Orphaned bear cub who inspired Pooh
HE’S THE bear of very little brain who won the hearts of children but the true story behind Winnie the Pooh is every bit as magical as the fiction. Pooh books, films and merchandise are a £3billion a year business but the global phenomenon’s genesis can be traced back to a British soldier who bought an orphaned black bear cub for 20 dollars in 1914.
Birmingham-born Lt Harry Colebourn, who had left England to be a vet in Canada, was on his way to the killing fields of the First World War when he was smitten by a sevenmonth-old cub for sale.
He called her Winnie after his new home town, Winnipeg, and took her to England where she became a regimental mascot of Canadian troops training on Salisbury Plain. On Thursday a plaque was unveiled at Tilshead village hall to commemorate the events.
Winnie was left at London Zoo, which became her permanent home, when Harry was dispatched to the Western Front. Gentle by nature, she went on to become the inspiration for the children’s stories after author AA Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, became entranced by her.
Winnie was never far from Harry’s thoughts as he endured the horror of war caring for cavalry horses. His hopes and fears are captured in four leather-bound diaries that are the basis of children’s book Winnie’s Great War, by Lindsay Mattick, his great-granddaughter.
“Every so often you have a true story every bit as magical as the most beautiful fiction,” she says. “The joy has been telling the origin of Winnie the Pooh, one of the most-beloved children’s characters of all time. There is magic in knowing Pooh grew out of a pet my great-grandfather took on an amazing journey.”
WINNIE’S adventures were confined to Hundred Acre Wood, but real-life Winnie was captured by a trapper and offered for sale to troop trains passing through White River in Ontario.
whose love of animals spurred him to travel to Canada as an 18 year old to train as a vet, had to act when he spotted Winnie and one of the first entries in his diaries reads: “Bought bear $20”. He paid for her passage on SS Manitou to Plymouth and on to Salisbury Plain where his regiment was stationed.
Winnie became a favourite with officers and troops. She was treated to fruit and condensed milk and amiably wandered around with Harry.
Yet Winnie could not go to war so Harry took her to London Zoo. “His intention was to pick Winnie up after the war,” adds Lindsay, who runs a PR company in Toronto. “But, four years later, she was a star.”
Harry’s diary on Wednesday, December 9, 1914, reads “Took Winnie to zoo. London”. Five simple words that started a literary phenomenon. But the diaries were soon to be filled with the war, which Harry survived despite being gassed and having a piece of shell ricochet off his helmet. He served with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps, stationed with the 1st Canadian Division at Ypres, where, in April 1915, the German bombardment released 160 tons of chlorine gas. In 48 hours, 2,000 Canadians died.
On April 21, Harry notes, “Shelled out. Lost Everything. Stayed at 2016 mobile section. Many Killed.” On April 24: “Terrible fighting 7,000 Canadians Lost”. He adds two days later: “Severe fighting all day. Close call”. Later entries detail the carnage that led to eight million horses, mules and donkeys perishing. The second Battle of Ypres, lasting a month, devastated the Belgian town, resulting in 120,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing. To escape, on precious leave periods Harry would head for London Zoo.
“He would have thought of Winnie a lot – her presence would have been some comfort,” adds Lindsay. Harry paid a last visit to Winnie before returning to Canada to be a vet. Winnie was too settled to make the journey and she remained a zoo star until her death, at 20, in 1934. One enraptured child who visited her regularly was Christopher Robin. He named his teddy Winnie, sparking his father’s imagination. The first Pooh book arrived in 1926.
Harry died in 1947, aged 60. There are statues to him and Winnie in Winnipeg and London Zoo and now the plaque on Salisbury Plain. “This is a story that resonates through history; it is a love story,” says Lindsay. “The first act is one of kindness. Harry bought Winnie because he loved animals and wanted to save this bear. He went off to a terrible war but never lost that love of animals and his fellow man.
“The diaries show what a unique character Winnie had, and that helped inspire AA Milne. He witnessed the friendship between his son and Winnie.
“Harry contributed to that gentle, wonderful nature. Taking Winnie to England started an avalanche of joy for people around the world...”