Henry James Tandey, (born Tandy, 30 August 1891 – 20 December 1977) was a British soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the second most highly decorated British private of the First World War and is most commonly remembered as the soldier who allegedly spared Adolf Hitler's life near the end of the war. Born with the family name of Tandy, he later changed his surname to Tandey after problems with his father, and because of this, some military records have a different spelling of his name.
Early life
Henry James Tandey was born at the Angel Hotel, Regent Street, Leamington, Warwickshire, the son of a former soldier whose wife had died early in their child's life. He attended St Peter's primary school in Augusta Place, Leamington. He also spent part of his childhood in an orphanage before becoming a boiler attendant at a hotel.
Military service
Tandey enlisted into the Green Howards on 12 August 1910. After basic training he was posted to the 2nd Battalion of the regiment on 23 January 1911, serving with them in Guernsey and South Africa prior to the outbreak of World War I. He took part in the Battle of Ypres in October 1914, and was wounded on 24 October 1916, at the Battle of the Somme. On discharge from hospital he was posted to the 3rd Battalion on 5 May 1917, before moving to the 9th Battalion on 11 June 1917. He was wounded a second time on 27 November 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele. After his second period of hospital treatment he returned to the 3rd Battalion, on 23 January 1918, before being posted to the 12th Battalion on 15 March 1918, where he remained until 26 July 1918. On 26 July 1918 Tandey transferred from the Green Howards to The Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment). He was posted to their 5th Battalion on 27 July 1918.
Distinguished Conduct Medal
On 28 August 1918, during the Second Battle of Cambrai, the 5th Battalion was in action to the west of the Canal du Nord. Tandey was in charge of one of several bombing parties on the German trenches. As the forward parties were being held up Tandey took two men and dashed across open ground (No man's land) under fire and bombed a trench. He returned with twenty prisoners. This action led to the capture of the German positions and Tandey was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) on 5 December 1918, the citation read:
On 12 September, the 5th Battalion was involved in an attack at Havrincourt, where Tandey again distinguished himself. Having rescued several wounded men under fire the previous day,
Victoria Cross
Tandey was 27 years old and a private in the 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment when he performed the actions which earned him the Victoria Cross (VC).
On 28 September 1918, during a counter-attack at the canal, following the capture of Marcoing, France, his platoon was stopped by machine-gun fire. Tandey crawled forward, located the gun position and with a Lewis gun team, silenced it. Reaching the canal crossing, he restored the plank bridge under heavy fire. In the evening, he and eight comrades were surrounded by an overwhelming number of the enemy. Tandey led a bayonet charge, fighting so fiercely that 37 of the enemy were driven into the hands of the remainder of his company. Although twice wounded, Tandey refused to leave until the fight was won, eventually going into hospital for the third time on 4 October 1918.
An eyewitness, Private H Lister, recounted the episode:
His VC was gazetted on 14 December 1918, the citation read:
Alleged encounter with Adolf Hitler
thumb|[[Fortunino Matania painting inspired by the accounts of Tandey's regiment, later appropriated by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler]]
Although disputed, Tandey allegedly encountered Adolf Hitler at the French village of Marcoing on 28 September 1918, while Tandey was serving with the 5th Duke of Wellington's Regiment. That day, Tandey took part in a battle for which he would be awarded the VC for bravery. As the battle neared its end, a wounded German soldier wandered into Tandey's line of fire and he chose not to shoot. The German soldier saw him lower his rifle and nodded his thanks before wandering off. Although Tandey reputedly commonly spared wounded and disarmed German soldiers, the soldier from that day is dubiously claimed to have been Hitler. Hitler, however, took his second leave from military service from 10 to 28 September 1918, indicating that he was still in Germany at the time. Tandey was decorated with the VC in late 1919, after which reports of the ceremony circulated with a picture of Tandey carrying a wounded soldier during the First Battle of Ypres (1914), which Hitler may have become aware of. Hitler's adjutant, Captain Fritz Wiedemann, wrote Schwend in response:
In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler at the Berghof for talks that led to the Munich Agreement, noticed the painting and asked about it. who at the time lived at 22 Cope Street, Coventry, and worked for the Triumph Motor Company. Neither that company nor British Telecommunications record a telephone line registered to Tandey's address in 1938.
Post-war service
On 13 March 1919 a supplement to The London Gazette announced that Tandey had been awarded the Military Medal (MM).
Tandey became a commissionaire at the Standard Triumph Works, Fletchamstead a position he held for 38 years. Tandey died in 1977, childless, at the age of 86. At his request, he was cremated and his ashes buried in the Masnieres British Cemetery at Marcoing, France, on 23 May 1978, by his undertaker Pargetter and Son. Due to French laws it was not permissible for his ashes to be scattered, or any form of ceremony or commemoration made to him. Henry Tandey Court, in Union Road, in Leamington Spa, is named after him. It was originally a workshop and builders yard of Mr. G.F.Smith, who built St. Marks Church and Vicarage. A blue plaque was installed outside the Angel Hotel where Henry Tandey was born and at St Peter's School.
Medals
Tandey donated his medals to the Duke of Wellington's Regiment Museum in Halifax, West Yorkshire. On special occasions and parades he would sign them out to wear. During the last period that he had signed them out, he died. Unaware that the medals should have been returned to the museum, the medals were auctioned at Sotheby's in London by his wife and a private collector subsequently purchased them. They were presented to the Green Howards Regimental Museum (the regiment in which he had earlier served), by Sir Ernest Harrison OBE, at a ceremony in the Tower of London on 11 November 1997, twenty years after Tandey died.
A copy of Tandey's Victoria Cross is now displayed at the Green Howards Regimental Museum in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Along with others, the original VC is kept in a local bank vault.
On 6 June 2006 The Green Howards and the Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire to form the Yorkshire Regiment.
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{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:silver; text-align:center;"
|Ribbon || Description || Notes
|-
|40px || Victoria Cross (VC) || 14 December 1918
|-
|40px || Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) || 5 December 1918
|-
|40px || British War Medal ||
|-
|40px || Victory Medal || With Mentioned in dispatches Oakleaf
|-
|40px || Defence Medal || Awarded for his Service as an Air Raid Warden in Coventry during the Blitz.
|-
|40px || King George VI Coronation Medal || 1937 – Given to all living recipients of the Victoria Cross.
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal || 1953 – Given to all living recipients of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross.
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal || 1977 – Given to all living recipients of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross.
|}
Notes
References
Sources
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
External links
- Location of grave and VC medal (Warwickshire)
- How a Right Can Make A Wrong (First World War Article, an Urban Myth – see this article's Talk Page)