A Lieutenant at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

by Major General Syed Ali Hamid

How did a lieutenant serving in the cavalry brigade at Meerut manage

a complimentary pass to the famous Berlin Olympics of 1936? During a
steeple chase at the Meerut Race Course Ground in the winter of 1935, his
horse collided with a jump and rolled over. The fall broke the officer’s right
arm which was twice operated on but remained stiff with no cross
movement. Ultimately a very concerned British commandant of the military
hospital told him in confidence that his arm was in a mess and the only
surgeon who could set it properly was Professor Lorenz Böhler. Böhler was
the leading surgeon at the AUVA-Hospital in Vienna, and is now universally
acknowledged as the creator of modern accident surgery. The lieutenant
was granted six months leave and his father provided him with the
necessary finances. After taking a train to Bombay and spending three
weeks on a ship, the officer arrived in London where he was examined by a
board at the Millbank Hospital. They wanted a British surgeon to operate
but the lieutenant was determined to get to Vienna. Before he departed, he
was told that if Bohler was unsuccessful, the lieutenant may be invalided
out of service.
The lieutenant arrived at the AUVA-Hospital without an appointment
but the ‘father of bone surgery’ was very kind and after examining the X-
rays, agreed to repair the fracture. The lieutenant then broached the matter
of the fee. Böhler asked, “What is your monthly salary?” The lieutenant told
him it was Rs.550. “My fee is half that,” stated the doctor. It came as a
surprise to the officer because the impression in Europe in those days was
that all Indians were rich nawabs and rajas. The lieutenant protested and
said he did not want charity and had money. “This is the rule of the
hospital,” replied Böhler and closed the issue. The surgery was performed
the next day, the bones were broken and reset and when the lieutenant
recovered from the local anesthesia, to his great relief, he felt no pain.
Three days later supporting his whole arm in heavy plaster, he was
discharged and the hospital arranged his lodging in a small family hotel.
The officer remained for nearly nine months. Austria had been an
empire and Vienna was one of the cultural capitals of Europe with lots to
see and do. The people spoke gently and kindly and accepted foreigners
into their homes unlike in Britain where the officer had spent two and a half
years at Sandhurst. Every fortnight he reported back to the doctor for a
checkup but was otherwise free to roam the country. Böhler became very
fond of his patient whom he addressed as ‘Herr Lieutenant’. During one of
checkups in early July 1936, he asked, “Herr Lieutenant. Are you going to
see the Olympics?” “No,” replied the officer. “I cannot afford to.” “You must
go,” insisted Dr. Böhler. “This is a chance of a lifetime” he said and then
paid Herr Lieutenant’s train fare to Berlin.
Berlin had been nominated for the 1936 Games before the Nazis
came to power. Adolf Hitler was not a sports fan and had been lukewarm
toward the whole idea of hosting the Olympics. It had taken some effort by
Goebbels the Propaganda Minister, to convince the Fuhrer that the event
was a perfect opportunity to prove the veracity of the Master Race and
demonstrate the efficiency of Nazi Germany. As the lieutenant’s train
approached Berlin, a uniformed man informed him that all the hotels were
booked but the government had requisitioned rooms in private houses and
guided him to one of them. This was a blessing and after settling in, the
officer went to purchase a ticket for the games but to his dismay they were
sold out. Seeing his disappointment, the clerk asked him “Who are you and
where are you from?” “I am Lieutenant Shahid Hamid from India,” the
officer replied in his faltering German whereupon the clerk gave him a chit
and said “Go and see this member of the Olympic Committee.” The
member listened to Shahid’s story and then produced a complimentary
pass for all the events adding that the officer was a guest of his country.
51 countries had decided to participate in the Berlin Games including
a separate contingent from India which was technically a colony and not a
country. The crowd gave a great reception to the 24 member Indian
contingent of which 16 were from the hockey team. Germany had the
largest Olympic team with 348 competitors. Soviet Russia had not
participated in any of the Olympics thus far and was also absent from Berlin
Games. The opening ceremony was not without controversy, since the
Olympic salute with right arm held out sideways from the shoulder could
also be mistaken for the Nazi salute. Therefore the British and Americans
chose a military style 'eyes right' with no arm salute and the Indian
contingent ‘salaamed’ with their right hand. However, the Bulgarians outdid
everyone by goose-stepping past the Führer.
Throughout the 14 days of the competition Hitler maintained a
deliberately low-key presence at the Olympics. It was also a good
opportunity for the Führer to appear calm and dignified among the
thousands of international observers who were watching his every move.
However to Shahid, who was seated close behind the Führer’s enclosure,
Hitler appeared restless. The Olympics lasted two weeks and with his
complimentary pass in hand, Shahid saw as many events as he could,
particularly the equestrian events. He saw Major Alois Podhajsky of Austria
win the Bronze in the Individual Dressage Competition. Alois was
subsequently in charge of the famous Spanish Riding School of Vienna and
is remembered for saving the Lipizzaner mares from the Soviets after the
Second World War. He and Patton had participated in the 1912 Olympics
and Alois alerted the general to the presence of the mares behind Soviet
lines. Patton who was commanding the US Third Army, ordered a dramatic
raid by a Cavalry Regiment to evacuate the horses which was featured in a
1963 Disney movie – Miracle of the White Stallions. Shahid also saw
Opole-Bronikowski who was one of the three Germans to win gold medals
in the team dressage competition. Bronikowski who was from an
aristocratic family, became a highly decorated officer during the Second
World War. He was a Tank Ace on the Russian Front and commanded a
Panzer division. Many years later he coached the Canadian Dressage
Team for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
Shahid witnessed Heinz Brandt earn a gold medal in the graceful
event of show jumping. In 1944, Brandt inadvertently saved Hitler’s life at a
conference at the Wolf's Lair headquarters by pushing aside a brief case
containing a bomb. However he was killed by the explosion. The bomb plot
against Hitler was the theme of a 2008 movie ‘Valkyrie’ starring Tom
Cruise. One of the most thrilling events that Shahid watched was the final
of the 100 meters in which Jesse Owens won the Gold. By winning four
gold medals, Jesse was the most successful athlete at the 1936 Olympics.
His success and of the other African American athletes, referred to as
‘black auxiliaries’ by the Nazi press, was considered a particular blow to
Hitler’s Aryan ideals. However, Jesse recollects that at one point during the
track and field competition he glanced up at Hitler and the Führer stood up
and waved to him, and he had waved back.
For Shahid and many other Indians including the Maharaja of
Gaekwad who had come to see the Olympics, the highlight of the games
was the hockey match in which India played Germany for the Gold, It was
played on the second last day of the Olympics and witnessed by a record
crowd of 40,000 spectators. The captain and center-forward of the Indian
team was Havildar (Sergeant) Dhyan Chand, the Wizard of Hockey and a
goal machine of whom much has been written. But there was another
‘Indian’ hero at the Olympics. One day after their arrival in Germany, the
Indian team played a warm up game against the hosts and lost 1-4. A
player was out of form and an urgent cable was sent, asking for the
services of Ali Iqtedar Shah, whose pet name was Dara. Dara was a
captain in the Indian Army and had played with Dhyan Chand for the
Punjab Regiment but was not included in the squad because he was
refused leave. Dhyan Chand had also nearly been refused leave. Dara was
air-dashed to Berlin, arriving just a day before the semi-finals in which India
massacred France 10-0.
India was a strong favorite in the finals since they had won the Gold
in the previous two Olympics but having lost earlier to the Germans, the
team was nervous. The Germans successfully held the Indians to a single
goal till the interval but in the second-half, their opponents launched an all-
out attack. Dhyan Chand increased the pace by discarding his spiked
shoes and stockings and played in rubber soles that he was used to in
India. According to Dara (playing inside-right), "Dhyan, though he never
possessed great speed, had the astounding knack of spotting a gap before
it was there." The Indians were up by 6 goals when the Germans decided
to play rough and their goalkeeper broke one of Dhyan Chand’s teeth.
When he returned after first aid, Dhyan instructed the team to go easy on
goals. "We must teach them a lesson in ball control," he said. They tore
through the German defense with deft passes and nifty stick play and the
forwards repeatedly took the ball up to the German circle and then back-
passed to dumbfound their opponents. Ultimately, they prevailed over the
Germans 8-1. The single goal by the Germans was the only one that the
team ceded in the entire tournament in which they scored 40 times. The
Fuhrer was there to witness the match but left before the end. It is
speculated that he did not want to present the Gold to the Indian team.
Before leaving Vienna, Shahid quietly gave some money to the
hospital charity fund and after returning home remained in contact with
Professor Bohler and sent him presents. Böhler rose to great fame after the
Second World War. His medical book ‘Treatment of Fractures’ of 2,500
pages became a top seller and was translated into eight languages
including Chinese. The first edition had 176 pages and was self-published
in 1926 because printers refused to accept it. As for Herr Lieutenant, he
went back to serving in the Cavalry and managed to play a good game of
hockey and polo but his arm could not take the power required to hit a
tennis ball.
This story has been extracted from Shahid Hamid’s ‘Autobiography of
a General’ in which he narrates a sequel to his association with Böhler. An
Indian lady had an accident while motoring in Austria and broke her hip-
bone. Her husband was a rich Hindu industrialist and provincial minister He
was also a friend of Shahid’s father and his wife had heard how nicely and
cheaply Shahid had been treated by Dr. Böhler. So she went to him and
the doctor received her graciously as he did all his patients, performed the
surgery and conducted periodic checkups till her bones were set. The lady
had airs about her. She insisted on being addressed as ‘Her Excellency’
and boasted that her husband’s monthly income was Rs. 50,000. Her bill
came to exactly half of that and she was shocked.
Author’s Note: The photographs in this article are from Shahid Hamid’s
album of the 1936 Berlin Olympics and were official releases of events /
participants.