Mephisto is a World War I German tank, the only surviving example of an A7V. In April 1918, during a German attack at Villers-Bretonneux on the Western Front, it became stuck in a shell-hole and was abandoned by its crew. It was recovered by Allied troops about three months later and, after the war, taken to Australia as a trophy. Mephisto is housed at the Queensland Museum, in Brisbane, in the Anzac Legacy Gallery. It is not in running order.
The vehicle was issued to the army in late December 1917 or early January 1918, and was given vehicle number 506.
On March 21 it took part, along with 4 other A7Vs and 5 captured British tanks, in a moderately successful attack at Curgies, north-east of Saint-Quentin.
It was then taken to the German tank workshop near Charleroi, for minor repairs and repainting, and was re-issued in mid-April. Its new commander was Lieutenant Heinz Theunissen. By this time it had become fashionable to name A7Vs after figures from German history or mythology, and it is believed that Theunissen chose the name Mephisto, a demon from German folklore. The name was painted on the front and rear armour. A figure was also painted on the front armour depicting a red demon running off with part of a British tank under its arm. The inspiration for this was clearly taken from a contemporary advertising poster for Persil laundry detergent. [1]
Meanwhile, the German high command was planning an attack on Villers-Bretonneux, hoping to capture the town and the hill to the north so that their artillery could dominate the important road and rail junction of Amiens, some 20 kilometres to the west. After several days of reconnaissance it was decided that the ground was suitable for tanks, and fifteen A7Vs were allocated to the assault. The ground was firm, gently sloping, and relatively free from shell craters, and the Allied defences were comparatively weak.
On the night of April 21st, fourteen of the vehicles (one refused to start) were loaded onto trains and taken by rail to Guillaucourt, unloaded, and hidden a short distance away near the village of Wiencourt-l'Équipée, about 4 km from the German trenches. A second A7V then broke down, which left thirteen available for the attack. At 3.45 a.m. on the 24th, they moved to the village of Marcelcave for refuelling. A 6-man infantry patrol was allocated to each tank, to act as reconnaissance, and the entire force then took up its starting position close behind the Line in preparation for the attack at 6 a.m.
The German tanks were divided into 3 groups, each with a set of objectives. Mephisto was part of the middle group, and advanced with the railway line on its right, towards its objective, the Bois d'Aquennes, west of the town, as part of the planned encirclement. The first contact with Allied troops came as Mephisto's group approached a settlement called by the Allies Monument Farm (French name Ferme de la Couture). The group advanced through an orchard in front of the farmhouse, forcing the British troops to withdraw, but Mephisto suffered a fuel blockage and had to stop, while the other tanks continued towards their objective. Theunissen and some of his crew advanced on foot to help with the attack on the farmhouse, but returned when Mephisto had been repaired. They were now some way behind the other tanks, so Theunissen set off in pursuit. However, soon after a shell landed immediately in front of the tank, creating a large crater. The tank pitched into it and became stuck. The crew had no option but to abandon the vehicle.
The operation, though, had been a success, and the town had been captured. Two other A7Vs (Elfriede and Nixe) had been lost, and once the infantry had secured the captured territory the remaining tanks returned to Marcelcave.
The counter-attack began almost immediately, and during the night of the 24th Allied troops began to retake the lost territory. A7V Elfriede had overturned but was still functional and was later recovered by French and British troops, the first A7V to be captured. A German demolition team had blown up Nixe to prevent it being used by the Allies.
The next day, the Allied attacks continued, and the Germans withdrew to the south-east in an attempt to avoid encirclement. By early morning on the 26th the lines had returned almost to their previous positions, but the orchard at Monument Farm remained in German hands, with Mephisto, unbeknownst to the Allies, still immobilised but intact in the crater. [2]
The front between the two armies was now a series of connected "outposts" rather than the continuous parallel deep trenches that had been a feature of the earlier years of the war. In the weeks after the battle for Villers-Bretonneux, units of the Australian Imperial Force began a series of small, often impromptu, raids on enemy outposts, surrounding and occupying them and killing or taking prisoner the occupants. The effect was to gradually push back the German front line. During one of these excursions, on July 9, men of the 28th Battalion in Monument Wood came across Mephisto but had to retire after coming under enemy fire. On the night of the 13th, 26 Battalion took over the section of the front and soon completed the occupation of the wood. In 26 Battalion's Diary for July 14th, Lieutenant H.F. Pearson reported that "during the attack the Battalion captured the derelict German tank No. 506 Mephisto."
The commanding officer of 26 Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel James Robinson, decided that the tank should be acquired as a trophy. With approval from General Evan Wisdom (commanding the 7th Brigade, of which the 26th battalion was part) he liaised with Major Harrington of the Tank Corps and with artillery officers. On the night of the 15th, Pearson took three officers of the British 1st Gun Carrier Company to inspect the vehicle and assess the feasibility of recovering it. They decided it was possible, but dangerous because of the proximity of German positions. Therefore, on the 17th 26 Battalion pushed their line further forward. On the 19th, they were relieved by 23 Battalion, who, in turn, continued to push the Germans still further back. A recovery operation was planned for the night of July 22nd. Lieutenant A.J. Mutton, Reconnaissance Officer of the Gun Carrier Company, selected the route the evacuation should take, and during the night of the 20th and 21st, working parties of men from 26 Battalion cleared the route for the vehicles and filled in shell holes. [3]
On the night of the 22nd, two vehicles of 1st Gun Carrier Company (there has been debate as to whether the vehicles used were Mark IV tanks or Gun Carriers: informed opinion is now that they were the latter), with a detail of 23 men, set off from Villers-Bretonneux, towards Monument Wood. They were accompanied by 13 men of 26 Battalion. To cover the noise of the operation, an aircraft flew low overhead and Allied artillery carried out sporadic shelling. The Germans launched an apparently pre-planned gas shell bombardment, forcing the recovery party to wear their gas masks.
A steel cable was attached to the tank, and the vehicle was towed about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) westwards to the temporary cover of the Bois l'Abbé. The recovery party obscured the trail and laid a false one to mislead German aircraft observers. From there, Mephisto was moved by stages to the 5th Tank Brigade training ground at Vaux-en-Amiénois.
At Vaux it created much interest amongst the troops. The vehicle was covered in graffiti, and, according to Lt-Col Robinson, "the battalion wag got busy and painted (on the tank's side) quite a good illustration of the British lion with his paw on a German tank." Painted on the other side were: the Rising Sun badge of the Australian Army, the words "Captured by 26th Batt, A.I.F.", and the battalion's badge; and "Salved by 1st G.C. Coy (Gun Carrier Company) 5th Bn. Tanks" together with the 5th battalion's badge. Many soldiers wrote their name and sometimes their regiment or battalion on the hull. Over the years, all these embellishments disappeared, but they can be seen in contemporary photographs. Various parts of the tank were taken as souvenirs.
In October 1918, Mephisto was moved the short distance to Poulainville, where there was a railway siding. From there it was transported by rail to the Tank Corps Gunnery School at Merlimont and then shipped from Dunkirk to London. Proposals for it to be displayed as a war trophy in Australia were raised, and on 2 April 1919 it was loaded on the SS Armagh at Tilbury, destined for Sydney via Plymouth, Cape Town, Durban, Adelaide, and Melbourne, along with 1,423 returning ANZAC troops.
While the Armagh was at sea, Mephisto's ultimate destination became the subject of rivalry. According to Robinson, "Firstly the Imperial authorities claimed it, then the Melbourne people wanted it for their city. Finally, largely owing to the strenuous and unceasing efforts of the Queensland Agent-General (Sir Thomas Robinson) and General E. Wisdom C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O." it was decided to deliver Mephisto to Brisbane.
It arrived on 6 June 1919 at the Norman Wharf (near the intersection of Creek Street and Eagle Street, approximately where the Eagle Street Pier ferry wharf is today) in the Brisbane River. [4] On 22 August 1919 two steamrollers from the Brisbane Municipal Council pulled Mephisto (travelling on its own caterpillar treads) from the wharf to the Queensland Museum (then at the Old Museum building in Bowen Hills), a journey of less than 2 miles taking 11 hours. [5] [6]
As early as September 1920 the Brisbane Courier complained in an editorial about Mephisto's exposed position and the deterioration in its condition caused by the weather, especially the obliteration of the inscriptions on the hull, "which, to some, are sacred." [7] The Queensland Museum changed its location several times, and a number of shelters were built, to offer some protection from the rain. [8] In 1986 the museum relocated to the Queensland Cultural Centre, where Mephisto was moved indoors and, later, put behind glass in a temperature controlled environment that protected it from the public.
The vehicle was partly submerged during the 2011 Brisbane floods, and was taken to the Workshops Rail Museum at North Ipswich for extensive restoration. In June 2015, it was transported to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, to take part in the World War I centenary commemorations, and in February 2018 it was returned to the Queensland Museum, where it is now on permanent display in the Anzac Legacy Gallery. [9]
All the men's names written in chalk or paint have long been erased by the elements or during repainting, but thirteen names hammered into the hull with a chisel or punch are still visible. In the centre of the rear face of the tank, under the inscription "Tank Boys", are the names of six men: H. Williams, J. Byford, J. Pickles, A. McFarlane, H. Dutton, and T. Hughes. These are not the names of men of 26th Battalion who took part in the recovery; none of those names can be found in the Battalion records between July and November 1918. However, all six names match those of soldiers listed in the Tank Corps in late 1918. [11]
There are two further names on the rear armour: A. Wallace, and "TJR"; three on the left side: E.(or L.) E. Smith, H. Scaddon (probably Scaddan) and Sonny Arundell; and on the front, D. Mason and R. Aldrich. Of those seven, four were civilian railway workers who served in the 5th Australian Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company (ABGROC) in Belgium and France.
A replica A7V named "Wotan" but modelled substantially on "Mephisto" was built in Germany in 1988, and is on display at the German Tank Museum in Munster. [12]
In 2014 Stephen Dando-Collins published Tank Boys, [13] a book set against the battle of Villers-Bretonneux and the fate of Mephisto. The protagonists are three under-age soldiers, two Australian and one German. The book is recommended by Booktopia as suitable for ages 10–12, [14] and the Children’s Book Council of Australia reviewed it favourably. [15] The work contains a small number of historical and technical errors.
Mephisto appears as a visual overhaul (skin) in the 2016 first-person shooter Battlefield 1 .
The Black Metal band 1914, from Lviv, Ukraine, released a song dedicated to the war machine and its crew on their 2018 album The Blind Leading The Blind. [16]
The Australian 4th Division was formed in the First World War during the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) infantry brigades in February 1916. In addition to the experienced 4th Brigade were added the new 12th and 13th Brigades. From Egypt the division was sent to France, where it took part in the fighting on the Western Front during 1916–1918. After the war ended, the AIF was demobilised and the division was dissolved.
The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armoured bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armoured was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat.
The Battle of Hamel was a successful attack by Australian Army and US Army infantry, supported by British tanks, against German positions in and around the town of Le Hamel, in northern France, during World War I. The attack was planned and commanded by Lieutenant General John Monash, commander of the Australian Corps, and took place on 4 July 1918.
Jørgen Christian Jensen, was a Danish-born Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces. Jensen emigrated to Australia in 1909, becoming a British subject at Adelaide, South Australia, in 1914. A sailor and labourer before World War I, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in March 1915, serving with the 10th Battalion during the latter stages of the Gallipoli campaign. After the Australian force withdrew to Egypt, Jensen was transferred to the newly formed 50th Battalion, and sailed for France with the unit in June 1916. On the Western Front, he was wounded during the battalion's first serious action, the Battle of Mouquet Farm in August, and only returned to his unit in late January 1917. On 2 April, his battalion attacked the Hindenburg Outpost Line at Noreuil, where his actions leading to the capture of over fifty German soldiers resulted in the award of the Victoria Cross.
The Sturmpanzer is a German armoured infantry support gun based on the Panzer IV chassis used in the Second World War. It was used at the Battles of Kursk, Anzio, Normandy, and was deployed in the Warsaw Uprising. It was known by the nickname Brummbär by Allied intelligence, a name which was not used by the Germans. German soldiers nicknamed it the "Stupa", a contraction of the term Sturmpanzer. Just over 300 vehicles were built and they were assigned to four independent battalions.
The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy, was the opening phase of the Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, that ultimately led to the end of the First World War. Allied forces advanced over 11 kilometres (7 mi) on the first day, one of the greatest advances of the war, with Gen Henry Rawlinson's British Fourth Army playing the decisive role. The battle is also notable for its effects on both sides' morale and the large number of surrendering German forces. This led Erich Ludendorff to later describe the first day of the battle as "the black day of the German Army". Amiens was one of the first major battles involving armoured warfare.
The Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines.
The 2nd Division of the Australian Army commands all the Reserve brigades in Australia. These are the 4th in Victoria and Tasmania, the 5th in New South Wales, the 11th in Queensland, the 13th in Western Australia, and the 8th spread across the country. The division is also responsible for the security of Australia's northern borders through its Regional Force Surveillance Units.
Villers-Bretonneux is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
The Battle of St Quentin Canal was a pivotal battle of World War I that began on 29 September 1918 and involved British, Australian and American forces operating as part of the British Fourth Army under the overall command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson. Further north, part of the British Third Army also supported the attack. South of the Fourth Army's 19 km (12 mi) front, the French First Army launched a coordinated attack on a 9.5 km (6 mi) front. The objective was to break through one of the most heavily defended stretches of the German Siegfriedstellung, which in this sector used the St Quentin Canal as part of its defences. The assault achieved its objectives, resulting in the first full breach of the Hindenburg Line, in the face of heavy German resistance. In concert with other attacks of the Grand Offensive along the length of the line, Allied success convinced the German high command that there was little hope of an ultimate German victory.
Major General Sir Thomas William Glasgow was a senior Australian Army officer and politician. Glasgow rose to prominence during the First World War as a brigade and later divisional commander on the Western Front. Post-war, he was elected to the Australian Senate, representing Queensland as a Nationalist Party member from 1919 to 1931, before appointment as Australian High Commissioner to Canada. In 1945, Glasgow returned to Australia and resumed his private business interests. He died in Brisbane in 1955, at the age of 79.
Henry Arthur Goddard, was an Australian Army colonel and temporary brigadier general in the First World War.
The 5th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army which served during the First and Second World Wars. The division was formed in February 1916 as part of the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force infantry brigades. In addition to the existing 8th Brigade were added the new 14th and 15th Brigades, which had been raised from the battalions of the 1st and 2nd Brigades respectively. From Egypt the division was sent to France and then Belgium, where they served in the trenches along the Western Front until the end of the war in November 1918. After the war ended, the division was demobilised in 1919.
The 26th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised in April 1915 for service in World War I as part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), it was assigned to the 7th Brigade and consisted of personnel recruited from the states of Queensland and Tasmania. The battalion fought at Gallipoli in the latter stages of that campaign before being withdrawn to Egypt in late 1915. In mid-1916, it was sent to Europe where it served in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium for the rest of the war, fighting in most of the battles that the Australians took part in between 1916 and 1918. At the end of the war, it was disbanded in May 1919 as part of the demobilisation of the AIF.
The First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, took place during Operation Michael, part of the German spring offensive on the Western Front. The offensive began against the British Fifth Army and the Third Army on the Somme and pushed back the British and French reinforcements on the north side of the Somme. The capture of Villers-Bretonneux, close to Amiens, a strategically important road- and rail-junction, would have brought the Germans within artillery-range. In late March, Australian troops were brought south from Belgium as reinforcements to help shore up the line and in early April the Germans launched an attack to capture Villers-Bretonneux. After a determined defence by British and Australian troops, the attackers were close to success until a counter-attack by the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade and by British troops, late in the afternoon of 4 April, restored the line and halted the German advance on Amiens.
The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux took place from 24 to 27 April 1918, during the German spring offensive to the east of Amiens. It is notable for being the first occasion on which tanks fought against each other; it was the biggest and most successful tank action of the German army in the First World War.
Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to break through the Allied (Entente) lines and advance in a north-westerly direction to seize the Channel Ports, which supplied the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and to drive the BEF into the sea. Two days later General Erich Ludendorff, the chief of the German General Staff, adjusted his plan and pushed for an offensive due west, along the whole of the British front north of the River Somme. This was designed to first separate the French and British Armies before continuing with the original concept of pushing the BEF into the sea. The offensive ended at Villers-Bretonneux, to the east of the Allied communications centre at Amiens, where the Allies managed to halt the German advance; the German Army had suffered many casualties and was unable to maintain supplies to the advancing troops.
The 52nd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1916 as part of the Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I. After training in Egypt, the battalion took part in the fighting in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium, including major battles at Mouquet Farm, Messines, Polygon Wood, Dernancourt and Villers-Bretonneux. In May 1918, the battalion was disbanded to provide reinforcements for other depleted Australian units. After the war, the battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit in Victoria in 1921 and served until 1930 when it was amalgamated with the 37th Battalion to become the 37th/52nd Battalion. In 1936, the battalion was re-formed and during the early part of World War II it undertook garrison duties in Australia before being merged once again with the 37th Battalion in 1942.
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The First Battle of Morlancourt was fought over the period 28–30 March 1918, on the Western Front during World War I. The battle saw troops from the Australian 3rd Division advance to fill a gap in the Allied line that had formed north of the River Somme during the German spring offensive. This advance towards Morlancourt was checked by German troops short of the Australian's objective of the spur overlooking Morlancourt and the Australians were subsequently counter-attacked by elements of the German 18th Division. These attacks were repulsed with heavy casualties, as Allied forces blunted the German advance towards Amiens, which subsequently stabilised the Allied line north of the Somme. The fighting then largely moved south; however, in the months following, two further actions – albeit minor – were fought around Morlancourt as the Australians sought to consolidate their positions around the village prior to the start of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive.
Jones, Rarey, Icks (1969). The Fighting Tanks Since 1916. WE Inc.
Strasheim, R. & Hundleby, M. (2010 and 2020 reprint) Sturmpanzer A7V. Tankograd. ISBN 978-3-936519-11-2
Whitmore, M. (1994). Mephisto! Part II. Journal of Australian Military History, Oct-Nov, 1994. pages 58-64.
Strasheim, R. & Hundleby, M. (1990.) The German A7V Tank and the Captured British Mark IV Tanks of World War I. Haynes. ISBN 0-85429-788-X
Czechura, G. & Hopkins-Weise, J. (2008). A7V Mephisto. Queensland Museum. ISBN 9780980569209.
Whitmore, M. (1989). Mephisto A7V Sturmpanzerwagen 506 : a History of the Sole Surviving First World War German Tank. Queensland Museum ISBN 0724233881
Jordan, L. (2017). Stealth Raiders: A Few Daring Men in 1918. Penguin Random House Australia, ISBN 0143786636
Goode, T. (2017). The Cold-Footed Mob - A History of the 5th Australian Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company. Hesperian Press, ISBN 9780859056533.
Coordinates: 27°28′22.77″S153°01′04.45″E / 27.4729917°S 153.0179028°E
