Memorial details
- Memorial type
- Composite
- District
- Midlothian
- Town
- Edinburgh
- County
- Lothian
- Country
- Scotland
- Commemoration
- Second World War (1939-1945), Animal Memorials
- Ceremony
- Unveiled
Date: 7th November 2015
Attended by: Wojciech Narebski (Polish Second Corps veteran); Edmund Szymczak; Witold Sobków (Ambassador of Poland), Donald Wilson (Edinburgh’s Lord Provost) - Dedicated
Date: 7th November 2015
Attended by: Most Rev Leo Cushley, Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh - Show More (1)
- Unveiled
- Lost
- Not lost
- WM Reference
- 73819
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Current location
Close to Castle Street
Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street
Edinburgh
Midlothian
Lothian
EH2 3AA
Scotland
OS Grid Ref: NT 25024 73732
Denomination: Undefined
- Description
- Life and a quarter size bronze sculpture of a Polish soldier with a bear (Wojtek). Behind the statue is a low relief pictorial panel set on a granite platform. The panel shows the bear and soldiers in different moments during the war. Next to the panel there is a carved inscription and the official badge of the 22nd Transport Company, with Wojtek holding a shell.
- Inscription
- WOJTEK/ In memory of the/ Polish men and women/ who fought/ "For Your Freedom/ and Ours"/ Pamieci polskich/ mezczyzn i kobiet/ ktorzy walczyli/ "Za Wasza/ Wiolnosc i Nasza"
- Inscription legible?
- yes
- Commemorations
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Total names on memorial: 0
Served and returned: 0
Died: 0
Exact count: yes
Information shown: Undefined
Order of information: Undefined - Animal Memorials
Total names on memorial: 1
Served and returned: 1
Died: 0
Exact count: yes
Information shown: Name
Order of information: Undefined
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Components
- Figures
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Bronze - Wall
Measurements: width 4000mm
Materials: Granite - Plaque
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Undefined
- Figures
- Condition
- Costs
Site: c. £300,000
- Trust fund/Scholarship
- No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A - Sponsorship
- Private
Details: Wojtek Memorial Trust commissioned the memorial and raised around £300,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to build the memorial. - Reference
- Edinburgh Evening News: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/polish-veteran-unveils-soldier-bear-wojtek-statue-1-3940806
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_(bear)
- www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/edinburgh-soldier-bear-statue-honor-wwiis-wojtek-bear-unveiled-princes-street-gardens.html
- www.thesoldierbear.com/wojtek.html
- Ognisko Polskie: ogniskopolskie.org.uk/events/concert-wojtek-memorial-trust.aspx
- BBC News: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34748795
This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.
This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.
This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:
© WMR-73819
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