The origins of Winnie can be traced back to
Winnipeg,
Manitoba,
Canada. In August 1914, Lieutenant Harry Colebourn, a Veterinary Officer with the 34th
Fort Garry Horse of
Manitoba, was travelling by train from his home in Winnipeg to enroll in the
Canadian Army Veterinary Corps in Valcartier,
Quebec.
Travelling by
Canadian Pacific Railway, he had to change trains at White River Bend in
Ontario, where he noticed a man further along the station platform with an American
black bear cub tied to the arm of the bench on which he was seated.
He struck up a conversation and, learning that the man was a trapper who had shot and killed the cub's mother, Colebourn offered him $20 for the young bear -- the
trapper eagerly accepted the offer and the cub was taken to Quebec, where she became the mascot of the
2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade.
In December 1914,the 2nd Brigade was preparing to move to
France in great secrecy. Colebourn decided it was unsafe to take her into
battle; so, while passing through London on the way to France on December 9th, 1914, he visited
London Zoo and asked them to care for the cub until his return, which he optimistically
anticipated would be no longer than
two weeks.
Of course, that
war to end all wars was not to end so quickly. It was not until
1918 that Colebourn returned safely to
London. Realizing that the bear, now known affectionately by her keepers and visitors as
Winnie, was happy and content in her new
home, he decided to leave her there.
Source:
Fort Garry Horse,
RCAC