HITLER’S ESCAPE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21214, 10 September 1940, Page 7

HITLER’S ESCAPE

ADOLF RAN FROM BAYONET V.C. SERGEANT’S STORY (Times Air Mail Service) LONDON, July 28. Meet the man who nearly killed Hitler—Sergeant Tandey, V.C., now a commissionaire at a Coventry motor works. When Mr Chamberlain visited Hitler in his nest at Berchtesgarden, the Fuehrer showed him a painting by Fortunino Mantania of a 1918 battle scene at Menin crossroads. Central figure of the painting was Sergeant Tandey. “That was nearly the scene of my death,” Hitler told Mr Chamberlain. “That man in the centre came so near to killing me that I thought I would never see Germany again.” The painting records the action for which Tandey gained his V.C. With his platoon, armed with two machine guns, he held up and later routed a large German contingent who had occupied a ridge a few hundred yards from the cross-roads. Charged Machine Gun Nest The Germans had 16 machine guns —and, serving one of them, was Corporal Adolf Hitler. For four days Tandey had the sights of his gun trained on members of the German gun crews, and one by one he polished them off. Hitler said to Mr Chamberlain: “Providence alone saved me from such devilishly accurate fire.” To get to the Germans a plank bridge had to be crossed, and most of the planks had been displaced. Under a hail of bullets, Tandey dashed forward, replaced the planks, and led his platoon charging across. Many of his comrades fell, and Tandey, with eight of his company, were surrounded. Instead of sur-

rendering, he gave orders: “Fix bayonets—charge! ” The nine men slashed through the Germans and took 37 prisoners. The rest turned tail and ran—led by Corporal Hitler. Sergeant Tandey is the only N.C.O. living with the right to wear the V.C., the D.C.M., the M.M. and the Mons Star. But none of these decorations consoles him when he thinks how different the world might be today had he got his gun-sights on that German corporal who could run so well.