The Story of Henry Tandey VC DCM MM. Henry Tandey was the most highly decorated British Private of the First World War. He was also the man Hitler claimed spared his life during a firefight in 1918. This book will tell the story of Henry's and Hitler's war, the moment when their lives became intertwined, whether Hitler told the truth about the battle, and how Henry lived with the stigma of being the man who let Hitler live.