Coincidence During the Battle for Crete World War 2

German Prisoners of Battle of Crete in World War II

This is a coincidence story from the Leicester Reference Library on behalf of Mr A.E Grogan. This is his story as part of the BBC's WW2 People's War which is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC.

"In 1934 at school to improve my German, I was given a pen friend - Hans Müller from Stuttgart.

He wrote in English, I replied in German. When we left our respective schools we lost touch.

In World War II, I was in the Battle of Crete (May 1941). Having blown our heavy guns to pieces in the evacuation of Greece, I was on Crete as a 'spare body'.

I was detailed to guard some paratroopers we had caught and tied to individual trees. They all spoke perfect English, and incredibly one of them was Hans Müller.

I tried to contact him after the war through the Red Cross at Stuttgart, but was told it was impossible as 'Müller' was a common German name like our Smith, Brown or Jones.

It was an amazing coincidence and I always regret that I was never able to subsequently re-establish contact, but it wasn't to be."

Other WW2 Coincidence Stories:
WW2 Code Names Found In Crosswords By Coincidence
The World War 2 Fractured Skull Coincidence
By Coincidence A Man Stumbles On A Missing WW2 Grave