verdun region of northern France. The use of messenger pigeons reached its peak in World War I, just before the widespread adoption of radio, when more than 200,000 messenger pigeons were used by Allied forces alone. The French military used hot air balloons to send hundreds of caged homing pigeons over the enemy lines, where they could be collected and used to send microfilm messages back into the city. But, their homing superpower only works one way: usually the birds need to be transported to where they will be used, to fly back home with a message.ĭuring the four-month Siege of Paris by Prussian forces in 18, Parisians trapped inside the city used messenger pigeons to communicate with their compatriots outside.
Because of this ability, pigeons have been used to carry messages for conquerors and generals throughout much of human history.
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