Whatever the real story is, there is no doubt that the young Christopher Robin did befriend Winnie at the London Zoo as is evidenced in the picture of him feeding the bear with condensed milk on one of his visits. If you look closely, you will see Alan Milne behind the bars of the bear's enclosure – was he too frightened to go in?Irving also told me the story of how the determined Ernest Shepard finally convinced Alan Milne that he was the best illustrator for his forthcoming book of verses. Evidently the young artist had gone down to the Ashdown Forest and made a number of sketches and, afterwards, without making an appointment, called on Milne at his home at Cotchford Farm one Saturday morning with his portfolio of sketches.Milne, somewhat surprised to see an uninvited guest at his front door, reluctantly asked him in. Inside the entrance hall, Shepard opened his portfolio. Milne was immediately delighted with the drawings and agreed that Shepard should illustrate the poems. The young artist left Cotchford Farm clutching his portfolio a very happy young man. However, two weeks later, Milne began to regret his 'hasty' decision and changed his mind. Fortunately, his older and wiser friends, including F.H. Townsend and E.V. Lucas reassured him – and history was made.However, there is little doubt about the origins of the bear and I am very grateful to Gordon Crossley, the Regimental Historian of The Fort Garry Horse in Winnipeg, Canada, who generously gave me the background history of the original Winnie, the American black bear cub who was the inspiration for A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, the loveable Bear of Very Little Brain.
Lieutenant Colebourn with Winnie on Salisbury Plain, ≈December, 1914© Manitoba Archives, WinnipegIn 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, his train made a stop at White River 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, as Harry had been assigned to the Headquarters of that formation. One of the units in the 2nd Brigade was the 6th (Fort Garry) Battalion, which had been formed from Harry’s old unit, the 34th Fort Garry Horse.
Lieutenant Colebourn with Winnie on Salisbury Plain, ≈December, 1914© Manitoba Archives, WinnipegIn 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, his train made a stop at White River 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, as Harry had been assigned to the Headquarters of that formation. One of the units in the 2nd Brigade was the 6th (Fort Garry) Battalion, which had been formed from Harry’s old unit, the 34th Fort Garry Horse.
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