Winnie-the-Pooh and WWI: 100 Years of a Veteran’s Creation for His Son

Today is “Winnie-the-Pooh Day,” the anniversary of the birth of Pooh author A.A.Milne. While many people now associate the stuffed “hunny”-loving bear with Disney, the character was born of a World War I veteran’s struggle to recover from the war and relate with his little son.

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What does Winnie-the-Pooh’s popped balloon and failed intrusion into a beehive have to do with  one of the most devastating battles of WWI? And how did a teddy bear help a traumatized veteran heal emotionally and psychologically while creating a special bond with his young son?

Alan Alexander Milne joined the British military at the outbreak of the First World War, and in 1915 was commissioned an officer in the 4th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment,