An amazing story

[calypso]

Probably been posted before, But I can't see it anywhere.

Snopes reports it as being true.

http://strive2be.vox.com/library/post/w ... mercy.html

[forthbridge]

Not surprising.

War is a terrible thing, and it's easy to paint the enemy as Evil - but there are plenty stories of acts of the highest order from both sides.

Can't recall many 'in the air' like this, but unless the grey matter is wrong, I am sure I red somewhere about a handful of Brits (and some french citizens) being found in a barn near to the coast, and I think it went along the lines of 'the German soldier looked me straight in the eye, with surprise' - but went away leaving them. Not sure what happened after that, but it was early-ish in the war...

This was particularly true in the Naval service of the last war - I recommend a read of this site:
http://www.sscityofcairo.co.uk/

The U-boat commander
http://www.sscityofcairo.co.uk/u68.php

His letter to the Times
http://www.sscityofcairo.co.uk/merten_letter.php

[Nigel H-J]

What a wonderful story.

Nigel.

[nazca_steve]

Defintely a great story there. I wonder in the case of Forthbridge's recollection of the soldiers in the barn story, that the German in question wasn't worried about being hugely overwhelmed if he was outnumbered! I know I might have done the same thing.

Aside from our enemies not being inherently 'evil', there is the other fact that not all soldiers want to kill even if they are in combat. Look at Harry Patch, the last Brit WW1 veteran who spoke about the oath between him and his Lewis gun team to shoot to wound rather than kill when possible. It is heartening to read these stories and find that in bad times, people still react with humanity as well as brutality.