| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | E02876 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white - Glass original half plate negative |
| Maker |
Unknown Australian Official Photographer |
| Place made | France: Picardie, Somme, Corbie Albert Area, Vaux |
| Date made | 4 August 1918 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
At the 5th Tank Brigade demonstration ground, Vaux-en-Amienois, France, Australian soldiers ...
Description
At the 5th Tank Brigade demonstration ground, Vaux-en-Amienois, France, Australian soldiers inspect Mephisto, a German A7V tank. After being bogged and abandoned on the battlefield it was recovered on 14 July 1918 by the 26th Battalion and the 1st Gun Carrier company, 5th Brigade of Tanks. After been recovered from the battlefield and studied by the Allies, Mephisto was handed over to the Australian War Records Section for despatch to Australia.
The photograph is taken from the left rear quarter. Scattered on the ground are elements from the tank's interior, including a fuel tank and radiator (left hand front quarter) and a machine gun mount (under the rear towing hook). Resting on its end against the crew cupola on the tank's rear upper surface can be seen the underside of a portion of the tank's driving compartment flooring. The horizontal bar visible in the photograph is connected to the driver's steering wheel (on the other side of the plate). Turning the wheel throttles one engine up and the other down, and thus steers the tank.