The
military code of conduct changes over time. During WWI, one would
expect that despite the horrifying circumstances, wounded enemies should
not be shot down like clay pigeons. Nevertheless, that is exactly what
had happened most of the time. Private Henry Tandey thought otherwise.
Henry
Tandey was born into a military family in 1891. On 12 August 1910, he
joined the Green Howards line infantry regiment of the British Army.
Prior to the outbreak of WWI, he was posted in Guernsey and South
Africa.
His achievements made him the
single most decorated private soldier in WWI. In October 1914, he took
part in the battle of Ypres in Belgium, where the British forces
suffered great casualties from the German enemy. The ending scene with
Tandey carrying a soldier wounded in this battle with no clear outcome
was later depicted by an Italian artist, Fortunino Matania. Years later,
this picture will be in the spotlight of an international controversy
that will haunt Tandey for the rest of his life.
Two
years later, in August 1916, he fought in France, in the Second Battle
of Cambrai during the Hundred Days Offensive. His resoluteness in
storming across the no man’s land in order to bomb the German trenches
and the subsequent capturing of 20 prisoners earned him the
Distinguished Conduct Medal. Two weeks later, he repeated the scenario,
returning with a bunch of prisoners yet again. This earned him the
Military Medal.
