Collection relating to Thomas Charles Kelso

A disabled and abandoned German A7V tank, named 'Hagen', with the serial number 528 stenciled to the inside of the access door. This vehicle was thought to have been disabled by German artillery at Fremicourt on 31 August 1918 and was later captured and salvaged by British troops. Slogans have been written in chalk on the hull side and some of them read as follows: Captured by 1st Bn, Canterbury Regd; Poor old Bastard; Let me rest in peace." The vehicle also retains the German national cross markings and the Roman numeral IV. Approximately 20 A7V tanks were built by the Germans between 1917 and 1918 and they were first used in action in March 1918. This A7V is armed with a 57mm gun (just visible at left) and six MG08 machine guns (which have been removed). The vehicle weighed apprximately 30 tons, a crew of 18 and a top speed of eight miles per hour. This vehicle was eventually transported to England, where it was displayed in Horse Guard parades in London and was later broken up for scrap in the 1920s.