Henry Tandey Henry Tandey VC , DCM , MM ( 30 August 1891 – 20 December 1977 ) was an English 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 most highly decorated British private of the First World War . Early life . Tandey was born in Leamington , Warwickshire , the son of a former soldier . He spent part of his childhood in an orphanage , before becoming a boiler attendant at a hotel . Military service . Tandey enlisted into the Green Howards Regiment on 12 August 1910 . After basic training he was posted to their 2nd Battalion 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 : Military Medal . 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 , Tandey again led a bombing party into the German trenches , returning with more prisoners . For this action Tandey was awarded the Military Medal ( MM ) on 13 March 1919 . Note that his family name was Tandy , but he changed it to Tandey after problems with his father , therefore some military records have a different spelling of his name . 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 : Hitler incident . Although disputed , there is a story that Adolf Hitler and Tandey encountered each other after the battle at Marcoing ( in October 1914 , whilst Tandey was serving with the Green Howard ' s Regiment ) . The story relates that a weary German soldier wandered into Tandey ' s line of fire . The enemy soldier was wounded and did not even attempt to raise his own rifle . Tandey chose not to shoot . The German soldier saw him lower his rifle and nodded his thanks before wandering off . That soldier is purported to have been Adolf Hitler . Hitler apparently saw a newspaper report about Tandey being awarded the VC ( in October 1918 , whilst serving with the 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington ' s ( West Riding ) Regiment ) , recognized him , and kept the clipping . In 1937 Hitler was made aware of a Fortunino Matania painting , by Dr Otto Schwend , a member of his staff . Schwend had been a medical officer during the First Battle of Ypres in 1914 . He had been sent a copy of the painting by a Lieutenant Colonel Earle in 1936 . Earle had been treated by Schwend in a medical post at the Menin Crossroads and they remained in touch after the war . The painting was commissioned by the Green Howards Regiment from the Italian artist in 1923 , showing Tandey carrying a wounded man at the Kruiseke Crossroads in 1918 , northwest of Menin . The painting was made from a Sketch , provided to Matania , by the regiment , based on an actual event at that crossroads . A building shown behind Tandey in the painting belonged to the Van Den Broucke family , who were presented with a copy of the painting by the Green Howard ' s Regiment . Schwend obtained a large photo of the painting . Captain Weidemann , Hitler ' s adjutant , wrote the following response : ' I beg to acknowledge your friendly gift which has been sent to Berlin through the good offices of Dr . Schwend . The Führer is naturally very interested in things connected with his own war experiences , and he was obviously moved when I showed him the photograph and explained the thought which you had in causing it to be sent to him . He was obviously moved when I showed him the picture . He has directed me to send you his best thanks for your friendly gift which is so rich in memories . ' The Daily Telegraph ran an article about the painting being sent to Hitler on 28 July 1997 , following a mention of it in the Regimental Journal . Apparently Hitler identified the soldier carrying the wounded man as Tandey from the photo of him in the newspaper clipping he had obtained in 1918 . In 1938 , when Neville Chamberlain visited Hitler at his alpine retreat , the Berghof , for the discussions that led to the Munich Agreement , he noticed the painting and asked about it . Hitler replied , " that man came so near to killing me that I thought I should never see Germany again ; Providence saved me from such devilishly accurate fire as those English boys were aiming at us " . Hitler apparently asked Chamberlain to convey his best wishes and gratitude to Tandey . Chamberlain promised to phone Tandey in person on his return , which apparently he did . The Cadbury Research Centre , which holds copies of Chamberlains papers and diaries , has no references relating to Tandey from the records of the 1938 meeting . The story further states that the phone was answered by a nine year old child called William Whateley . William was related to Tandeys wife Edith . However Tandey at that time lived at 22 Cope Street , Coventry and worked for the Standard Motor Company According to the company records they only had three phone lines , none of which was at Tandey ' s address . British Telecommunications archive records also have no telephones registered to that 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 ) . The following day he was discharged from service and only one day later he re - enlisted into the Duke of Wellington ' s 3rd Battalion on a ' Short Service Engagement ' . Three days later ( 18 March 1919 ) he was promoted to acting lance corporal . He remained with the 3rd Battalion on ' Home Service ' until 4 February 1921 , when he transferred to the 2nd Battalion . Four days later on 8 February 1921 he requested to revert to the rank of private . Tandey served with the 2nd Battalion in Gibraltar from 11 April 1922 to 18 February 1923 , in Turkey from 19 February – 23 August 1923 and finally in Egypt from 24 August 1923 until 29 September 1925 . He was finally discharged from the army on 5 January 1926 . In addition to his major awards Tandey had also been Mentioned in Despatches on five occasions . He was personally decorated by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 17 December 1919 . Post - war years . Tandey returned to Leamington and married . 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 to him . Henry Tandey Court , on Union Road , in Leamington , 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 is to be installed outside the Angel Hotel in Regent Street , where Henry Tandey was born in 1891 and where he attended the local St Peter ’ s School . Medals . Tandey donated his medals to the Duke of Wellington ' s Regimental 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 Regimental Museum of The Green Howards ( 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 , Richmond , North Yorkshire , England . 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 .