Keskustelu:Henry Tandey

Englanninkielisesen artikkelin keskustelusivulla en:Talk:Henry Tandey väitetään, että kohtaus Hitlerin kanssa olisi pelkkä urbaani myytti. 194.100.223.164 30. tammikuuta 2009 kello 11.01 (EET)

Tarkoitat varmaankin legendaa, enkä tiedä kuinka urbaanikaan se nyt on. Asiaa sietää silti tarkastella.

Tandy ja Hitler - An Urban Myth!

The story of Tandey and Hitler has been taken off the English Wikipedia because it is alleged to be an urban myth (a story long told and passed around that many believe it must be true when in fact there is little or no evidence, or indeed contradictory evidence). There are often several versions of these stories as they get changed by people who hear them. The story on the World War I web site is just one of them. No doubt someone much later, with a black sense of humour, knowing the painting, put out a story that Tandey the War Hero had actually had Hitler on his back! It is VERY unlikely, but of course quote funny (which is how many Urban Myths come into being - they then develop a whole life of their own).

There is a long explanation on the Talk page but it seems to focus on the following issues

1. Hitler had been on leave and was probably still travelling back to the front at the time of the incident in the painting
2. Hitler's regiment was, in any case, 50 miles (80Km) north of the place depicted at that time
3. Is it likely that Hitler would have seen the painting in a newspaper? Again quote unlikely. It was a privately commissioned painting for the regiment.
4. If Hitler had known Tandey, someone in Germany would probably have had to ask for a photo of the painting to copy it. The letter would be in the records of the regiment in England in which Tandey served. But there is no such letter.
5. The uniiform of the man in the painting is that of a different regiment from Tandey's own regiment. The man in the painting cannot be Tandey.
6. The story at firstworldwar.com gets other details wrong... such as the place which the painting depicts. It is badly researched (as was an earlier story in The Daily Telegraph newspaper)
7. The actions for which Tandey was awarded his medal happened in 1918. The event in the painting took place in 1914.

The wikipedia editor making these comments claims to be the archivist for the regiment in which Tandey served. He should know a thing or two!

I strongly suggest that reference in the Finnish Language Wikipedia to Hitler in this article (and the reference to Tandey in the Adolf Hitler article be removed.

(Sorry that I write in English. Finnish is not my mother tongue. Maybe some person can summarise in Finnish the reasons I have given and do the honour of deleting these references,, or at least make clear the allegations are urban myth and not representative of a true event.)

Oh, and thanks to another Henry for pointing me to this story in the Finnish WP - - even if I have to break to him tomorrow the bad news to him that it just isn't true. --FactChecker 19. maaliskuuta 2009 kello 04.53 (EET)

At the time I added the story here, there was what seemed to be a healthy base of sources confirming the myth: Wartime articles, newer articles and it was even mentioned in few books. This is the problem at the moment. There are no sources which could confirm it as a myth, even though I'm very certain it is. However, there exists a plethora of sources which will work for the opposite. I've been discussing it with few British gentlemen and I've been planning to write another article about Hitler related myths and I'd like to add a chapter about Henry Tandey being merciful there, but again, I haven't been able to find reliable sources. Discussion in Talk page is not something I could refer to as a reliable source, even if it's true, as you very well know.--Ukas 26. toukokuuta 2009 kello 16.34 (EEST)