Harry Colebourn
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Harry Colebourn (1887 - Sept. 24, 1947) was born in Birmingham, England, and immigrated to Canada when he was a teenager. He attended the Ontario Veterinary College, receiving his degree in Veterinary Surgery, and moved west to Winnipeg, Manitoba. As he was heading across Canada by train to the front lines of WWI, he came across a hunter in Ontario who had a bear for sale. The hunter had killed the female cub's mother and sold the cub to Colebourn. Colebourn named it "Winnie," after his adopted hometown, and took it across the Atlantic with him, where it became his unit's mascot. While Colebourn was in France, he kept Winnie at the London Zoo where he eventually donated her. It was there that A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin encoutered Winnie. 1
Colebourn eventually returned to Canada and reached the rank of major. He is buried in Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg. There is presently a statue of Colebourn and Winnie in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo. The relationship between Colebourn and Winnie is recounted in the CBC television movie A Bear Named Winnie.
