Dark History - 111: A DOG SAVED THE WAR? Hero Animals You’ve never heard of

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Today I’m sharing stories of some of the greatest soldiers of all time- and they’re animals. From the 1000-pound brown bear who destroyed Nazis  to a little terrier who could hear missiles from miles away, honestly these animals are amazing. Grab your Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free in bulk nationwide at Costco or you can get 20% off when you go to LiquidIV.com and use code DARKHISTORY at checkout. Get your first visit for only five dollars at Apostrophe.com/DARKHISTORY when you use our code: DARKHISTORY. Try StitchFix today at Stitchfix.com/DARKHISTORY and you’ll get 25% off when you keep everything in your Fix.

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 is 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 older, he was adopted by the Polish army. He went alongside to go train with them, and in their free time when the army had nothing to do, he would wrestle with them.

And also, this guy just loved hazing new recruits, chugging wine, and smoking cigarettes. I mean, this soldier would strike the fear of God in the Nazis with just one look. And guess what, this soldier would strike the fear of God and 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 Voytec and he was a legend in the Polish military of 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, because there's a lot of animals that, like, fought and 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 going to murder me for the guy from mid-Somer. At the end, you remember. We remember. Take that off. Ah. Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I 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 Boy Tech, oh, baby, I was all in.

And down the rabbit hole I went. And to my surprise, Boy Tech wasn't the first for like, its 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? It not just that, but Sergeant Bill, he was a life saver. I mean, literally he saved lives. A bomb once landed nearby and Bill saw this coming, I guess, and he decided to just head butt 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 have 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 shit 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 got to 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 saved 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 that. 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 K-9 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 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, ambulin dogs, or even watch dogs, which they called centuries.

And America was actually the only country that participated in World War I that did not, N-O-T, not have an official canine core. I know it'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 best deal 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 One 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 rough. James Donovan, one of these American soldiers, was leaving a bar with his buddies. And while he was leaving, he 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, 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. I'm like to me, I was like, oh, they must have 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, Johnovan, names a 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 wirey hair. And he was so small that wherever James went, that Rags was like a little terrier mix. So he's a pretty small dog with like, wirey hair. And he was so small that wherever James went,

that Rags would go to. And all the soldiers who lived with James in the first infantry division, they loved having Rags around. I mean, who wanted? Yeah. 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 drink water out of James' 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 Rau, out on the trenches, but Rags, he had some special abilities. Not only was he just a great dog for morale out on 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. 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 freaking save your life. James Donovan was what they called

a signal man in the military. So he was the one who would 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. I just believe 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 this spot out to Jonathan who would be able to then repair it. So it's like teamwork. Incredible. I love it. I love the story. I wanted to arc name 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, I didn't know. Pixar didn't happen, but I'll believe it,

just because 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 a met, I don't think think dogs and bones bend like that, right? I got questions, but pretty soon, Rags wasn't just some stray that James had found on the street, Na-Nae. Ah, he was a respected member of the first infantry division.

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Love ya baby. Now back to our story. As if he wasn't doing enough already, James Totragg's send messages on the battlefield. 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, the rags over here just being little angel that he is

wasn't hard for him at all to catch on. It 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 would just like, no. He does love this story. So like rags would carry this little message. Oh, just willingly, during the peak of battles, which is brave, right?

Even for a dog who was like, no idea what was going on or like 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 like 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 chose 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 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? 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 who you are soldier. He must have 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? 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 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 wanna give him a tree, so he's a good boy. Just wanna, then in 1919, also sat. James and Rags got caught up in like a mustard gas attack. Now I guess of 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 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 Braggs was running a message, and then he got hit, and I'm like, just like blew off, I guess. When James came to, because he passed out or something, he was in a field in hospital, and somehow magically, Braggs was there too.

Braggs had like crawled under his bed, and both of them were seriously injured, but they were there for each other. Rags' pause in years had been injured, and his lungs were damaged from inhaling the mustard gas after his little mask had slipped off. James was an 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 not absolutely 100% not allowed to travel with soldiers back to the states. It's 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 for 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 safe. So at first the hospital at Fort Sheridan,

like they didn't let Rags in to see James. So like, who the fuck is a dog? 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 an intensive care at Fort Sheridan, which, if you ever had a dog, must have been such a nice cover. Sally 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 some blind and death. 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 Hardenburgs.

He would end up living with them until he, in 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, airbud, airbud was just like fake golden retriever who played high school basketball, right? And like, I believed it. I was Paul 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,

are real life war hero who saved countless lives after being bombed, gassed, 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 smoky, fuzzy, and yokey at the same damn time. Electrolites, you may have heard of them, right?

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So welcome to the spring of 1942. I mean the burdens are churping, flowers are blooming, and like everything, eyes 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 about this situation. Because he thought him and Hitty were best friends, Hitler, and they had pinky promise to each other, we're not gonna hurt each other best friends. So Stalin joins the allies the good guys and agrees to set free a whole bunch of Polish prisoners of war that he had like locked up in his ghoulogues. The Polish prisoners were freed because the allies needed all the help they could get on the front lines like some of the prisoners were civilian

refugees and others were Polish soldiers that were just ready to fight. all the help they could get on the front lines. Like some of the 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 your legs, get a snack, whatever. And that's when an 18 year old Polish refugee in Diorina spots a young shepherd boy, the bear cub in a sack. So Irina comes to learn that the bear cub is an orphan. And 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 Irina immediately falls in love with this like fuzz ball 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 I rena and the refugees. But she ran into some problems You're on with Irina and the refugees. But she ran into some problems, which she 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 feed a bear. When Irina and the refugees tried to give the bear stuff through, I guess 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 it 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, he 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 donated to some random guy, like, right, her neighbor, could you imagine. These troops became his family for 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 them. Since he seemed like a happy dude, now that he was hanging with the troops, they gave him the name Voitech, which translates as happy warrior in Polish. Over the next few months,

Voitech and the Polish forces made their way through Iraq, Syria, Syria, Palestine, and then into Egypt. During this time, two Polish soldiers, one named Henrik, 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. Alongside him, you'd often see Henrik 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 Boy Tech's story is all about his training montage. So cue the 80s training music. First, Boy Tech needed to learn hand-to-hand combat. Some of the more courageous soldiers would challenge Boy Tech to wrestling matches.

Yeah, I'm not kidding. The soldiers wanted to actually wrestle with a bear and Boy Tech, 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 of this for yourself. Voytek is clearly having a blast. He knows that at any minute, I mean, 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 going to 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, Wojtek had to learn how to act like a soldier. Like if he saw guys carrying heavy crates, Wojtek would join right in and help them. Wojtek 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 pops his forehead and be like, we're pointing for you. 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? So I should say that when the soldiers would shower or bathe, Voitech was right there. He was joining them. Team bonding, sometimes Voitech 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 scorchers to unwind. So Vitech 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 a fill itself, and not only this, but Voitech picked up Smoky. Soldiers would offer him cigarettes, but he would only accept them if they were lit for him. So Voitech 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 Voitech to put all of that training to good use. But I guess there was one big giant problem. They had a big order bear. The British ship that was going to take Voitech

and the troops from Egypt to Italy had a strict no-ots and no pets policy. And the Polish army really couldn't hide Boy Tech at this point, right? Because he had gone from this cute little cub to, you know, an imposing Gromnaz 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 Boy Tech into the Polish army. They give him a salary, a serial number,

and a rank now they call him private boy Tech. Yeah, literally. That was his rank as a soldier in the Polish army. So Loupal Bitch, they found it in off-to-battle, they go. It's January of 1944, more in beautiful Italy, home of pasta and menning to beetle. Normally this country is a scene of honeymoon 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.

Voitec, the Polish soldiers and the British army, are tasked with advancing on Rome to take the city back. In order to get there, we had to go through German defense lines during the Battle of Montecocino. This was the bloodiest battle in Italy during World War II. Bolas are flying, bombs are going off, there's blood in the streets.

During the firefight, Wojtek was stationed there's blood in the streets. During the firefight, Boy Tech was stationed front and center at the firing line, but chained to a truck. I guess I didn't want him to wander off or something. Either way, Henrik was supposed to be Boy Tech's caretaker that day, but he was called up to handle some other important job. So private Boy Tech was left all alone,

and this is when all of his training at kick-deck, voy tech started picking up 100 pound crates full of ammo, moving them towards the cannons. Then, voy tech 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. When he had a job to do, and by 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, you know, right. But, listen here, there was a documentary where a British veteran went on the record saying he was surprised when he suddenly saw a voyTech, a grown bear just casually walked by carrying artillery in the middle of the chaos. Yet I would be quite shocked in one of that. On May 18th, 1944, when all was said and done, the Allied forces led by Voitech won the Battle of Montecocino

in recognition of the service. Voitech was promoted to Corpall, which is the next level of love private. After the battle, the official badge of the 22nd Transport Company became an image of Woitech carrying an artillery shell. Look at it, it's so badass. It's a symbol of strength, courage, and an appeared on vehicles and uniforms of all the soldiers, all 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. The 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, you know? To this day, there are trees there with Woitech's claw marks in them. Woitech lived out the rest of his days in the UK at the Edinburgh Zoo.

Sometimes former polar soldiers, they would stop by to like see him. When Woitech 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 sids. The schmok up Wojtek you earned, sir. Wojtek died on December 2nd, 1963, at the age of 21. His passing was reported with sadness and newspapers and on radio stations. That's because Voitech was a symbol of bravery, power and grit that the Polish soldiers were proud of. Today, there are a bunch of memorials and monuments to Peking Voitech 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 Voitec helped with the important battle. Yeah, semi-picks. If you live around there, I want to see. There's no question that he will go down in history as probably the most badass bear to ever have lived, right? I mean, Winnie the Poo-Loo. It's all about Corporal Voitec.

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He was something much bigger, much larger, dry skin, flat feet, big ears. He was an elephant. Did you guess? I had this thought, I was like, and ears. He was an elephant. Did you guess? 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, there's so big one, they just get in the way.

But then when I got to a Googulin and goggulin, I found out that elephants have been used in war for hundreds of years. I'm 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. Courses are terrified of elephants.

So if you're riding seabiscuit into battle, and he spots an elephant, a dumbbell, 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 stampy happening.

Because the way to stop an elephant is to light a pig on fire and then catapult it out their face It's very specific, but they were terrified of pig squeals and fire so the second they saw a flame pig coming at them I guess they just completely ran off the battlefield, but flaming pigs decides elephants are very dependable in battle And that's because of like I guess how loyal they are I guess I have these really intense emotions and I also think they have a really good memory Rich ties to their motions 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 elephants stayed very loyal to the people who would train them or even to appear of them. During war and whatnot, those trainers would ride them into battle and direct them on 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, they're BFFs. Well, of course, 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, just uncomfortable. So, 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 give them positive reinforcement,

then the elephant would start to think of them as this person as like, they're safe, good person, that you saved me kind of thing thought process. So this breaking process would lead to the elephants becoming wild and looking to their trainer as they're 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 locking 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 born. He never left her side. He was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born.

She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born.

She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. She was born. 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. I'm just like you would do with 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, you've been like, just kidding.

Mm-hmm. Tee hee, everywhere, check some e. So like, Bandula is doing great. We love that. Sally though, it wasn't that great for all the other elves. And so, me, elephants were still being abused and essentially tortured to submission. That is, until a man named James Howard Williams

showed up to town. As far as fashion goes, I mean, the dream is to have a closet like shares. Inclusively, remember, you know, the one where she could like put an outfit together and then scroll and just all the clothes go by and then the computer tells her what to wear essentially. Goals, right? Well, look, we don't have Sheriff's budget, but I found the closest thing with my Stitch Fixed Stylus.

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So no matter what your style is, stitch fix has you covered. Simply order a refresh as you feel needed or you can set it and forget it with regular fixes and when you're completely in control. Stitch fix has made being fashionable in every instance. A little bit easier, you know? I mean, with the holidays around the corner,

I've been looking for some great, you know, like I don't know, like something that's like festive holiday but adult, right? My Stitch fix stylist sent me some cozy sweaters and some really nice blouses. I know I'm a blouse person now. And for Thanksgiving and like for friends giving, I'm gonna be looking so cute.

Can't wait. Thanks, Stitch Fix. I mean, they just get me and they'll get you too. Try today at stitchfix.com slash dark history and you'll get 25% off when you keep everything in your fix. That's stitchfix.com slash dark history. Stitchfix.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 you want a boring office job. He wanted an adventure. And that's when he came across a book called The Diseases of the Camel on 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 wanna do. I wanna 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 gonna call 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 locking camps with the elephants, you know. And instantly 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 date in the same year. I know. November 15th, 1897. They're like, oh my god, you two, Scorpios.

And Bandula was like, oh, James looked around at the other elephants at the logging work camp and noticed Bandula didn't have the same scars as that. When he found out it's because Ben Doola was trained with sugar inside a 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 called start calling him Elephant Bill. So James was like loving life, writing elephants, elephants are smiling. James has a new nickname, who's all nice and good in Burma until World War Two rolled around. 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 need to 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 through the 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 1,000 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 to follow him. 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 locking camp out of there, the soldiers are coming. So he's like, okay, great. He had to get as many of his elephants in his locking camp out of Burma and into the safety of India as soon as possible. And a lot of people didn't even wanna go because they believed it was just like a suicide mission. It'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 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 razor-backed mountains. In total, they 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. I mean, 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 mountains clear. And on this particular day, like several days into the journey, James was walking along, like everything was fine, everything was going great, until he realizes that he's about to walk off a cliff. I mean, this wasn't right,

but he had a map with him and his map was telling him to move forward. So, this 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 mountain side. They were easy to break and they were easy to shape by gas.

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 commands, but they're like dogs, like you can't just force them to do what they don't want to do. 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 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 the Japanese soldiers closed in on them, he decided we have no choice. It's like we have to do this.

James sells 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 signal safety to the other elephants and the other 52, 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 even know who about Dumbo.

I need a movie about that. You know what I'm saying? What is this? Let's get a Bandula movie. Hello. Today's episode will be crying numerous times because I love animals, especially dogs. I'm 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 for like it help, who knows like how those wars would have turned out or could have turned out, and since those animals can't speak to themselves, I hope this little episode is able to speak just a little bit for them. Hooray animals, you jinnn! 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. Candidate! 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, poison, sweets, and an explosion at a chocolate factory. That somehow involves DuPont. Tune in next week for sweets that kill. Hey remember I don't be afraid to ask questions because you deserve that like finances. That's what it shows all about which join me over on my youtube where you can watch

these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. 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 episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. 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 to our history, 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 Omi.

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, W-E-A-D-N-5-U-B-9-Z left a comment on our Starbucks episode from the 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. I think that's great. Life without Starbucks is probably a

lot better. I visited my sister out and where was I? Washington somewhere and they don't have, they like won Starbucks and a building and other coffee shops and it's like so much better I don't get it. Starbucks sucks ass right thank you. Malcow Nen Lindsay had an episode suggestion. Quote, always loved our history. Thanks. We love to see one on the dark history of pirates. Everyone and their mom has been asking me

for a pirate's episode. And I'm actually down pirates. I'm on it. Here I go. Dark History is an audio boom of original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junia McNally from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Matt N. Lowe from Made in Network. Writers, Joey Skavuzzo, Katie Burris, Allison Peloboz,

and me, Bailey Sarian. Production lead, Brian Jaggers, edited by Lily Young. Research provided by Zander 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.