A German officer, talking to a senior member of the British Embassy in 1933, remarked that the British were gentlemen, but the French were not.
Asked what he meant, he explained: "One day in 1920, some of the Military Control Commission under a French and a British officer came to the barracks of which I had charge. They said they had reason to believe that I had a store of rifles concealed behind a brick wall, contrary to the terms of the Peace Treaty.* I denied this. 'I give you my word of honour as a German officer,' I said, 'that I have no rifles concealed in the barracks.' Well, your British officer was a gentleman. He accepted my word of honour and went away. But the French officer was not a gentleman. He would not accept my word of honour. He pulled down the brick wall. And he took away my rifles."
一九三三年，一德國軍官跟英國大使館一高級人員說，英國人是君子，法國人卻不是。
問他為什麼這樣說，他解釋：「一九二零年，有一天，軍備管制委員會有成員來到我軍營，其首領一為法國軍官，一為英國軍官。他們說，我在一磚牆之後，應是收藏了一批來福槍，違反了和平條約*。我否認說：『我以德國軍官的信譽，保證軍營裏沒有收藏來福槍。』貴國軍官是君子，相信我言無二諾，轉身離去。那法國軍官可不是君子，不相信我言無二諾。他把牆推倒，還取去我那些來福槍。」
*根據第一次世界大戰之後的凡爾賽和約，德國軍備須受嚴格限制。