By Ahmet Abdulaziz….
It’s an old story, but I came across it very recently. It is so interesting and captivating that I read it all in one go, and decided to share it in short here.
On 28th September 1918 (that was 104 years ago) when a Henry Tandey, a British private soldier serving in France, came across some wounded German soldiers, near the village of Marcoing, who were retreating. In his own words, “I took aim but couldn’t shoot a wounded man, so I let him go”. The wounded German soldier that he had let go, was said to be the 29 years old Lance Corporal, Adolf Hitler.
The story kept on circulating, and became subject of investigation by many, but could not pass all the tests applied. But still it remains an interesting event.
There are two facts related to this. One is that in fact Henry Tendey had let one or more wounded “enemy” German soldiers, go, when he was in a position of killing them all or most of them. Secondly, whether the German wounded Soldier who was allowed to go, and not shot at, was Adolf Hitler or not.
I personally am not interested in knowing if the German soldier was Adolf Hitler or not. But what seemed more appealing to me is the fact that the British Soldier, who could have killed the wounded, retreating German soldiers, decided to let them go. That’s very interesting, since it speaks of the fact that even in a situation when every soldier is out to kill the enemy, there still are some who feel mercy even for the enemies.
I am more interested in reading of what Henry Tandey had thought at that particular moment, when the German soldiers were at his mercy. From the point of view of a professional soldier, his act was non-professional. They too have got their valid point, since any of the wounded German soldier, might have ventured in opening fire at the British, evening knowing certain death of all of them, in retaliation, from the British soldiers.
But common sense prevailed at that moment of time. Neither the British, nor the Germans, entered into conflict. The Germans in fact were not in a position to go for any adventure, and the British were in a position to wipe them out. That once again proves that humanity always remains supreme, even when everyone is all out to kill others.
Again I repeat, that I am not at all interested if the wounded soldier was Adolf Hitler or someone else, but the act of Henry Tandey is worthy of praise for his action. But obviously he is not the only soldier in history who let the wounded enemy go. In every conflict, in every war, many a soldiers come across the same situation, where they find a wounded enemy soldier, at their mercy. The ultimate results in all such situations may not and are not the same, but it shows that nature always gives us a chance to show mercy to others, even to an enemy.
I wonder, how many soldiers from both sides, had come across such a situation in the Second World war, or in Vietnam, in Russia, in Syria and many more incidents of human killings. Unfortunately such incidents usually go unnoticed in the overall war environment, but I feel that there is a necessity for patronising and promoting such acts of humanity, when someone spares the life of an enemy.
sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-28593256
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