FED,
A rather nicer story, told to me by my Senior Officer in Customs & Excise, where I earned an honest penny to eke out my pension:
He'd been a (postwar) Captain in the REME (RAOC ?) and been called to a tank which had got badly bogged down in a ditch somewhere in North Germany. They were struggling to haul it out, with little success.
Along the road came a glossy Mercedes, driven by an equally glossy German businessman (not for nothing was the Merc known as the "Rhenisher Volkswagen"). He stopped to watch their efforts.
"Move along" gruffly ordered the W.O. i/c Recovery Party: "nothing to see here". Then the Merc window was wound down, and the German explained in faultless English: "I was a Tank Commander here in 1944, and my tank got stuck in exactly this spot. You'll never get it out that way. Let me show you how we did it".
"Well", thought the W.O. "What can we lose ?" Their new friend got out and directed the operation. Out came the tank, and back on the road. They parted with expressions of mutual esteem.