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You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean it fits you just right so you wear it all the time but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I
I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman
and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.
RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.
So the other day I was reading all about legendary soldiers from World War II. I mean, as a lady does, come on. And then I came across this one fighter from the Polish army who went down in history as like one of the greatest soldiers of all time. And I was like, what? This is wild. I mean, his story seriously reads like
A wild movie. This guy, he grew up as an orphan in the Middle East. And when he got older, he was adopted by the Polish army. He went alongside to go train with them. And like in their free time when the army had nothing to do, he would wrestle with them. And like, also this guy just loved hazing new recruits, chugging wine and smoking cigarettes, you know? I mean, this soldier would strike the fear of God in the Nazis with just one look.
And guess what? This soldier? Wow. He was a thousand pound brown bear. A literal bear. His name was Wojtek and he was a legend in the Polish military. A bear. And that's it, you guys. Welcome to this episode. Because look, we're going to talk about some of like the most overlooked war heroes of all time. Today's theme is war animals.
Yeah, 'cause there's a lot of animals that like fought in wars that we didn't even know about. And I want to tell you about it because it's fascinating. And Paul's over here dressed up like a bear. You look like you're gonna murder me or the guy from "Midsommar" at the end. You remember. We remember. Take that off.
Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Now here, we believe history, you know, it doesn't have to be boring. Some of it might be tragic, yes, and some of it might be really happy, but either way, it's our Dark History.
So all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy history gas. So listen, once I heard about Wojtek, oh baby, I was all in. And down the rabbit hole I went. And to my surprise, Wojtek wasn't the first four-legged soldier. And he definitely wasn't the last. During World War I, the Canadians had a soldier named Sergeant Bill. Now, this guy, he saw tons of combat.
Like he got trench foot, which I hear is like really bad. And he even suffered from shrapnel wounds, which can do maximum damage, you know? And not just that, but Sergeant Bill, he was a lifesaver. I mean, literally he saved lives.
A bomb once landed nearby and Bill saw this coming, I guess, and he decided to just headbutt three soldiers, like knocking them back into the trench. And this saved them from being blown up to smithereens. But like, don't get me wrong, Bill still was like a little bad boy. You know, he's a little naughty. He got arrested for eating military equipment.
And he was even disciplined by an army judge, like not once, but twice. Yeah, I guess the first time he got caught eating records of the soldiers in his unit. Must've been some good weed. And then the second time was for picking a fight with another sergeant. So I guess Bill was like a, he was just a starter and a war hero. Two things could be right at the same time. So Bill, you know, Bill, well, this war hero,
was actually a Canadian goat. Yes, a goat, but Canadian. So you know he's gotta be nice. But here's the thing, Sergeant Bill, he brought inspiration and comfort to the men like he fought alongside and he saved fucking lives. He's a goat, incredible. You know, that should be it. That's the end of the episode.
Animals who save lives. Need I say more? But it turns out there are like a bunch of animals like this that have played a lot of bigger roles in some of the biggest wars. Some even consider them to be like unspoken war heroes. So let's get Disney on the line. I got an idea for them. For example, did you know that there were over 70,000 soldiers who fought in World War I that no one ever talks about? They were called the Canine Corps.
In other words, they were dog soldiers. So Germany, they had 30,000 dogs fighting in their ranks. And France and England, they had 20,000 each. These were usually like shepherds or mastiffs. And the French, they had smaller dogs that would kill like the rats within the trenches. Like each of these dogs were trained for the armed forces as messenger dogs, ambulance dogs, or even watchdogs, which they called sentries.
And America was actually like the only country that participated in World War I that did not, N-O-T, not have an official canine corps. I know, that's sad. Where was our dog group? But that is, that is Until Rats. July 14th, 1918.
A bunch of American soldiers were partying it up in Paris. It's Bastille Day, which is essentially like French Independence Day. So they were having a great time just bar hopping around. I mean, yes, even though like World War I is happening, they still were partying, you know, fine. Anyway, at this time, like Paris was being occupied by the Germans and the war had been going on for years. So at this point, Paris was looking a little different.
a little rough. James Donovan, one of these American soldiers, was leaving a bar with his buddies and while he's leaving he like accidentally kicks or like yeah kicks a bundle of rags with his boot. So he kicks it and then this bundle of rags barks back at him and he's like what the fuck you know. Well it turns out it wasn't just like it wasn't a bunch of rags on the ground it was actually a scruffy little stray dog
Yeah, a little stray dog that like lived on the street. So James, I guess was feeling a little chaotic. So he decided to like bring the dog back with them to the military base. And like to me, I was like, oh, they must've had a good time. At least that's how you know they had a good time. You leave to have beer with some friends and then you come back with a stray French dog. I mean, come on, that's a story. So James Donovan names the dog Rags. I think it's obvious why. And the two of them become the very best friends.
So I guess Rags was like a little terrier mix. So he's a pretty small dog with like wiry hair. And he was so small that wherever James went, that Rags would go too. And all the soldiers who lived with James in the 1st Infantry Division, they loved having Rags around.
I mean, who wouldn't? So they would like slip him scraps of their food just right off their plates and they would bring him everywhere they went. Rags would also like drink water out of James's helmet and chase rats out of the trenches where the men would sleep and fight. So it was like, they looked out for him.
and he looked out for them. Cute. So as time goes on, the division starts to notice that Rags has some, you know, special abilities. Not only was he just a great dog for morale out in the trenches, but Rags, he had some special ears.
his ears were so sensitive that they could like hear the buzz of incoming missiles before the men could. So Rags would alert the men by flattening himself on the ground, which would give the men enough time to like take cover. So if they saw Rags flatten on the ground, so did the soldiers, right? And Rags was like never wrong. So it's like paying attention to him could,
fricking save your life. James Donovan was what they called a signal man in the military. So he was the one who would like put down the telephone wires that made it possible for the men at base to communicate with the soldiers back on the battlefield. Apparently just like working alongside him,
Rags was able to help James identify places like where the phone line had been, had like a broken wire. It was believed that Rags could do this because dogs in general have like a really good sense of smell and Rags could tell the difference between an open and a closed wire just with his nose.
That's special. Hello? So Rags would point the spot out to Donovan who would be able to then repair it. So it's like teamwork. Incredible. I love it. I love the story. I want a dog named Rags. So basically Rags is a precious angel and the rest of us are scum.
That's what I'm getting from this story. Apparently he even learned to salute Rags. I know, this part I was like, "All right, Pixar didn't happen." But I'll believe it just 'cause it's a cute story, you know? But I guess like whenever a general would walk by, Rags would salute. I know, I need a visual. I really do. Because I'm, I don't think dog's bones bend like that, right? I got questions, but. Pretty soon, Rags wasn't just some stray that James had found on the street, nay nay. Ah.
He was a respected member of the 1st Infantry Division. Go Rags! You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear it all the time, but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I
I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman
and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.
RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations.
As if he wasn't doing enough already, James taught Rags to send messages on the battlefields. Now this was a game changer and it gave the American infantry like a huge advantage. On top of that, for a dog, it can be a very difficult skill to teach them.
And for some reason, Rags over here, just being the little angel that he is, it wasn't hard for him at all to catch on. He was just a special little baby genius. So James was able to teach Rags how to send messages, and James would tuck a message under his collar and then send him to whoever the message was meant for.
And Rags was just like, "No." I just love this story. So Rags would carry this little message, just willingly, during the peak of battles, which is brave.
Right? Even for a dog who has no idea what's going on or the fact that he's in the middle of a war. But I mean, there's guns blasting, there's shrapnel exploding, war is loud. And Rags did not have earmuffs. Most of the time, Rags would have to cross an open area and the enemy would literally just be shooting at him. But nobody could take Rags down. This is so precious. Once it became known that Rags could send messages successfully,
Ben, she was a game changer and he was doing it all the time. The first infantry came to rely on him to get urgent messages about enemy fire or their location back to the base. Now, if you're thinking, oh my God, animal abuse, listen, they did have like men doing this job and they were called runners. They were the ones carrying messages back and forth, but it was like a really dangerous job. If you got that job, you didn't want it, okay? So it was nice that it was up to this dog
For those guys, right? They're like, fuck, okay. So one day Rags was on a mission to deliver a message, right? And he had come across like a dead runner out on the battlefields. And when Rags approaches him, he's like, oh my God. Well, he's a dog. So he doesn't say, oh my God, but in his mind, he's like, that's a US soldier. He must've recognized him. And then Rags takes the note that was pinned to this man's uniform.
and he carries it back and delivers it to James. Isn't that special? Oh my god. The note was from an officer whose men were surrounded by Germans and needed to get out.
And since Rags got to the note before the German soldiers did, those men, they were able to be saved. I know. Sadly, there were many men who were wounded in battle and died because no one knew where they were. No one could get to them, you know? So they would just sadly die alone in the fields. Rags had this special talent for finding soldiers in trouble. And if he came across one that needed help, he would bring back a piece of their uniform or helmet
So someone back at the base could help rescue them or at least like retrieve their body. What a good boy, you know? Just what a real good boy. What a good boy. Just want to give him a treat. He's such a good boy. Just want to...
Then in 1919, oh it's so sad, James and Rags got caught up in like a mustard gas attack. Now I guess at this time, it's not funny but it's cute if you imagine it in your mind, Rags had a special little gas mask that James had made for him but it flew off when Rags was running a message and then he got hit and like just like blew off I guess. When James came too because
he passed out or something. He was in a field hospital and somehow magically Rags was there too. Rags had like crawled under his bed and both of them were seriously injured but
They were there for each other. Rags' paws and ears had been injured and his lungs were damaged from inhaling the mustard gas after his little mask had slipped off. James was in even worse shape and needed serious treatment, so they decided to send James back to the US to Fort Sheridan Medical Center in Chicago.
But Rags wasn't allowed. Rags was not allowed to go with him because pets were believed to carry disease. So they were absolutely 100% not allowed to travel with soldiers back to the States. So like James and Rags had to say their goodbyes. I know. But there was another officer who knew Rags and like saw him sitting on the dock. Poor little Rags just looking at his owner.
And this officer decided to smuggle rags onto the ship inside of his jacket so rags and James could stay together. Now, this was a huge risk because if they found rags on board, he would be chloroformed. I know. Wow. Chloroformed and just thrown overboard.
wild. I guess that was the military policy with animals coming back from foreign countries, but praise the Lord. Rags stayed hidden and he and James made it to Chicago safely.
So at first the hospital at Fort Sheridan, like they didn't let Rags in to see James. Like who the fuck is this dog? You know? But as people started to hear the stories about James and Rags, an exception was made. Rags stayed at James's side the whole time. He was in intensive care at Fort Sheridan, which...
If you've ever had a dog, it must have been such a nice comfort. Sadly, James never recovered from the attack and died at the hospital in 1919. Rags survived. Woo! I mean, he had some damage to his ear and his eye, which left him blind and deaf, but he was here. By the time the war was over, Rags was a celebrity back at the army base. His story was officially published and he was awarded medals, ribbons, and he even got his own float in a parade.
I know. So Rags ended up living with a military family named the Hardenbergs. And he would end up living with them until 1936 when he passed away at the age of 18. So he got 16 more years with another family. So...
It's cute, right? So, you know, I mean, I roll because like, look, Air Bud. Air Bud was this like fake golden retriever who played high school basketball, right? And like, I believed it. I was all in with Air Bud. And there are not one, not two, but there are 14 movies in the Air Bud franchise. Yet you're telling me Rags the Terrier, a real life war hero who saved countless lives after being bombed, gassed, and partially blinded.
Has zero movies about him. Where is Saving Private Rags? Zero Bark 30. Those are my ideas, thank you. Anyway, let's move on to our next great war animal. A bear who could kick the ever-loving crap out of Smokey, Fozzie, and Yogi.
You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear it all the time, but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I
I love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman
and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen. And you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.
RIP. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
This story gives me like big cocaine bear vibes. Did you see that movie?
It was fun. But instead of like blowing coke, this bear is known for blowing up Nazis. So this is the story of Wojtek, a brown bear who became a legend in the Polish army during World War II. So welcome to the spring of 1942. I mean,
The birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and like everything is on fire because the Second World War is just raging. Hitler and his Nazi army, they had recently invaded the Soviet Union. And during our Stalin episode, we learned that Joseph Stalin was all, you know, but her father.
about the situation because he thought him and Hity were best friends, Hitler, and they had pinky promise to each other like, "We're not gonna hurt each other, best friends, yeah." So Stalin joins the Allies, the good guys, and agrees to set free a whole bunch of Polish prisoners of war that he had locked up in his gulags. The Polish prisoners were freed because the Allies needed all the help they could get on the front lines. Like some of the prisoners
prisoners were civilian refugees and others were Polish soldiers that were just ready to fight. So on April 8th, 1942, we're on a train barely through the Middle East. The train comes to a stop at a station in a town called Hamadan, Iran. And everyone gets off the train to like stretch their legs, get a snack, whatever. And that's when an 18-year-old Polish refugee named Irina spots a young shepherd boy with a
with a bear cub and a sack. So Irena comes to learn that the bear cub is an orphan. She's like, "Oh my God, that's so special." I guess his mom was shot and killed by hunters. So that's not very special. But Irena immediately falls in love with this like fuzzball and she convinces a Polish lieutenant to buy the bear from the shepherd boy.
So the bear's hers and off they go. Over the next three months, the cute little bear cub spends time in a Polish refugee camp in Iran with Irina and the refugees. But she ran into some problems, which you would imagine because she has a fucking bear with her, you know? But her first problem was that she had no idea how the hell to like feed a bear. When Irina and the refugees tried to like give the bear stuff like fruit,
I guess like the little guy had a hard time swallowing. Then someone had the idea to feed the cub like a human baby and like give him some condensed milk. But instead of using a baby bottle, I mean, the only thing they had around was like an empty vodka bottle. So maybe...
made sense you know. Well the bear he loved it, he was obsessed. I don't know if he liked it because it was the vodka bottle or the milk but either way it was a winning combo. Then for one reason or another Irina wasn't able to like continue taking care of the bear probably because it's a fucking bear so she ends up donating him to this 22nd artillery transport company of the Polish forces.
Which honestly is a good call because she could have just like donated to some random guy like right her neighbor. Could you imagine? These troops became his family for like the next few years and the bear didn't have a name at this point. So the troops decided, you know, it was time to like name him. Since he seemed like a happy dude now that he was hanging with the troops, they gave him the name Voitec.
which translates as "happy warrior" in Polish. Over the next few months, Wojtek and the Polish forces made their way through Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and then into Egypt,
During this time, two Polish soldiers, one named Henryk and the other named Demeter, were assigned as Wojtek's handlers. And the three of them just became best friends, you know, super tight. There's a bunch of photos and film footage of Wojtek. And alongside him, you'd often see Henryk or Demeter. They had fun together, but they also had like a job to do. Wojtek joined the Polish army in the middle of the war.
And during the war, you can't have people or even bears around just like taking up space. They needed to like, you know, participate. So this next part of Wojtek's story is all about his training montage.
So cue the 80s training music. First, Wojtek needed to learn hand-to-hand combat. Some of the more courageous soldiers would challenge Wojtek to wrestling matches. Yeah, I'm not kidding. The soldiers like wanted to actually wrestle with a bear and Wojtek, I don't know, he's just down. He's down for whatever. He's like, whatever, I'm a bear. Maybe he doesn't know he's a bear. I don't know.
I can't speak for Bear. There's actual footage of these wrestling matches. It's cute. Check out the YouTube version of this episode to see if it's for yourself. Wojtek is clearly having a blast. He knows that at any minute he could rip their faces off, but he's having fun toying with them, playing with his food. The Polish soldiers also taught Wojtek how to mess with new recruits. Like Wojtek would pick them up by their boots, hold them upside down,
and make the new guys think he was gonna eat them which is like
Quite the joke. Imagine just joining the Polish army during World War II and then getting hazed by a bear. Next, Wojciech had to learn how to act like a soldier. Like if he saw guys carrying heavy crates, Wojciech would join right in and help them. Wojciech also did marching drills with the troops, walking on his hind legs along with like everyone else. And again, he would salute. So he'd put his cute little bear paw up to his forehead and be like, reporting for duty.
He's like a bear, so it'd be like aggressive. And after a long, hard day of training, soldiers, they aren't quite dirty, so they would need to shower, right? Sources say that when the soldiers would shower or bathe, Wojtek was right there. He was joining them.
Team bonding! Sometimes, Voitek would break into the shower huts and turn on the shower like on his own, I guess. Which was a big problem because apparently no one taught him to turn off the showers. And this sometimes would create water shortages. So, he was just a silly old bear.
Really? Finally, when the day was done, it was time for the soldiers to unwind. So Wojtek would kick back and slam cases of beer and like bottles of wine like it was nobody's business. And when he was done, he'd look into the empty bottle and then look up and be like, hey, you know, like...
This bottle ain't gonna fill itself. And not only this, but Wojtek picked up smoking. Soldiers would offer him cigarettes, but he would only accept them if they were lit for him. So Wojtek would grab the lit cigarette, take one puff and then eat it.
Yeah, maybe he was confused, maybe he just liked it. Then in late 1943, orders came down from the generals on top that these Polish troops were going to join the British army in Italy to battle the Nazis. So this was the time for Wojtek to put all of that training to good use. But I guess there was one big giant problem.
They had a bigger bear. The British ship that was going to take Wojtek and the troops from Egypt to Italy had a strict no mascots and no pets policy. And the Polish army really couldn't hide Wojtek at this point, right? Because he had gone from this cute little cub to...
Yeah, an imposing grown ass bear. But they realized that the Brits didn't say a damn thing about animal soldiers. So they got a little creative. They straight up draft Wojtek into the Polish army. They give him a salary, a serial number, and a rank. Now they called him Private Wojtek. Yeah, literally. That was his rank as a soldier in the Polish army.
So, loophole bitch, they found it and off to battle they go. It's January of 1944. We're in beautiful Italy.
home of pasta and men named Vito. Normally this country is a scene of honeymoons and cute cooking classes with Italian grandmas. But at this time, the country is being ripped apart by war and Hitler's army is occupying Rome. Wojtek, the Polish soldiers, and the British army are tasked with advancing on Rome to take the city back.
But in order to get there, they had to go through German defense lines during the Battle of Monte Cassino. This was the bloodiest battle in Italy during World War II. Bullets are flying, bombs are going off, there's blood in the streets. During the firefight, Wojtek was stationed front and center at the firing line, but chained to a truck. I guess they didn't want him to wander off or something. Either way, Henrik was supposed to be Wojtek's caretaker that day.
but he was called up to handle some other important job. So Private Wojtek was left all alone, and this is when all of his training had kicked in. Wojtek started picking up 100-pound crates full of ammo, moving them towards the cannons. Then Wojtek was helping stack heavy boxes onto the truck that normally would take four men to lift. He couldn't care less about the gunfire going on all around him.
I mean, he had a job to do and my God, he did it. Now, some of you might be like rolling your eyes. You're like, this can't be true. A bear doing all of that during war? Yeah, right. But listen here. There was a documentary where a British veteran went on the record saying he was surprised when he suddenly saw Wojtek
A grown bear just casually walked by, carrying artillery in the middle of the chaos. Yeah, that would be quite shocking, wouldn't it? On May 18th, 1944, when all was said and done, the Allied forces, led by Wojtek, won the Battle of Monte Cassino. In recognition of his service, Wojtek was promoted to corporal, which is the next level above prime.
After the battle, the official badge of the 22nd Transport Company became an image of Wojtek carrying an artillery shell. Look at it. It's so badass. It's a symbol of strength.
and courage and appeared on vehicles and uniforms of all the soldiers, well of the soldiers, you know? It's badass. I want it. I want a badge. World War II ended in May of 1945. Polish troops went on to live their lives all over the world, but Wojtek's future was up in the air. Eventually he joined some former Polish soldiers living on a farm in Scotland where Wojtek, I guess he loved to climb the trees and just be a bear.
To this day, there are trees there with Wojtek's claw marks in them. Wojtek lived out the rest of his days
in the UK at the Edinburgh Zoo. Sometimes former Polish soldiers, they would stop by to like see him. When Wojtek heard them speaking Polish, he would get so excited, probably reminding him of his days in the military when he would scare the shit out of new recruits and like wrestle with his buddies. These veterans would salute Wojtek and toss him packs of cigs. Schmuck up Wojtek, you earned it, sir.
Wojtek died on December 2nd, 1963 at the age of 21. His passing was reported with sadness in newspapers and on radio stations. That's because Wojtek was a symbol of bravery
power and grit that the Polish soldiers were proud of. Today there are a bunch of memorials and monuments depicting Wojtek in Poland and the UK and there's even like a marble statue in Italy that went up in 2014. It's where like near where Wojtek helped with the important battle. Yeah send me pics if you live around there I want to see. There's no question that like he will go down in history as probably the most badass bear to ever have lived right? I mean Winnie the Pooh
You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear it all the time, but maybe now it's getting a little old. Shifting my wardrobe from summer to fall is always a challenge. Luckily, Quince offers timeless and high quality items that I
love so I can make sure my wardrobe stays fresh and I don't blow my budget. They've got cashmere sweaters from $50, pants for every occasion, washable silk tops. And my favorite part, all Quince items are priced $50 to
80% less than similar brands. By partnering directly with top factories, Quince cuts out the cost of the middleman and passes the savings on to us. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical, and responsible manufacturing practices
and premium fabrics and finishes. I recently got this 100% European linen short sleeve shirt. Ooh, I love linen and you know, it was so comfortable, so cute. I can finally retire my old ratty tank top.
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Our final war animal that deserves saluting comes from Southeast Asia. Oh yes. He also served during World War II. And no, he wasn't a dog, a goat, or a bear. He was something much bigger, much larger. Dry skin, flat feet, big ears. He was an elephant. Did you guess? Okay. And I had this thought, I was like, and maybe you're thinking this too, and you're like, how...
Could an elephant help during war? I mean, they're so big, won't they just get in the way? But then when I got to Googling and goggling, I found out that elephants have been used in war for hundreds of years. I mean, going all the way back to the Greeks and Romans, of course, right? Now, the reason elephants are used in war in the first place is because one, they're huge.
Two, they can crush half of an army in just a few seconds. And then soldiers are able to even climb on top of their backs and have an advantage over the enemy. And like, get this, horses are terrified of elephants. So if you're riding Seabiscuit into battle and he spots an elephant, a Dumbo, it's game over for you, buddy. Seabiscuit, you're out. Elephants were such a force on the battlefield that the only way to stop them
You might want to write this down just in case there's a stampede happening because the way to stop an elephant is to light a pig on fire and then catapult it at their face. It's very specific.
But they were terrified of pig squeals and fire, so the second they saw a flaming pig coming at them, I guess they just completely ran off the battlefield. But flaming pigs aside, elephants are very dependable in battle, and that's because of, I guess, how loyal they are. I guess they have these really intense emotions, and I also think they have a really good memory.
which ties to their emotions. And like an elephant, I guess they just never forget. They actually have better long-term memory than most humans. And some of them can live up to 70 years old. So they would know all of your secrets. During their lives, elephants stayed very loyal to like the people who trained them or even took care of them. During war and whatnot, like those trainers would ride them into battle and direct them on like what to do. And originally I was like, oh my God, aw.
That's so cute, right? Like elephants, loyal. They're loyal to their trainers. Oh my God. Cute. Love their BFFs. Well, of course, like...
You know, it's not that cute because for centuries the only way elephants were trained was through violent force. Yeah, this was called the breaking process. Essentially elephants were captured by like these traps that would snap around their feet. Then they were brought into like these giant arenas where for months trainers scared the elephant into submission. I'm not laughing at that, it's just uncomfortable.
So they would scare the elephant into submission by using fire, loud noises, or even they would take spears and like stab them. So elephants would usually be starved while in captivity. So when their captors would feed them or like give them positive reinforcement, that's when the elephant would start to think of them as this person, as like their safe, good person.
that "you saved me" kind of thing, thought process. So like this breaking process would lead to the elephants becoming loyal and looking to their trainer as like their everything. So it's kind of like classic Stockholm syndrome. The breaking process of elephants wasn't just so that they could be used in battle. By the 1800s, they were being broken or domesticated to do jobs that were too dangerous for humans.
Elephants were used for something called logging, which is basically moving heavy wooden logs from one place to another to build things. But the process of training elephants to do this job was just brutal. All of this changed with a little elephant named
Bandula. Now Bandula started out his life just like all the other little baby elephants around him. He was born into captivity so his mom was already logging away and like being ordered around by her handler. But not long after Bandula was born he was attacked by a tiger. Baby elephants are only about 200 pounds so it's easy for a tiger to attack and even kill them. They were able to fight off this tiger.
And from that day on, Bandula was a total mama's boy. He never left her side. He refused to. Bandula became a favorite within the village because he would mimic everything his mom did. Like if her handler told her to sit or move a log, Bandula would do it right alongside her. I mean, it was just so cute.
And normally baby elephants are separated from their mother so their mothers can be shipped off to like work and the babies can stay home and train. But the person who was in charge of Bandula's mom saw something special in their bond and let them stay together just a little bit longer, I guess. Wow, thanks. Instead of stabbing him or scaring him with like loud noises or fire, Bandula was trained with sweets. Like just like you would do with like a dog.
and a biscuit, you know? Bandula was super well-trained and even fit right in with the other elephants. It was said that Bandula actually had a really good sense of humor. Like if he wanted attention from people, he would pretend not to be able to lift a log. You know, he'd be like, "Oh my God, I can't do it today. I'm just like, I can't lift a log." And then a minute later, he'd be like, "Just kidding. Tee hee, ever well, jokes on me." So like Bandula is doing great. We love that.
Sadly, though, it wasn't that great for all the other elephants. I mean, elephants were still being abused and essentially tortured to submission. That is, until a man named James Howard Williams. You know that one good tank top that you wear like all year round? I mean, it fits you just right. So you wear all the...
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R.I.P. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high quality closet essentials. Go to quince.com slash dark history for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's quince, Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash dark history to get free shipping and 365 day returns. quince.com slash dark history.
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.
It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.
So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. Fix.com slash dark history. James was a British soldier who served in World War I. And after the war, he was like looking at the next step in his life, you know, like he didn't want a boring life.
office job he wanted adventure and that's when he came across a book called the diseases of the camel and the elephant yeah i don't know i don't know why he picked up his book i don't know what he was looking for but he found whatever it was he was looking for because james said he was like a huge animal lover whatever the reason he picked up this book i guess it really moved him
because it had a bunch of like details about working with elephants. So he's like, "Hell yeah, this is what I want to do. I want to work with elephants." He somehow found his way to Southeast Asia in Burma. Now today Burma is actually called Myanmar, but back then it was Burma. So I'm going to call it that just for the purpose of the story. But pretty much right when James got to Burma in 1920, he was placed in one of those logging camps.
with the elephants, you know? And instantly, like he loved working with the elephants and he thought the work was really fulfilling. Then he was introduced to Bandula and James says he felt like an immediate connection to him. First of all, James and Bandula were born on the same exact day in the same year. I know, November 15th, 1897. They're like, oh my God, you too? Scorpios. And Bandula was like,
James looked around at the other elephants at the logging work camp and noticed Bandula didn't have the same scars as them. When he found out it's because Bandula was trained with sugar instead of violence, he's like, "Well, why isn't everyone else doing that? You know, this is genius." So James decided to open up his own elephant training school. He actually took the time to learn about the elephants. Wow, shocking, right? And learned about their needs.
For example, he realized that tons of baby elephants die after being separated from their mothers. With that knowledge, he let elephants stay with their mothers until they were around five years old. Then he paired them with a 12-year-old local boy who would become their handler.
And this is so those boys and the elephants could go through life together. His elephant school kind of became famous. So the locals gave him a nickname. They started calling him Elephant Bill. So James was like loving life, riding elephants. Elephants are smiling. James has a new nickname. It was all nice and good in Burma until World War II.
Burma was allied with England, which meant that they were a target of Japanese soldiers. And in 1942, the elephant training school received a notice saying that all the elephants and their owners had to report to Japanese training camps to fight for their side or
they would all be killed. By this point, British forces were losing the battle to the Japanese soldiers. They didn't know anything about the Burmese landscape or how to defend themselves. So they realized they needed help or
They were screwed. Instead of going to the government or the army, the British forces go to the local Burma legend, Elephant Bill. They asked him for advice on how to build a bridge over the border so their troops would be able to safely go back and forth during battle.
and also to help evacuate refugees. So Bandula and all the other elephants get to work, not only moving logs, but literally helping build this bridge. So over a thousand people and their elephants settled at this camp, trying to build the bridge as fast as they could. And then something terrifying happens. James gets a secret message sent to him through a field phone. It essentially says like, "Get the hell out of there. The soldiers are coming." So he's like, "Okay."
Great. He had to get as many of his elephants in his logging camp out of Burma and into the safety of India as soon as possible.
And a lot of people didn't even want to go because they believed it was just like a suicide mission. That's because the path they had to take to India was through something known as the Razorback Mountain Ranges. It was like this harsh 120 mile journey, which would test everyone's strength and endurance. I guess when trying to plan all this, many started arguing over like what they should do.
But James just reminded them if they didn't at least try to get to India, all the elephants would be slaughtered and who knows what would happen to them. So James, the elephants, their families, and a group of refugees start the 15 day journey through the Razorback Mountains.
In total, there were about 200 people and 53 elephants. The journey wasn't easy. I mean, the people had to travel in silence because they could hear the enemy soldiers shooting and setting bombs off all around them. It was terrifying, but they were getting through it. To make sure the soldiers wouldn't catch up to the group, James would go ahead on foot and make sure the path of the mountain was clear. And on this particular day,
like several days into the journey, James was walking along like everything was fine, everything's going great until he realizes that he's about to walk off a cliff. Just wasn't right.
but he had a map with him and his map was telling him to move forward. So, fuck, are we lost? So I guess the map they had was incorrect. LOL. There was like no path forward through the mountains. It was a dead end, which meant that they were screwed. James knew they all couldn't just go back to Burma.
By now the soldiers would be waiting at camp to just kill everyone. So James goes back to his group and reports the news. And he looks up at the sky like, what am I gonna do? Then that's when he notices the types of rocks on the mountainside. They were easy to break and they were easy to shape, I guess. And he realized he could make giant elephant-sized steps up the side of the mountain.
so that they'd be able to walk up the mountain into the safety of India. He and the other men stayed up all night to build these steps, but then they realized like they have their biggest challenge yet. I mean, elephants can follow commands, but they're like dogs, like you can't just force them to do what they don't want to do. You know, they have to make the decision for themselves. And actually, I mean, just one of them has to make the decision, which is the leader elephant. And like the rest of them would follow.
So James decided that the leader elephant should be Bandula. There were so many risks. The elephants could trip or fall onto the people below and kill everyone. The steps might not be strong enough for the elephants. But as this Japanese soldiers closed in on them, he decided we have no choice.
It's like, we have to do this. James tells everyone in the group not to make a sound. They didn't want the elephants to get spooked and like run off. They could still hear enemy fire in the distance. James walks about halfway up the mountain then calls Bandula to follow him. Bandula is clearly scared, but he's loyal to James. So he takes the first step and then just stands there for like 10 minutes. But eventually Bandula feels safe enough to take another step.
and then another, and then he walks all the way up the mountain. This signals safety to the other elephants, and the other 52 of them make their way up the mountain after Bandula. Then the people make their way up, and every single one of them made it to India safely.
Wow. I know, right? When you think about it for a second, it's like 53 elephants scaled a mountain to lead 200 people to safety. Again, it's like Dumbo. I don't need a movie about Dumbo. I need a movie about this. You know, it's like, what is this? Let's get a Bandula movie. Hello. Today's episode made me cry numerous times 'cause I love animals, especially dogs. From Sergeant Bill headbutting his comrades to Bandula and his pals building a stairway to safety,
War animals do not get enough credit. But we can't ignore the fact that if we didn't have all of this war-licked help, who knows how those wars would have turned out or could have turned out. And since those animals can't speak for themselves, I hope this little episode is able to speak just a little bit for them.
Hooray, animals! You did it! Speaking of sweet, come back next week for an episode that I am very excited about. It's all about a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.
Apparently, over the years, food companies that make all sorts of sweets, candies, and chocolates have been at the center of the deaths of a whole lot of people. There's floods made of molasses, poisoned sweets, and an explosion at a chocolate factory. That somehow involves DuPont. Tune in next week for sweets that kill. Mwah!
Hey, remember, don't be afraid to ask questions because you deserve that. Like, find answers. That's what the show's all about, bitch. Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder, mystery, and makeup. I love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to use the hashtag DarkHistory over on social media so I can follow along and see what you're saying. Now, let's read a couple of comments that you guys had left
Me, me oh my one zero clarified something for us in our season three episode on conspiracy theories where we talked about that Japanese Kleenex commercial. The kid is a mythical Japanese creature called the Oni. Their
They're sort of like demon gods. Okay, thank you for clearing that up. I'm not going to lie, it's now kind of keeping me up all night because I don't know what that is still. User we8dn5ub9z left a comment on our Starbucks episode from this season saying, quote, fun fact,
Starbucks failed in my city in Australia, so now we don't have a single Starbucks location. It lost to all the independent local coffee stores, end quote. I think that's great. Life without Starbucks is probably a lot better. I visited my sister out in, where was I? Washington somewhere, and they don't have, they have like one Starbucks and a billion other coffee shops. It's like so much better. I don't get it.
Starbucks sucks ass, right? Thank you. Malkownen Lindsey had an episode suggestion. Quote, always love dark history. Thanks. We'd love to see one on the dark history of pirates. Everyone and their mom has been asking me for a pirates episode and I'm actually down. Pirates. I'm on it. Here I go.
Dark History is an Audioboom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junya McNeely from 3Arts, Kevin Grush, and Matt Enloe from Maiden Network.
Writers, Joey Scavuzzo, Katie Burris, Allison Filobos, and me, Bailey Sarian. Production lead, Brian Jaggers. Edited by Lily Young. Research provided by Xander Elmore. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. Bye.
I'm Stanzi Potenza. And I'm Brad Padre. Launching June 13th is our new podcast, Late to the Party. In this post-ironic chat show, we'll show you a window into our world of crazy post-ironic thoughts. An unlikely friendship founded on a shared love for riffs, ranting, and getting absolutely wrecked.
Consider this an invitation to our inside jokes. You're late to the party, but no one cool ever shows up on time. Follow Late to the Party on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to this kind of stuff.