Henry Tandey

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Pte Henry Tandy VC, DCM, MM

Henry Tandey VC, DCM, MM (30 August 1891-20 December 1977) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was the most highly decorated British private soldier of the First World War but, by a supreme irony, he is most famous for sparing the life of a soldier who was later identified as Adolf Hitler, probably at Marcoing, France on 28 September 1918.

1 Details
2 Tandey and Hitler
3 Further information
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Details

He was 27 years old, and a private in the 5th Battalion, The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

On 28 September 1918 at Marcoing, France, during the counter-attack after the capture of the village and river crossing, Private Tandey's platoon was held up by machine-gun fire, he crawled forward, located the gun and with a Lewis gun team, knocked it out. Arriving at the river crossing, he restored the plank bridge under a hail of bullets. Later in the evening, during an attack he, with eight comrades, was surrounded by an overwhelming number of the enemy. Although the position seemed hopeless, he led a bayonet charge, fighting so fiercely that 37 of the enemy were driven into the hands of the remainder of his company.

[edit] Tandey and Hitler

In an incident probably after the battle at Marcoing on 28 September 1918, Tandey aimed at a German soldier but (because he saw he was wounded and offered no resistance) decided not to shoot. The soldier, one Adolf Hitler, seems to have viewed this as a mystical experience, contributing to his sense of invulnerability and destiny. Hitler subsequently saw a newspaper report about Tandey being awarded the VC, recognized his photo, and kept it. Tandey, now a war hero, was featured in a famous painting by Italian artist Fortunino Matania, carrying a wounded soldier at Ypres. In 1937 Hitler asked Tandey's old regiment for a large photograph of the painting, which was sent. Captain Weidmann, Hitler's Adjutant, wrote the following response: 'I beg to acknowledge your friendly gift which has been sent to Berlin through the good offices of Dr. Schwend. The Fuhrer is naturally very interested in things connected with his own war experiences, and he was obviously moved when I showed him the picture and explained the thought which you had in causing it to be sent to him. He has directed me to send you his best thanks for your friendly gift which is so rich in memories.' Hitler also obtained a copy of Tandey's service record.[1]

In 1938 when Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler at his alpine retreat, the Berghof, for discussions that led to the Munich Agreement, he saw the picture and asked about it. Hitler said "that man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again, providence saved me from such devilishly accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us". He also asked Chamberlain to convey his best wishes and gratitude to Tandey, so Chamberlain promised to phone Tandey in person on his return, which he did.

At the outbreak of the Second World War Tandey tried to rejoin his regiment to make sure "he didn't escape a second time" but failed the physical because of old war wounds. Ironically he was living in Coventry when the Luftwaffe bombed it in 1940, and only survived a collapsing building by sheltering in a doorway. He was also in London during the Blitz and told a journalist in 1940, "if only I had known what he would turn out to be. When I saw all the people, woman and children he had killed and wounded I was sorry to God I let him go".

(Note that there is some evidence that the original incident occurred instead in 1914 at the First Battle of Ypres, which both men were also involved in. For full details see [2].)

[edit] Further information

He later achieved the rank of Sergeant.
Private Tandey donated his medals to the Duke of Wellington's regimental Museum (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England). On special occasions he would sign them out to wear. Regretfully, after the last time he signed them out he died, before they were returned. Unknowingly, the medals were sold and a private collector subsequently presented the medals to the Regimental Museum of the Green Howards, a regiment in which he had earlier served. The 'Dukes' were amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Green Howards', all Yorkshire-based regiments in the King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment on the 6 June 2006.