Master plan or free will?

One of the interesting sub-themes raised by a few people in yesterday's comment thread was the issue of whether life and death were part of some master plan (meaning controlled by a Higher Power), or simply random events (meaning controlled by human free will).

It's funny that in the midst of this discussion (but unrelated to it), I received an email from a friend inviting me to participate in a discussion of the actions - perhaps more correctly 'inaction' - of an English soldier in WWI; Private Henry Tandey.  In light of the [perhaps] coincidental timing of the email, I've decided to invite you all to the discussion:

For most of you the name Henry Tandey won't ring a bell, so allow me to provide some background information:

According to records from his Regiment (The Green Howards), Private Tandey spent the 28th of September, 1918 helping to capture a French village called Marcoing from the German forces holding it.  During the fighting for the village and its crossing...

"His platoon was held up by machine-gun fire.   He at once crawled forward, located the machine gun with a Lewis gun team and knocked it out.   On arrival at the crossings he restored the plank bridge under a hail of bullets, thus enabling the first crossing to be made at this vital spot.   Later in the evening, during an attack, he, with eight comrades was surrounded by an overwhelming number of Germans and, though the position was apparently hopeless, he led a bayonet charge through them, fighting so fiercely that thirty seven of the enemy were driven into the hands of the remainder of his company.   Although twice wounded, he refused to leave until the fight was won."

For these actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross, 'the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces'.

However, during that same campaign (some historians argue whether it was that day at Marcoing or a few days earlier at another battle site called 'Menin Cross Roads'), Private Tandey encountered a wounded German Lance Corporal... raised and aimed his rifle... and in a moment of mercy decided not to fire.  The German soldier nodded his thanks and the two men rejoined their units.

One of the most common questions asked to teenagers in youth groups (especially Jewish ones) intended to spark moral/ethical discussions is whether, given the opportunity to travel back in time, they would go back and kill Adolph Hitler (his name should be obliterated).   This question never fails to trigger (pun intended) lively discussions about free choice, the dangers of toying with history and even whether we have the ability to wrest control of G-d's intended plans away from Him.

However, for Private Tandey the question was not some academic discussion point intended to make suburban teenagers calibrate their moral compasses.  As he had admittedly done on several previous occasions, he opted not to kill a lighly wounded soldier... a man who turned out to be a Bavarian Lance Corporal named Adolph Hitler.

After WWI a famous photograph depicting British soldiers of the Green Howards regiment bringing wounded soldiers to a first aid station was turned into an even more famous painting.  The setting for the photo/painting is somewhat under dispute as it could have been either of the two battle-sites mentioned above.  However, this question of location is only somewhat important to the story since both Tandey and Hitler were certainly present at 'Menin Cross Roads' and almost surely also at Marcoing.

In the early '30s, Hitler heard about the famous painting that was now hanging in the Officer's mess of the Green Howards Regiment and requested it for the conference room in his newly built mountain retreat.  The reason he wanted the painting is that in the photo from which the painting had been rendered, Hitler clearly recognized the British soldier who had spared his life. 

The regiment sent him the painting with very polite greetings.

When Neville Chamberlain came to visit Hitler in the days leading up to WWII, Hitler pointed out the soldier in the painting to him... told him how that soldier had spared his life... and asked that Chamberlain convey his good wishes to the man (which according to several historical accounts - including Tendey's family - he promptly did) upon returning to England.

I've shared this story with you today because whether this event took place at 'Menin Cross Roads' or Marcoing, both Tandey and Hitler were quite certain that it had happened. 

For Hitler it was one of many near-death experiences in which he perceived that G-d had interceded on his behalf (as with later assassination attempts), indicating that he was destined to do great things. 

For Tandey, he had to live the rest of his life (he died in 1977) knowing that but for a moment of mercy... the smallest squeeze of a trigger... tens of millions of lives might have been spared.

As if I didn't have enough to keep me awake at night, I now have an opportunity to ponder this continuation of yesterday's discussion of whether the events in our world are entirely a result of free will or if they are, in fact, part of G-d's master plan? 

And of course, how do we live with the possibility that whatever we decide might be 100% wrong?

Sources:
First World War.com
Green Howards Regiment archives
Wikipedia