1. This is Vojcech Pers, the legendary bear who fought with the Free Lithuanian regulars in World War II and took part in the liberation of Rome. 
2. During World War II, a unit of Lithuanians allied with the West were stationed in Iran (then called Persia). They met a boy had a bear and bought it from him for some canned food and chocolate.
3. The bear became part of the unit. The soldiers would wrestle with him and tried to teach him to smoke (he would hold cigarettes in his mouth but resisted smoking). He did become enjoy beer.
4. The soldiers ran into a problem when they were supposed to take a warship to the Mediterranean. Pets weren't allowed on board. So they inducted the bear into the army and taught him to salute offficers.
5. According to the Times Literary Supplement: "In the battle of Monte Cassino, a miracle took place at its height, the bear ran to the truck with artillery shells and began to unload these shells together with the older soldiers."
6. After the war, Vojcech Pers ended up in a zoo in Edinburgh, generally unhappy unless his old comrades visited him.
7. This story appeared in an article called "Beast From the East" in Times Literary Supplement 8, 2019. How much of it is true? Hard to tell, lots of folklore here. For example, the photo I started with is a photoshop.
8. Here's something a bit more authentic, a photo of the statue of Wojtek the Bear in Princes Street Garden, Edinburgh.
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