The Coincidence Of The Old Soldier Who Found The Person Who Rescued Him 50 Years Ago

A coincidence example about an old soldier and how he was able to contact the person who rescued him over 50 years ago during World War 2.

It was supposed to be 23 year old pilot Jack Dack's 33rd and final mission before heading back to Melbourne in Australia. As he flew over Holland on October 23rd 1944 his Lancaster bomber was shot down by enemy fire.

Before the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) pilot knew what was happening he found himself virtually unconscious in the ice cold River Sheldt at Flushing and was slowly drowning. His crew had been killed.

A German anti-aircraft marine spotted Jack through his binoculars and did a remarkable thing. Against the orders of his officers he set out in an inflatable dinghy to try and rescue him. It was brave to do as, besides ignoring his officers wishes, there was a gale blowing, the river had a fast current and he had to travel through minefields.

The Gods were on his side and he managed to rescue the injured Aussie airman, though Jack Dack remembers very little of this. He was taken prisoner but his life had been saved.

The RAAF pilot always wondered who had saved him from certain death.

Winding forward over 50 years, Jack had a friend in Holland and he had been reading a local newsletter. In this there was a story about a German who, during the war, had managed to rescue what he thought was a British airman from the river at Flushing.

Jack's Dutch friend sent him the article, which was about a soldier called Hans Bannick of Kiel.

As good fortune often goes in coincidence stories Jack's son, Stuart, happened to be working in Germany at the time of the article being received. He managed to find an address and phone number for a Hans Bannick in Kiel.

A very nervous Jack made a phone call to Germany and sure enough it was Hans who had rescued him all of those years ago. Jack has written: "He answered the phone himself and he spoke English and he was my rescuer. We had a long and happy talk. Since then we have exchanged before and after photos and stories."

Since the phone call the two old soldiers have met face to face and Jack said of this "The first thing I said to him, in German, was thank you, thank you, thank you for 57 years of my life."

As for the Hans Bannick he remembers how an officer told him that it was senseless to go and risk his life for an enemy as he was a terrorist airman who had participated in allied air raids on the Heimat (Homeland) and who perhaps had tried to murder his relations in Germany.

Bannick, however, ignored this and ventured out into the river without a helmet or weapons and carried out the rescue.

Though this is essentially a coincidence story we can all probably read much more into it.

For those interested in such things Jack Dack's Pilots Record can be seen here.

This post has previously been published on 67 Not Out blog.

Other Coincidence Examples:
A Postcard From His Wife's Dead Uncle
The Meeting Up In Greece Coincidence Story
Mother And Daughter Unite By Unique Twist Of Fate

Missing Presumed Killed Coincidence

This is a coincidence story which revolves around Richard William Edwards (Bill) and his next door neighbour William Eric Killey. Two men who, like many others, took part in active service during World War II.

The story is in the words of Bill's son Philip Edwards. Here is what he writes:

"I was always fascinated to hear my dad's wartime exploits. At the time, we lived in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales.

Nearly every Sunday as a child, in that limbo time after Children's Hour and Sunday Night at the London Palladium being on television, in my imagination I'd march with my dad through the desert of North Africa: me, dad and Monty.

Some nights, he'd bring out his leather wallet full of treasures from North Africa, and we'd sit down and mull through them together.

Sadly, he died in 1998. The leather wallet was passed on to me.

I used the material from the wallet to create some learning materials for my school children (I teach 10 year olds). Deep down in the wallet I found a newspaper clipping which told the story of my dad's next door neighbour, William Eric Killey, and how he was lost at sea. I added the clipping to the material because it showed that war isn't a Boy's Own Adventure, but something that is sad and serious.

Last Summer, my wife and I took a trip to the Scilly Isles. What a wonderful holiday destination. Why would anybody want to go to Spain?

Anyway, on the last day of the holiday, we walked over to Old Town and looked around the graveyard to find Harold Wilson's grave (ex UK Prime Minister). It took some finding, but eventually we found his resting place.

Then, on the way out, something really strange happened. I tripped and stumbled. My hand reached out to a gravestone to steady myself. Then I noticed the name on the grave: William Eric Killey. HMS Warwick.

Strange coincidence? Or did he want to be found?

This story is also published on WW2 Peoples' War which is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC.

Other Coincidence and Synchronicity Stories:
The Giant WW2 Soldier Coincidence
67 Years After The D-Day Landings They Meet By Coincidence
Coincidences United Two People In Need

Pilot Meets German Who Saved His Life In WW2

A coincidence story today about an old soldier and how he was able to contact the person who rescued him over 50 years ago during World War 2.

It was supposed to be 23 year old pilot Jack Dack's 33rd and final mission before heading back to Melbourne in Australia. As he flew over Holland on October 23rd 1944 his Lancaster bomber was shot down by enemy fire.

Before the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) pilot knew what was happening he found himself virtually unconscious in the ice cold River Sheldt at Flushing and was slowly drowning. His crew had been killed.

A German anti-aircraft marine spotted Jack through his binoculars and did a remarkable thing. Against the orders of his officers he set out in an inflatable dinghy to try and rescue him. It was brave to do as, besides ignoring his officers wishes, there was a gale blowing, the river had a fast current and he had to travel through minefields.

The Gods were on his side and he managed to rescue the injured Aussie airman, though Jack Dack remembers very little of this. He was taken prisoner but his life had been saved.

The RAAF pilot always wondered who had saved him from certain death.

Winding forward over 50 years, Jack had a friend in Holland and he had been reading a local newsletter. In this there was a story about a German who, during the World War II, had managed to rescue what he thought was a British airman from the river at Flushing.

Jack's Dutch friend sent him the article, which was about a soldier called Hans Bannick of Kiel.

As good fortune often goes in coincidence stories Jack's son, Stuart, happened to be working in Germany at the time of the article being received. He managed to find an address and phone number for a Hans Bannick in Kiel.

A very nervous Jack made a phone call to Germany and sure enough it was Hans who had rescued him all of those years ago. Jack has written: "He answered the phone himself and he spoke English and he was my rescuer. We had a long and happy talk. Since then we have exchanged before and after photos and stories."

Since the phone call the two old soldiers have met face to face and Jack said of this "The first thing I said to him, in German, was thank you, thank you, thank you for 57 years of my life."

As for the Hans Bannick he remembers how an officer told him that it was senseless to go and risk his life for an enemy as he was a terrorist airman who had participated in allied air raids on the Heimat (Homeland) and who perhaps had tried to murder his relations in Germany.

Bannick, however, ignored this and ventured out into the river without a helmet or weapons and carried out the rescue.

Though this is essentially a coincidence story we can all probably read much more into it.

For those interested in such things Jack Dack's Pilots Record can be seen here.

Further Coincidence Stories:
World War 2 Egg Custard Coincidence
Coincidences Which Solved The Mystery Of The WW2 Giant
Afghanistan War Coincidence With The 1800s

The Giant WW2 Soldier Coincidence

This coincidence story was first published on the 67 Not Out blog.

During the second world war the fighting that Corporal Bob Roberts, of the Canadian North Shore New Brunswick Regiment, experienced was fierce in Calais, France. Allied troops were trying to stop the Germans shelling Dover, England from five gun emplacements.

Eventually the Germans' surrendered and gradually they laid down their weapons. Mr Roberts remembers the action and also how he and his comrades captured Jacob Nacken, who was the tallest man in the German army at 7ft 6in.

Bob Roberts was given the job of frisking Nacken and this brought a lighter moment at the end of such fierce fighting - Bob is only 5ft 3" and even the captured Germans' sniggered and laughed as he frisked the 7ft 6in man.

Bob Roberts, who now lives in Bournemouth, England, is 87 years old - he married an English girl - and often wondered whatever happened to the giant soldier. He never even new his name.

Moving forward 65 years and amateur historian, Rob Smith, sets out to try and trace his mother's Canadian wartime sweetheart. In doing so he comes across the bizarre photo of the diminutive soldier frisking an extremely tall German in some obscure archive.

By coincidence the man he was trying to trace was in the same Canadian regiment as Corporal Bob Roberts. He then found out, by a further coincidence, that Bob lived just a mile away from his mother in England.

Bob was contacted and sent a copy of the photo. The mystery of the 7ft 6in soldier he met in the war was solved. He said, "I couldn't believe it when I received the photo after all these years. It took me back to a moment of light heartedness so soon after I had been a blink of an eye from death."

He added, "I never knew his name, only that he was a lance corporal. He spoke very good English ... it's quite incredible that after all these years I have found out who this guy was."

As for Jakob Nacken he died at 80. After the war he went to New York and was signed up as the World's Biggest Father Christmas. He moved on to work in the circus business as The Giant Uranus. The highlight of his career was in 1959 when he appeared in Ripley's Believe It Or Not on Broadway. He was often billed as The Tallest Man In The World. Photo: BNPS

Further Reading:
A Coincidence Thousands Of Miles From Home
She Was Topless In Front Of Her Postman
General Montgomery's Double In WW2

World War 2 Egg Custard Coincidence

This is a story from the BBC's WW2 Wartime Memories Archives and was submitted by Genevieve. It tells of how an egg custard saved a life.

Let me set the scene. It is 1941, at the start of the Blitz, the 10th of January. The place is Southsea in Portsmouth near the railway lines at Fratton. Our family consisted of my dad George, my mum Rene, my elder sister Muriel, and I am Roy who had his 5th birthday a few months earlier. Dad worked as a printer and travelled daily to Gosport, and in the evening served as a member of the ARP (Air Raid Precautions), that much maligned band of people who are so badly served by the TV image.

On this particular evening during which the air raid warning had sounded, we had finished our tea and Dad was talking about going on duty, but Mum said that Dad was to have his egg custard before he left as she had made it especially for him. At that time fresh eggs were in short supply in the City. Dad dutifully ate his pudding and, while he was eating, two loud explosions suddenly shook the house and it was remarked that 'they were close'. Having finished his pudding, off he went.

From conversations afterwards it appeared that one of the explosions was a bomb that destroyed the ARP Post that Dad would have been in. At least one Warden was killed and one buried for a long time. Dad would not talk about this incident or any other subsequent events. But thanks to the egg custard, his life had been saved.

We remained in Southsea for the duration and suffered damage to our house, but that is another story. The story of the incident of the Egg Custard remained buried as a memory only to be revived by the history projects programme.

WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar

Other coincidences:
Coincidences United Two People In Need
The Girl They Met On A Train Coincidence Story
She Was Topless In Front Of Her Postman