Henry Tandey

Pte Henry Tandey VC, DCM, MM

Henry Tandey VC, DCM, MM (born August 30, 1891 in Leamington Spa , England , † December 20, 1977 in Coventry , England) served as a British private during the First World War , for which he u. a. the Victoria Cross , the Distinguished Conduct Medal (equivalent to the Distinguished Service Order ) and the Military Medal (equivalent to the Military Cross ) were awarded. Tandey was the most decorated British soldier of World War I in the team rank .

Life

The son of a former soldier spent part of his childhood in an orphanage before becoming a boiler attendant in a hotel.

On August 12, 1910, Tandey volunteered for the British Army . After basic training with the Green Howards Regiment , he served from January 23, 1911 in its 2nd Battalion, which was then stationed in Guernsey and South Africa. After the outbreak of World War I, Tandey took part in the Battle of Ypres in October 1914 . On October 24, 1916, he was wounded in the Battle of the Somme . After his discharge from the hospital on May 5, 1917, he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion and then to the 9th Battalion on June 11, 1917. On November 27, 1917, he was wounded again near Passchendaele . After his second stay in the hospital, he returned to the 3rd Battalion on January 23, 1918, before being transferred to the 12th Battalion on March 15, 1918. On July 26, 1918, Tandey transferred to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and served from July 27, 1918 in its 5th Battalion.

Alleged incident with Hitler

Tandey and the then private of the 16th Kgl. Bay. Reserve Infantry Regiment Adolf Hitler is said to have met on September 28, 1918 near Marcoing . According to the story, Tandey ran into the line of fire at the time a tired German soldier who was wounded and did not even try to point his rifle. He therefore decided not to shoot. When the German soldier saw Tandey lower his rifle, he nodded in thanks and strayed away.

Tandey, who was meanwhile a war hero, was immortalized in a painting that was commissioned by the Green Howards Regiment from the Italian artist Fortunino Matania . It shows Tandey carrying an injured soldier on his back during the Battle of Ypres . Hitler later found out that it was Tandey who at the time led the raiding party on the position of his unit in Marcoing and that there was a painting that depicted this Tandey. In 1935 he asked the regiment for a large photograph of the painting, which he also received - in addition to a copy of Tandey's military ID card. Hitler apparently recognized Tandey because his adjutant, Captain Weidmann, wrote the following answer to the regiment:

“[…] The Führer is naturally interested in everything that concerns him as a participant in the war. He was deeply moved when I showed him the painting. He asked me to express his deepest thanks for the kind present that is so rich in memories. "

While Tandey later regretted not having shot, Hitler blamed it divine for not having been killed then. In September 1938, when Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler in his summer residence, Berghof as part of the Munich Conference , he was invited by Hitler to his Kehlsteinhaus . There he noticed the photo of the painting and inquired about it, whereupon Hitler explained:

“This man was so close to killing me. At the time I thought I won't see Germany again. Providence saved me from the diabolical precision with which the English boys shot us. "

Chamberlain called Tandey on his return from Munich at Hitler's request and told him Hitler's best wishes and gratitude.

There are several things that make this story, which has been circulating since 1940, improbable. Tandey told a local British newspaper in 1939: “They say I met Hitler. That may be, but I definitely don't remember him ”. In addition, according to the historian Thomas Weber , Hitler served in the stage and therefore did not see much of what was happening in the trenches. The alleged incident may well be an invention of Hitler. Weber also says Hitler had a great talent for telling the people he met, in this case Chamberlain, exactly what they would like to hear. So Chamberlain, desperate for peace in 1938, was told a story of renouncing violence. The fact that Hitler was supposedly spared by the war hero Tandey, the most highly decorated simple British soldier of the First World War, also put Hitler in a good light. Hitler makes his own survival seem fateful, if not divinely willed.

post war period

He was discharged from the army on March 14, 1919, but the next day he rejoined the 3rd Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and was promoted to Lance Corporal on March 18, 1919 . On February 4, 1921, he transferred to the 2nd Battalion, where four days later he asked to be demoted to private again. From April 11, 1922 to February 18, 1923, Tandey served in Gibraltar , from February 19 to August 23, 1923 in Turkey and finally from August 24, 1923 to September 29, 1925 in Egypt . He left the Army for good on January 5, 1926 , now with the rank of sergeant , returned to Leamington, married and worked as a security guard , most recently at Triumph .

Tandey died childless in 1977 at the age of 86. At his request, his ashes were to be scattered in the Masnières British Cemetery in Marcoing. His urn was ultimately buried in a crematorium in Coventry.

Tandey bequeathed his awards to the museum of the Duke of Wellington's Regiment during his lifetime. After his death, however, his widow had them auctioned off at Sotheby’s . Today they are in the possession of the Museum of the Green Howards Regiment.

literature

• David Harvey: Monuments to Courage. The Naval & Military Press, 2000, ISBN 1-84342-356-1 .
• David Johnson: One soldier and Hitler, 1918 - The story of Henry Tandey VC DCM MM . The History Press, Gloucestershire 2012, ISBN 978-0752466132

Individual evidence

1. ^ Medal entitlement of: Sergeant Henry TANDEY, 5th Bn, The Yorkshire Regiment . On: victoriacross.org.uk
2. ↑ ^{a b c} How a Right Can Make a Wrong . On: firstworldwar.com
3. ↑ painting
4. ↑ ^{a b} Hendrik Bebber: How Adolf Hitler was given life . On: berliner-zeitung.de on July 31, 1997
5. ↑ Sep 28, 1918: British soldier allegedly spares the life of an injured Adolf Hitler . On: history.com
6. ^ RP ONLINE: Henry Tandey: The soldier who did not shoot Adolf Hitler in 1918. Retrieved May 17, 2018 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Location of the grave and the awards ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . At: homeusers.prestel.co.uk  
8. ^ David Johnson: One soldier and Hitler, 1918 - The story of Henry Tandey VC DCM MM . The History Press, Gloucestershire 2012, ISBN 978-0-7524-6613-2 . Pp. 127-128
9. ↑ Victoria Cross Recipients ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: dwr.org.uk