The A7V tank

[tegunn]

Excellent pics BTW !!Not to get off topic too much..This just reminded me of a question I had:
I remember hearing about someone making a WW I movie and building(props) the tanks and getting the tracks correct,etc. Does anyone know of this movie? I don't think it was "Fly Boys", but that was the last WWI movie in mainstream film..
Randy

[Robin Lumsden]

[regular122]

Love the badge Robin. Yours and Don's certainly appear to be the real deal among a sea of fakes. BTW, here is an enlarged pic of the crews of Hedi and what appears to be a captured British MkV. Note both the breast and sleeve badges being worn in this pic! More on Hedi later and I'll post some more of the other tanks as well. Igor, great pic of the 540 Heiland. Did not have that one. Thanks, Steve

[regular122]

542 Elfriede after the world's first tank battle at Villers-Brettoneux 24 April 1918. She slipped into an embankment and had to be abandoned but was otherwise in great shape. Pics of her journey into captivity follow.

[Don D.]

Don,

I think the numbers might even be higher than the 430 or even 1000. Casualties have replacements. It is also possible for units to have more crews than vehicles, such as in the flying units.

I know the controversy over the number of those that actually served stems from the number of tank badges applied for. Most we see today are fakes. But it actually makes sense that a bit higher numbers would warrant a badge for their service in the first place rather than a group so small as to not draw any attention as a sanctioned badge. I find it hard to believe the 100 number as the only amount ever authorized for the badge. Just some thoughts.

As to the tanks themselves Don, does the book list the numbers and names of the A7Vs? I am aware of these compiled from various lists, not all of which agree:

501 Gretchen: scrapped by the Allies in 1919 (Female).
502/540: Scrapped by Germans in October 1918.
503 Faust4-18, KonigWilhelm 5-18, Heiland 7-18: Scrapped by Germans in October 1918.
504/544 Schnuck: lost at Fremicourt 31 August 1918. Built on the 504 carrier chasis. Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
505 Baden I: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
506 Mephisto: lost at Villers-Bretonneux on 24 April 1918, recovered by Australians, now in Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia.
507 Cyklop: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
525 Siegfried: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
526 Alter Fritz, Fritz: Scrapped by Germans in 1 June 1918.
527 Lotti: lost at Pompelle Fort 1 June 1918. Scrapped by the Allies in 1922
528 Hagen: lost at Fremicourt 31 August 1918. Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
529 Nixe II: lost at Reims 31 May 1918, recovered by Americans and scrapped at Aberdeen Proving Grounds Museum in 1942.
540 Heiland: scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
541: Possible same as 540. Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
542 Elfriede: lost at Villers-Bretonneux 24 April 1918. scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
543 Bulle 4-18, Adalbert 5-18, : scrapped by the Allies in 1919.
560 : lost at Iwuy 11 October 1918.
561 Nixe: Lost or scrapped by Germans 24 April 1918.
562 Herkules: scrapped by Germans after 31 August 1918.
563 Wotan: scrapped by the Allies in 1919, a replica of "Wotan" was built in the late '80s based largely on "Mephisto", now in Panzermuseum in Munster, Germany.
564: Scrapped by the Allies in 1919.

Post War
54: Hedi: Thought to be built on the 524 chasis. Witold J. Lawrynowicz lists one more A7V built from parts seeing service with Kampfwagenabteilung Vetter and later participated in fighting the Communists in Lipsk in first half on 1919. There was one sister of unknown number. Are there others?

I wonder how many pics we could post of these? I'll start with a few.

Steve

Steve, the list looks good.

[regular122]

542 Elfriede uprighted with proud Frenchmen in attendance.

[regular122]

Thanks Don. It is hard to decipher these lists as so many of them are different and inaccurate. Thanks for checking it. And thanks for posting this great post! It is an area we don't really discuss much.

Here is 542 Elfriede in Paris after her train ride. This is an early picture shortly after her set up for display.

[regular122]

542 Elriede became a big crowd draw and the display was expanded.

[regular122]

542 Elfriede the crowd pleaser.

[regular122]

Believed to be the refit and renamed 543 Adelbert ready for transport around May 1918.

[CollectRussia]

Big fan of the A7V here. Here's a photo from my files.
Another great book is Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. Vom Urpanzer zum Leopard 2

Dave

[regular122]

Great pic Dave! It looks like this is a US Sailor on board. Would make sense as the Navy ran the big railway guns and might have been tasked with transport. If so, this could be 529 Nixe II. Looks like it to me when compared to another postcard pic of it pulled off the web. Sorry for the poor quality.

This was the tank that was captured after a skirmish at Reims and was later sent back to the States and studied at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Tragically, it was cut up and completely lost in 1942 for reasons unknown. Steve

[regular122]

563 Wotan.

[regular122]

563 Wotan. Really Wotan II. This is an exact replica made on the specs of Mephisto in Australia and now on display at Panzer museum in Muenster, Germany.

[regular122]

What tank number / name is it?

Here is Hedi, believed to have been built on the chasis of 524 after the war ended. It was used to help crush the Communist uprisings. Note the "Government Loyal Troops" on the front.