Mephisto and the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- The Second battle of Villers-Bretonneux represented a critical turning point in the Great War. While most fans of military history recall the first battle between tanks, the fate of the A7V "Mephisto" tells the story of tank warfare in the First World War. The History Guy recalls the story of the only surviving A7V.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#wwi #thehistoryguy #a7v
My Great-uncle Ted - Corporal Edward Pearce (51st Battalion AIF) - was wounded in the Australian counter-attack that retook Villers-Bretonneux, on 25 April 1918. He had previously been wounded and gassed at the Battle of Passchendaele the year before, and was a veteran of the Gallipoli campaign, but his wound at VB kept him out of combat for the rest of WW1. He returned to Australia in October 1918, and was met on Station Pier in Port Melbourne by his wife, whom he had not seen for 4 years. Two days later she died of Spanish influenza, leaving him alone with two children to raise.
His four brothers who served were not so lucky. Bert (Auckland Regt NZEF) was wounded at Gallipoli, and died of wounds at Alexandria on 17 August 1915. Richard (15th Battalion AIF) was killed at Gallipoli on 27 August 1915, Stan (5th Battalion AIF) was killed at Pozieres on 20 August 1916 and Carl (1st Australian Battalion Imperial Camel Corps) was killed at the 1st Battle of Amman in Palestine on the morning of 30 March 1918. Of the four brothers, only Bert has a known grave.
Ted's story isn't all doom and gloom. He remarried, and had a long and mostly happy life.
At a family gathering in the 1960s, when I was a child, I asked Uncle Ted why he always sat leaning to the left. He answered succinctly, "Because the effing Germans shot my effing a*** off at Villers-Bretonneux."
My grandmother immediately scolded him, "Ted! Language, in front of the children!"
Uncle Ted said nothing in reply, just grinned, and gave me a wink.
I think he can be forgiven for that minor transgression.
For the record, Uncle Ted's service record euphemistically states his wound received at Villers Bretonneux as gsw right thigh.
@Nicholas Kirk It's a difficult subject for me and my family. I mourn the men I never knew, the cousins I never had. I mourn for my grandfather WIlliam, who suffered from life-long grief for his four lost brothers. He did not enlist, as he was married with two children, and thought it more important that he stay and care for his family than going gallivanting off to war. When William was on a tram in 1918 on his way to work, a woman gave him a white feather for cowardice. He told her that he had lost four brothers to the war, and he had no intention of inflicting more pain on his mother by enlisting. The woman went bright red with shame, and got off at the next stop, while the other passengers gave him a round of applause for his words.
I have a letter from Carl to my grandfather, written three months after the Australians were evacuated from Gallipoli. In it, Carl told him never to enlist, that the horror of war was worse than anything that could ever be imagined. Carl wrote that all he wanted was to come home, marry his girlfriend Mary and have a family like his.
I traced Mary - she never married, or had children, dying in 1969.
Carl was instantly killed by a shot to the head in house to house fighting in Amman, about 4 in the morning on 30 March 1918. His mates had to leave his body behind when they withdrew from their position. There are digitised photos of Carl in the Australian War Memorial collection - they are easy enough to google.
Stan was killed by an artillery shell, after only two weeks on the front line in France. There was nothing left to bury. No one knows what happened to Richard - he just vanished on the battlefield, in the midst of heavy fighting.
Our family does not think of their bravery - we think of the loss and horror of war, and the grief that followed.
@Nicholas Kirk It's a difficult subject for me and my family. I mourn the men I never knew, the cousins I never had. I mourn for my grandfather WIlliam, who suffered from life-long grief for his four lost brothers. He did not enlist, as he was married with two children, and thought it more important that he stay and care for his family than going gallivanting off to war. When William was on a tram in 1918 on his way to work, a woman gave him a white feather for cowardice. He told her that he had lost four brothers to the war, and he had no intention of inflicting more pain on his mother by enlisting. The woman went bright red with shame, and got off at the next stop, while the other passengers gave him a round of applause for his words.
I have a letter from Carl to my grandfather, written three months after the Australians were evacuated from Gallipoli. In it, Carl told him never to enlist, that the horror of war was worse than anything that could ever be imagined. Carl wrote that all he wanted was to come home, marry his girlfriend Mary and have a family like his.
I traced Mary - she never married, or had children, dying in 1969.
Carl was instantly killed by a shot to the head in house to house fighting in Amman, about 4 in the morning on 30 March 1918. His mates had to leave his body behind when they withdrew from their position. There are digitised photos of Carl in the Australian War Memorial collection - they are easy enough to google.
Stan was killed by an artillery shell, after only two weeks on the front line in France. There was nothing left to bury. No one knows what happened to Richard - he just vanished on the battlefield, in the midst of heavy fighting.
Our family does not think of their bravery - we think of the loss and horror of war, and the grief that followed.
@Nicholas Kirk Don't feel concerned - the Pearce brothers' stories should be known, if only to tell people of the true nature of war, and the effect it has on those who died, and those who survived - even over a century years later.
War is not glorious - read some of Wilfred Owen's WW1 poetry, especially Dulce et Decorum Est - this expresses my feelings far more eloquently than I can write.
Thanks for the insight and that you tell your families moving story in public. These personal fates are never told in history books.
The Battle of Villers-Bretonneux occured on the night of 24-25 April. The 25th is our Anzac Day, a day of national remembrance. Our national memorial is situated on the high ground as is our Western Front museum. The general who planned and led the battle was the great, Brigadier Pompey Elliott who sadly committed suicide, a victim of PTSD. The battle was a masterpiece of sustained night attack without a heavy prelim bombardment. I had the honour of being at V-B on the 100th annivetsay in 2018 and laying a wreath. Very emotional service.
I was in V-B later in 2018 on a tour of battlefields where my great grandfather and great uncle fought with the AIF. I am from Melbourne and had a beer in the hotel Melbourne and visited the Victoria school.
Pompey was loved by his men, no small feat commanding Australian Battalions and Brigades in WW1. His depression stemmed from the loss of the men under his command. His war never ended, he was just KIA 13 years after the shooting stopped
@@ray.shoesmith I don't think he ever forgave himself for the destruction of his troops at Fromelles. He was visibly crying in the trenches as they returned.
Big fan of Pompey Elliot but also the counter-attack included the Australian 13th Brigade under Brigadier General Thomas William Glasgow with the 15th Brigade under Brigadier General H. E. "Pompey" Elliott. The success of these eight undermanned Divisions in kicking the German Army out of VB is why VB is celebrated by the townsfolk as an Australian town. The rebuilding of VB by Victoria donations came later, but was equally welcomed by the people of VB.
When the tank was out side the old museum in the valley, I used to go and play in Mephisto as a child, I grew up next to a soldier who was involved in its recovery from the battlefield and this is how it ended up in Queensland. Fond memories, standing in the tank looking at those engines and it's massive gearbox.
Many of us did that. It was more fun than the two dinosaurs which stood near it.
Yep, during the early 80s I managed to sneak into it one night as a dare..didn't realise how cramped it was inside! and I always thought the poor driver on top got hit with a mortar or the like..so the Germans blew it up themselves? learn a new thing everyday, Thanks History Guy.
@@KoolKman I climbed on it in the early/mid 80's when it was outside at South Bank. I didn't climb in but I looked in and remember it being full of garbage. Coke cans, plastic and other rubbish. We just didn't know what we had in those days and didn't look after it. So glad it is now properly cared for.
@@fliccochon Yep I remember being a kid climbing on Mephisto while waiting for the bus after a school excursion to the museum.
Funny thing is mate you and i probably ended playing in it together- my sister used to take me to play in it in the late 1960s/early 70s and I always ended playing war with some other kid who was there....small world.
All the Brisbanites jumping in to support our favourite tank. Gotta admit it's a random place for it to end up, but we are strangely proud of it.
Not a random place - they earned it!
And well you should be proud: it is the world's only surviving German WWI tank.
Of course we are proud of it. I remember reading a story in one of the free rags back in the 90's. It was a piece on the weirdest places people had sex in Brisbane. One of them was on top of Mephisto which was at the time in front of the new Museum with very small space between the top of the tank and the ceiling. That's something I'll never forget
@@JohnCran lol bugger. As a kid we'd climb up on top of the tank during school excursions. I don't remember seeing any used condoms luckily.
Mephisto was recovered from the battlefield on the initiative of Lt.Col Robinson C/O 26th Inf.Battalion AIF. He raised the prospect for recovery of the tank with higher command and the 26th Bn did much of the manual work building an access track to the tank through Allied lines. The tank was recovered by a pair of vehicles from the British 1st Gun Carrier Company with volunteers from 26th Bn providing security. The 26th Bn was a Queensland unit - it's depot was in Brisbane and many of the soldiers serving in the 26th were Queenslanders. The Queensland Premier and Governor at the time made strong representations to get Mephisto as a war trophy. When SS Armagh sailed to Australia in early 1919 loaded with war trophies it stopped in Brisbane and off loaded Mephisto.
I've been to the Anzac Museum at that village and stood for a photo under the Mural in the adjoining primary school that reads "Do not forget Australia". As an Aussie it is very humbling. The village has Australian street names like Emu road or Kangaroo street. I've also gone to the massive monument outside the town where they hold Anzac day services. Interesting enough, the "Night" attack was early morning Anzac day, 25 April. Three years to the day of the Gallipoli landings. The date and time for the attack would have been poignant to say the least, to those diggers. They were never going to lose. Although the fighting lasted the whole day before the two pincers finally met.
We've all heard that story of the big sign at the local school. But did you know it was put up there at the insistence of the then Victorian Minister for Education? It was Aussie-made propaganda intended for an Aussie audience. When the mayor of Villers-Bretonneux was asked by the Victorian government in 1920 how could Australia help them out, they said they wanted a memorial abattoir! After WW1, their main concern was creating jobs for the local people. The reality wasn't quite as romantic as Aussies have been taught...
I knew most of that, not all the minor details.
I had the good fortune to visit Mophisto when I took leave and went to Australia with a shipmate of mine in 1989. My shipmate had cousins in Brisbane and Mophisto was on our list of things to do. I hadn't been restored yet, at that time it sat open in a small city park covered in decades of graffiti. Children were climbing all over it with only a small plack to let the odd visitors from The United States Navy to read. I'm glad to see it's finally in a museum.
Mephisto was the most famous playground in Brisbane for kids. I remember climbing on it in the early 2000s. Glad it's rightfully been properly restored and placed in a better display but it's still a local icon.
I remember my mum taking me to the Brisbane exhibition ground. I recall seeing Mephisto. I also remember thinking “that’s not a tank!. I’ve seen them on TV and they don’t look like that!”
Thanks History Guy, as someone from Brisbane I know Mephisto well. Great to see this
Just wondering...how do Aussie men walk with balls like that? 🤘
Yep. I have even touched it when it was on display outside the old Queensland museum. Thanks for the history! I never knew so much detail about it.
😊
Go hard Aussies.
When I was just a kid in the 1960s I was lucky to have visited the old Queensland Museum when they were doing a spot of cleaning Mephisto. Actually allowed to play inside the beast and imagine being in a tank battle. It was just a shell with lots of holes where the gun ports were. A worker had left rubbish in the back. It was hot and smelly then so it was probably almost unbearable with a full crew and a working engine. A great memory and probably not shared by too many.
Took my sons 5 and 7 to visit the Queensland Museum for the Apollo 11 exhibit last year. They saw Mephisto on the way in and were captivated. When they are older I’ll have to make sure they understand tanks in the context of war. Sometimes war is necessary, but it’s best avoided.
I’m a brisbane local and I’ve been to the museum and visited that tank so many times as a kid. Shame I didn’t find out the historical significance until a few years ago
has in canberra for abit wasnt it? love too see it
Tom Murray yes in 2015 it was in Canberra. After 2018 it was returned to Brisbane
As a young Army recruit we went to the War Memorial.
Most info, educational and hands on experience one could ever hope to enjoy for a small donation.
David Sargent I’ve been there 3 times and I loved every second. I wish I could live in Canberra, I’d be there every day
Ooooh that makes me jealous. Are there any tank crew artifacts on display with it such as crew uniforms and equipments that were captured with the tank ? And is it capable of running under it own power (It own engine) ? EDIT - I have climbed many times as a kid over the Centurion tank at Caribbean Gardens market in Melbourne as a kid, but sadly it got wrecked by vandals and weather. There a Centurion on display at local Vietnam Veteran Museum on phillip island, it amazing how huge a tank is in real life when standing next to one.
My Great Great Grandfather was a involved in the capture and relocation or Mephisto. In itself the story of Mephisto's voyage to Brisbane Australia is very entertaining as it was told buy my Grand father and then my Father. Very proud of the Aussies who captured it.
My great great grandfather was one of the 26th Battalion who captured it as well, William Themor. It has been a very important story to our family.
In the Hundred Days Offensive one of the leading units was the Australian Corps, led by Lt. Gen. John Monash. General Monash developed the concept of the combined arms offensive, which included infantry, artillery, armor, and aviation, and which was able to break through the trench defenses. The allied assault on the first day was described by Hindenburg as "The black day of the German army."
th-cam.com/video/zL0JHPD0uOk/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for sharing 👍
The Canadians were doing just the same.
Sir John Monash, knighted in the field by His Majesty King George V. The first time in two centuries and the last time the monarch has traveled to the scene.
I would argue he laid the groundwork... It took decades for combined-arms tactics on an operational level to be developed and refined in the various militaries of the world. See this video for more information:
th-cam.com/video/d7AgcBIs8bM/w-d-xo.html
I feel like there should be a team of Jawas operating this thing.
Funny, I just watched the Rifftrax version of A New Hope this morning.
Now you mention it, it was probably the inspiration for the sand crawler...
true
George lucas took a lot of inspiration from the world wars.
I have visited the town, and as an Australian it is an extremely moving place. Especially the local school. I reccomend all australian's visit the town if they have a chance.
If I ever get the chance, Gallipoli, Beersheba/Gaza, Villers-Breteneux and Ypres will be visited.
I wonderful how certain towns develop century old relationships with other towns or countries, either through war or disasters. Halifax and Boston; The Netherlands and Canada; Gander Newfoundland and 911 diverted planes and many more......
Visited there in 2019 the school has a great museum
@@aaronleverton4221 Walk the Kokoda trail too mate. That shit is on my bucket list.
Wonderful vid. Two members of my family lie in the ground at Villers-Bretonneux. The Australians retook the ground but, like every other battle of WW1, there was a terrible cost. I’ve seen Mephisto, too, when it was on loan to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra some years ago. It’s stories like these and the recent anniversary of VE Day that remind me how vain and paltry the current cries of injustice and suffering are compared to those things our grandparents and great grandparents endured in a world where the value of human life was comparatively so low and the safety net for the sick, maimed, widowed and orphaned was virtually non-existent.
"On loan" now there's a tricky thing. It was never the property of the Qld museum, but something happened in Brisbane and she was offloaded when she shouldn't have been. Officially the tank is part of the AWM's collection, but is relatively permanently displayed in Brisbane, allowing all to keep face.
Amazing, you’ve taken the story of great personal loss and used it to spread hate against those who fight injustice today.
Suffering exists at all points in history. Hundreds of years of slavery in the US makes the sacrifices of many during WW1 seem tame. Yet there’s no point comparing them, same with the threat many face now from police forces that view themselves to be above the law. Rather than belittle the problems people face because you think others suffered worse, we should work to end suffering and injustice in all case.
Kris Handsome And I find it amazing that you haven’t raised the story of the Harlem Warlords who, maligned by their own commanders, were armed by the French and fought to great renown, only to return to ignominy, racism and Jim Crow in their homeland, as did other African Americans in WW2. But slavery is gone from the USA 155 years now and through the labours of Martin Luther King Jnr and others Jim Crow is gone and all returned US servicemen are honoured, regardless of race. Yes, people suffer throughout the ages, but a sense of proportion is important, and I have no hatred for anyone. I might add, plenty of those in need of a sense of proportion are white. I’ll leave it at that.
kombi k
A sense of proportion has no bearing on whether the injustice exists or not. Slavery was worse than Jim Crow, yet they’re both injustices. The mistreatment of many black veterans in the US (including my grandfather) after and during many conflicts is tragic, but even though that and many Jim Crow era laws have largely been abolished, there’s still more to be done.
I don’t consider it “vain and paltry” to draw attention to the fact that people like me can be shot and killed by the police with impunity. I don’t consider it “vain and paltry” to fight against injustice in all forms even though someone with a vastly different life experience thinks that such injustices simply don’t exist because other injustices occurred in the past. Further, it’s quite hateful to declare all concerns of racism now to be “vain and paltry” simply because you think the past is so bad that society is perfect by comparison.
Kris Handsome But I didn’t declare those things. I’ve explained my comment. If you can’t take me at my word then you’ll find hatred in all who think differently and unhappiness much of the time. And to what end? You know me not at all. I’m just another TH-cam commenter. I hope you can find peace and count your blessings.
Thirty years ago I moved to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and went to join the library. Standing in my way was Mafisto. At well over six foot tall I had a clear view through the many gunports. How seventeen men must have suffered, standing, packed inside that pokie little stinkhole and motored boldly for the enemy, both impressed and sickened me.
This tank lives here in my city and I'm very proud to have her.
She's very well loved and incredibly important to our history and to the world.
I visit her often even to this day
There's a good story about the retaking of Villers-Bretonneux by the Australians, and the school that was built after the War by the donations of school children in Victoria. It would be worth a look at by the History Guy. Villers-Bretonneux have never forgotten the Australians.
And to this day, the school kids in that village sing the Australian national anthem every Australia Day. Say what you like about the French, but they never forget a good deed!
Described by many historians as the single greatest feat of modern warfare.
So many stories. Thanks for sharing 👍
@@glenchapman3899 Well, except for that time back in c. 2002 that they decided to move a bunch of Australian war graves to extend a runway.
@@aaronleverton4221
Hey, better that they move the graves than building the road right on top of them, completely ruining the graves, right?
Having seen Mephisto for most of my childhood (I grew up and currently live in Brisbane) , I only saw her restored recently.
It was... sobering to see her restored to her former glory.
It is fascinating that it wasn't until the most recent restoration in 2011 that they made a really comprehensive study of the battle damage from 1918.
Indeed.
From memory she spent some time in Germany during that period as well. I'm pretty sure she's the model that they used to make a replica A7 for the Munich tank museum.
Food for thought. They did it in 2011 because Brisbane was flooded that year, and unfortunately Mephisto got coated inside and out with Brisbane River mud.. (anyone living in Brisbane at this time will remember the smell and shudder). While tanks are made for muddy conditions, this was a bit over the top for a 93 year old tank! I think they did a lot of restoration work at the railway workshops at Ipswich. Thanks again History Guy!
@@camerondunn6258 The Ipswich railway workshops are also a real treat for anyone interested in history, took my kids there several times. And yes the smell was bad in 2011.
@@malusignatius she was used for the model but the germans went to autralia to take measurements.
Vaguely reminds me of the sand crawlers from Star Wars ep. IV...
A lot of the early star wars movies are based vaguely on WW1 and especially WW2. A lot of the blasters are leftover surplus guns from WW2. Without doing any research it wouldn't surprise me if there is some relation there.
EDIT: I should say styled after WW1 & WW2 themes not based on, that's the incorrect wording.
_Utinni!_
I was going to say that this Tank is what the model designers were thinking of when they designed the Jawa Crawlers.
Jawa tossing should be an Olympic sport!
@@johncab23 that's a hate crime!
As a Brisbanite I to was fortunate enough to clamber all over Mephisto as a youngster and it was sad to see it rot away out in the open uncared for for years ... and then some idiots decided it would be a great idea to get paintbrushes out and paint over it with a ridiculous fantasy pattern of colours. It was 'rescued' from the Queensland Museum by the people who run the Railway Workshops Museum at Ipswich before the absolutely brilliant staff at the Australian War Memorial were able to get it shipped to Canberra. For several years they went over every inch of Mephisto and restored her painstakingly to her former glory based on pictures and reference materials they had. Mephisto is now back in a new enclosure/display at the Queensland Museum where they are now taking much better care of her ... but we can't climb on it anymore like we used to as kids ;)
Great video History Guy! Thoroughly enjoyed it and the background presented. The Battle of Villers-Bret is a fabled one in our Military History, one that is still remembered. The recent Centenary of WW1 has allowed the story of these battles and the men that fought them to be retold and re-discovered by many who were never taught this part of our hsitory in the past few decades. This video is a great compliment to that.
they didnt really restore it so mush as preserve it. the interior was left pretty much wrecked. just rust controlled.
After the war children in Victoria raised money for VB. Their school is named Victoria School. The people of VB raised funds and made items for Victorian human and animal victims of the bushfires. Some came over to help. Very personal feelings for each other.
I remember as a kid living in Brisbane visiting Mephisto at the museum many times and before they had it preserved behind glass spending lots of time trying to climb on it but unfortunately it was sealed. It's most likely the main inspiration for my fascination of tanks of all types thinking back on it.
I'm so glad my Australian forebears had the presence of mind to preserve this piece of history and look after it. The same people destroying all the statues currently would probably be inclined to destroy pieces of history like this and they all deserve to be remembered or we will not learn from them
IT dies seem amazing, today. that the UK, US and France all received A7Vs for testing and then just scrapped them. the Tank Museum does have a working reproduction.
Context: though I do think those status should be destroyed, it should be done by the city, democratically, by officials charged by the people to do it, not by rioters. The people those status commemorate don't deserve to be remembered that way (though it should definitely not be forgotten the evil people can do to each other!).
A war trophy is different: it commemorates the sacrifice of the people who fought and died to make it's capture a possibility. I don't think most people would be confused by that.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Did you mention this in the video? I didn't catch that. That is just crazy!
Edit: oh they tested them after the war, they didn't get samples to test before the war. I misunderstood. Still, that they didn't keep them being as strange as they were is odd. Makes me wonder what pieces of history we're tossing right now without realizing it: the Canadian Iltus comes to mind, being so unassuming, I'm only aware of one in a military museum, for all the peace keeping around the globe that that little vehicle was responsible for.
@@wilfdarr Following WW2 the British received 2 V2 rockets, which had terrorised London. What did they do with them? They test fired them into the North Sea, learning nothing of use.
@@wilfdarr So you consider statues of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Andrew Jackson, Robert E Lee etc to all be evil? Because those are some of the statues they've tried to tear down, remove or deface. This mentality of destroying someones culture comes from a belief in which that culture does not belong or represent them. This is exactly the same series of destruction of history that happened when Communism took over both Russia and China. Also when when Tibet was invaded many Buddhist monuments were destroyed. Same thing happened when Isis took over parts of Syria many historic statues and places of worship were destroyed. During the French revolution the same thing and when the Vandals invaded Rome - same thing. History repeats over and over. This happened because the people taking over didn't want that history or religion because it didn't represent them. Letting Rioters make that decision for you is no different than living in Rome with the Vandals at your door. If the majority of the people want things like that changed it can be done democratically but to let a baying mob (while ideologically possessed) decree what is right or wrong is witnessing the start of the destruction of your civilization.
Yep, I remember going on a school outing and climbing over the mephisto, back when the museum was next to the Brisbane showgrounds. Must get to the new museum and take the grandkids!
I just posted a comment about doing the same. You must be as old as me. Lol I don’t suppose you went to Ascot state school ?
Well done, the Aussies, often the unsung - or inadequately sung - heroes of war...
In WW2 they were the first to stop both the Germans and the Japanese on land.
@@TonyGrant. False on both counts.
Unsung? You can't shut the damn Australians up about how fantastic they think they are.
@@iatsd Look up the Battles of Tobruk and Milne Bay.
@iatsd
That's the new idiotic breed. The old boys would have thought it was very poor form to skite so much.
Former Army Cavalry Scout here. I worked closely with Tank crews as our organization of elements included, at least my 1st year serving, 2 platoons of Cav Scouts & 2 platoons of tanks.
One of the common mantras you can here from Armored service members is "take care of your vehicle, it will take care of you". We'd spend 90% of our down time fixing, rearming, cleaning, re-fixing, babying & cooing, etc... our vehicles because, though it's been around 100 years since armors inception into warfare, some things never changed. They seem to spring leaks or simply break *while still parked in the motorpool*.
Loved this episode THG, thanks for the vid!
When I was younger you could climb all over the tank in its position outside the museum, it’s inside now and is still amazing. Might be frowned upon climbing now though.
Haha yeah I remember doing the same while waiting for the school bus to pick us up after excursions. To kids it was just a big steel playground.
I live in Brisbane. As a child we used to climb over the Mephisto when it was kept in the grounds of the old Queensland Museum. We had no idea then of how important it was historically.
Those that don’t thoroughly enjoy The History Guy , would boo Santa Claus!
Thanks THG
Soooo, Philadelphia hates the History Guy?
Obama must hate really hate the History Guys guts !
P J And tRump would think that if it didn’t mention him... it wasn’t real!
@@PJ-pj8lr I didn't know Obama was from Philly.
*Standing in the line of fire,*
*32 will lead the way*
*Coming over trench and wire,*
*Going through the endless gray*
This has been the obligatory Sabatonposting comment, please enjoy your day.
You're doing the lord's work my dude
Sabaton is just a shittier Sabadu
Sabaton and their fans are pure cringe
Listen to 1914 - A7 v. It's so much better than the pop songs of Sabaton
@@Keckegenkai Bwahaaa, your whinging pleases me
My kids climbed over this tank when it was kept out in the open at the old museum before it was moved to the new museum at South Bank Brisbane - I have photo somewhere. Cheers
wish i could see it.
I stumbled over this tank a few years ago in the museum in Brisbane, it's amazing to see.
I get to see this beauty when ever I want.
You lucky bugger
I used to know somebody called Darren Earwaker. Almost, but not quite, you.
Great to hear this story, my Great Grandfather was in the group that captured the tank. Thanks THG.
Excellent video. Tanks proved their worth in the battle of Hamel on July 4 1918, when the battle was spearheaded by Mark V tanks that crushed the strongpoints, leaving the Australian and US infantry to mop up the rest of the Germans.
th-cam.com/video/zL0JHPD0uOk/w-d-xo.html
I just named my 1965 Ford F100 "Mephisto". I will try to avoid holes. Thanks History Guy!
i suspect mephisto wouldve been better served being bestowed on a "dodge" ram.
The German tank, Mephisto, was kept at the old Queensland museum in Brisbane, before moving to the new museum. I and many children have climbed over Mephisto. The tank is part of our childhood, and have wonderful memories of the tank and its history. Thank you for telling her story.
I remember seeing Mephesto A7V for the first time in Brisbane back in 1979 where it used to be shown near the Easter showgrounds. From then on I became a tanknut and still am. And also recomend WOT.
Clan of the ruski snail is here to represent as well
Not the Easter show, we have our Show in August, during the school holidays. It's just "the Showgrounds" up here in Brissy.
I used to climb on Mephisto as a kid when it was parked outside the museum. These days it's inside in a glass case..
are you per chance the persons pics i poached from inside it from the late 1970s?
I think it was actually outside the State Library in the 80s and 90s, which I always found a bit odd.
Yeah I'am 61 now and climbed over it as well when it was outside of the meuseam in Brisbane when I was a kid.Was amazed in the bullet gouges in the armour.
Proud to say that can visit the old girl anytime as I live in Brisbane
It sat outside the old Queensland Museum near the exhibition grounds for decades, every kid in Brisbane, including me, played in that rusty old thing. It still had rubbish from France in it, with its guns stripped but still in place. Good to see it was shifted out of the open and preserved.
I always love visiting Mephisto when I head to the Queensland Museum. There are photo's of steam engines dragging it off the freighter that brought it back to Oz
Thanks HG for this one. Villers-Bretonneux is a special place for me. For a few years I took part in the memorial game of Australian Rules Football match for ANZAC day there. Streets are named after Australian towns and cities and the school financed by Victorian state school children after the war bears the moto "Remember Australia". Not far from there is the location where the Red Baron met his end.
One of my most treasured photos is of my daughter with her great great grandmother, who is the daughter of William Themor, one of the men in the 26th Battalion that captured the Mephisto, both standing in front of it in the new exhibit at the Queensland Museum.
My G-Grandfather (my avatar) was badly injured two days before and about 10km away the tanks captured, I also live in Brisbane a visit Mephisto at the ANZAC hall at QLD Museum regularly. It’s an awesome feeling to be so close history
Still love the story about one of the German armor museums approaching the Australian government about the possibility of repatriating Mephisto to germany, it being as mentioned the only surviving "real" A7V. the Australian response was along the lines of, "Nope, spoils of war. not gonna happen!"
The Aussies were, however, nice enough to let the Germans examine Mephisto so they could build their own copy for their museum.
"The British" were Australians. Australia became a federated soveriegn nation in 1901. Even though they operated within the BEF under British Strategic command, they were under Australian operational command. (The story of "Breaker Morant" during the Boer War, is why Australians are never directly under foreign command)
Villers-Bretonneux
has a special connection with Australia, even celebrating ANZAC day each April 25th as a public holiday. "Never Forget Australia" is the town motto.
Australian troops even smuggled a local orphan boy back to Australia, where he lived out his life.
I first saw Mephisto about 50 years age when it was at the Old Museum at Bowen Hills in Brisbane.
Us Australians do love a good war trophy , the Amiens gun out the front of the Australian War Memorial would be another good one to cover , same battle I think .
We Americans have a Japanese mini sub at the George H.W. Bush Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas.
We aussies have 3 midget subs.
2 at the Australian war memorial . Canberra. And one still in the water off Sydney heads.
We at the federation have 4 romulan war birds on display and only recently turned over the bAtleth of emperor kligrock back to the Klingon empire.
Dirtyoldfokker she’s actually been found up off Lion Island near Palm Beach. Odd place but there you go.....
It would have been nice to have the complete railway gun on display. However the defence force grabbed the German railway gun to use as a carriage for proof testing reworked 8inch naval guns in South Australia during WW2. Then some idiot decided that scrapping the carriage would be a good idea in the 1960s. All that's left is the original 24cm barrel and the roof over the ammunition transfer area.
I live in Australia, Mephisto is in great hands and very much cared for,she's kept inside and loved with TLC,the size and mass of her is eye opening upfront you don't get the size of this monster on a screen,come down under one day and check it out the beers are always cold here.
It's fantastic that you've covered the history of the sole surviving A7V Sturmpanzerwagen "Mephisto", an extraordinary relic of the Great War.
As you mentioned, it has lived in Brisbane, Queensland, as war booty for over a hundred years now, first arriving here in June 1919.
When I was a child in the 1970s, we used to climb over this vehicle as it sat out in the weather outside the old Queensland Museum in Spring Hill.
Since then, the passing of time seems to have given the vehicle greater recognition as a precious & exceptionally rare relic of the Great War.
I last saw it two years ago, just prior to its restoration, sitting in an atmospherically-controlled bubble in the Workshops Railway Museum in Ipswich.
Since then, it has returned to the Queensland Museum but is now housed and carefully preserved inside.
Thanks to your inspiration, I'm going into the Museum right now to visit "Mephisto" again: once a weapon of war, then war booty shipped to the opposite side of the planet, a memorial to the sacrifices of soldiers in the Great War, then an outdoor plaything for children, and now a precious historical artefact.
That's truly history that deserves to be remembered.
Thank you.
Used play on it as a Brisbane boy before it was considered a treasure. Trust me the inside is a blown up mess. I think the Germans dynamited it. The outside was solid, but the roof was not. So it all blew up, but it externally remained intact. Cool tank, amazed it is the only one left. Cheers Aaron
I've seen this tank a bunch of times on display here in Brisbane, Australia. Beautiful beast
Another thing to do when travelling to Austrália: visit Mephisto besides koalas and kangaroos...
Australia is a fantastic country, this is just one more reason to take the long haul. 👍
I've heard of tourists who were attacked by Mephistos dropping out of the Kookabooka trees.
Mephisto is on display in Brisbane, Queensland.
I would love to visit Australia, if this stupid germ would just go away.
@@magnificentfailure2390 Ah yes; the infamous Drop Tanks ;D
Thanks for bringing some of Australia's history to the rest of the world. Villers-Bretonneux is well remembered here, at least by older Australians.🇦🇺
Younger ones are taught it.
How mephisto came to be in Brisbane is also an interesting story in itself.
as a boy growing up in Brisbane in the 70's, my family and I would occasionally visit the (old)Queensland museum. They used to have a collection of odd looking antique pistols, a tigermoth hanging from the rafters and sitting under an awning out the front was this odd looking tank painted white. It didn't have any guns in it but that didn't stop my me and my brothers from shooting up many an imaginary enemy as they loomed into view. I haven't seen it since its been restored and rehoused in the new museum, but i'll bet my kids won't be able to climb all over it playing cowboys and indians like we did.
I used to climb Mephisto at the old Museum as a kid. That old Museum, on Bowen Bridge and Gregory, was at construction the largest Brick building in the Southern Hemisphere, now repurposed as an Arts Centre.Was there the day the tank was moved, my BIL was one of the truck drivers,along with the Dinosaur, moved to undercover at the New Museum.
An anti-tank tactic used by both sides was firing at the unprotected view slits used by gunners and drivers. This practice was so pervasive that tank crews often painted false view ports on the front and sides of their vehicles to misdirect enemy snipers and machine gunners.
My daughters crawled all over Mephisto in the early 2000s when it used to be displayed outside the museum by Southbank in Brisbane.
I respect history, but it seems fitting to me that such a feared weapon of a terrible war was reduced to an amusing interest for children to play on.
We were also there when it was damaged in the Brisbane 2011 floods.
Thx History Guy. Stoked to see our tank on your channel. Also enjoyed your Slouch Hat episode.
Before they put up the plate glass surround/structure (Its up at the Brisbane Museum) - I went and slapped the tanks hull in numerous places (with my hand) and actually felt the bullet hits and other war dents by placing my finger tips in the dents. The feel of that tank, its war damage and the sound of its hull was an eiree feeling. It also sounded like a thick hollow tin can just with my bare hand hitting it. It must have been deafening with armament hitting it. Pity its out of bounds now, you get a different feel (no pun intended) when you can actually "feel" the bullet dents.
The gate to school at Villers- Bretonneux hold the banner - "N'oubliez jamais l'Australie" for the regaining of the town and the support provided by Australian school children in rebuilding the school after the war.
After bushfires ravaged south-eastern Australia in 2009 the children of Villers-Bretonneux raised funds to rebuild a school in the town of Strathewen, Victoria and in 2011 the Mayor of Villers-Bretonneux travelled to Australia to open the new school and to receive the Order of Australia for his work in maintaining the 1300 Australian graves adjacent to the village.
Alas, alas, late in March he contracted COVID-19 and despite fighting long and hard, died on Wednesday, aged just 64. Vale, Monsieur Patrick Simon AO.
Ah that is sad to know. Thanks for sharing though.
My father was in France during WW1 and told me of the pride that the "diggers" (aussie soldiers) had in snaffling that war trophy. Better than a helmet eh mate?
Almost every town in Australia has either a field gun, tank, armoured car, or APC, or even a gutted plane, from some war or other, on display at a park, or in front of a veterans organisations building.
Every one, a genuine article that saw service.
But among them, you'll find many aren't items used by our Army against the enemy, but theirs used against us, and captured.
Our soldiers seem to have a thing for it, not matter what generation of them.
I recall the local returned services club in the suburb my old man grew up in, had a German WWI field gun out the front, next to a Vietnam war era Australian Army artillery piece, on the wall above hung the propeller from a Spitfire, and a bit higher up, on the opposite front exterior wall, a Messerschmitt one.
I live in the bush, and for years, my local park had a German made gun, that had been captured off Boers in the Boer war.
Once, I even went to an Art Gallery in a larger nearby regional town, where they had an Art of War exhibition visiting, and in the centre of the gallery, between the walls holding the paintings, there was a perspects case holding captured home made guns, and AK-47s from the Army's deployment to Somalia.
So for like, at least 120 years, it's been a pretty big thing for our military to do, almost a tradition, to the point where they brought home barely functional improvised bush guns from Somalia, because that and few AKs was all they captured, but they HAD to bring home something.
Maybe we have a problem by this point.
Any relation to the Allan Moffat?
@@murph7421 No but I met him in the pits at Lakeside International race track, where I was a flag marshal. It was quite strange " g'day Allan Moffat, I'm Alan Moffat" we both had a laugh.
@@Apis4 same here in the us. a small town nearby had an mg 08 in front of it rotting away for many years before it disappeared (i have no idea what happened to it). and another nearby town lima ohio (the home of the general dynamics tank plant) has a large calibre german field gun displayed.
@@alanmoffat4680 Haha, brilliant.
Germans met their match when they realised too late
if you leave the keys in your tank some Australian guy will steal it
and as we all know, finders is keepers ....
The bizarre part is that it was accidentally disabled by German engineers, or it could have been recovered.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel gday from southbank, brisbane
The story goes that the Aussies didnt have any interest in it until a command came from the British saying the Aussies weren't allowed to take it, and they thought "don't tell us what not to do, you pommy bastards", and they swiped it before the Poms could get it.
crawl it like you stole it!!!
Germany fought with Austria, Bulgary and Turkey ( three not so strong countries) against Russia, France, British Empire,Japan, USA and a large number of midsize/smaller countries, which needed four years to beat Germany and his allies. Don' forget this fact!
I went to the museum last year and saw Mephisto. Whilst I was more interested in the NASA exhibit at the museum and the science and technology exhibits at the Queensland university of technology, even I felt the need to visit the Queensland war museum and the HMAS Diamantina.
I've been visiting Mephisto all my life, I new its history and uniqueness, great to hear you tell the story.
No other allied city had so much troops pass through it, as testament to your telling of the battle of Brisbane. Warehouses built by the U.S army and Navy are still used till this day.
Hello from Brisbane Australia, I also have childhood memories of playing around and on Mephisto. It is the only original tank of its type in the world with some reproductions existing. Mephisto was restored by the Queensland railway workshops in Ipswich, they preserved all the battle damage on it. I saw it again 4 years ago at the National War Museum in Canberra. It was like seeing an old friend.
Awesome bit of history. I live only 45 minutes from the Queensland Museum so I'll definitely be going to check it out. Thanks History Guy.
my maternal Grandfater had an encounter with one while driveing his ambulance back from “the front”. while driveing though a barrage on a village, he was suddley infron on one of these, and squads of german troups. the commander in the tank on see his red crosses, orders all tropus to stop shootings, let a ricocket hit the veichle. he then got out (or hand outthe door) ofthe tank, and waved my garpop past, and as pop passed, saluted him. such honor was not the only time he met german chivalry during WW1.
Good on ya Aussies! Thanks, History Guy, you make me a better history teacher!
Good heavens. This error-strewn nonsense?
Hi Sir, My dad was a history teacher for over 39 years and probably from there I found my interest in history. I found you not too long ago and subscribed immediately. I have seen that you have few videos on British India, can you please do some more? I believe UK's history books don't teach their students about the colonialism at all. As you said in the "Bengal feminine" video, some history "Needs" to be remembered. Thank you.
Watching this with my morning coffee is a great way to start my day.
The infantry mans lament;
"Sod this for a game of soldiers!"
Thank you THG.
The battle of VB would make an epic movie an Australian soldier fired a Lewis gun from the hip mowing down many men from a railway viaduct. The Ozzie troops were brilliant acquiring momentoes
And if you go to Brisbane to see Mephisto, the Queensland Maritime Museum is within easy walking distance. They have HMAS Diamantina, the last of the River class frigates. Well worth a look.
He never came and ate with the family even at Christmas just sat out the back in the dark with his dog.. My great aunties and my grandparents used to say just leave him alone hes old and angry he was probably 85 or 90 back in 1975 assuming he was 20-25 at the start of the war... But i was fascinated by his stories.. And used to ask questions about him if him on the car drive home.. My dad would say he was shellshocked and disabled for a lot of years but his family always took care of him and cared for him... I think he lived well into his early 90's back in the late 70's in Altona... Melbourne
Perhaps the graffiti should have show a kangeroo giving the tank a good kick.
I'm so happy that at least one of them tanks is still alive
Thank you for this one. I’m a huge A7V fan. I’m actually A7V Sturmpanzerwagen on WOT! I suggest for those interested, a book on the A7V by tankograd.
The A7V Nixie II was given to the US by the French following WW1 and was shipped to the Aberdeen Proving grounds were it remained for the next two decades until 1942. It was dragged like a stubborn calf to its demise being scrapped that year and a final photograph of her being pulled by several tractors has been captioned Nixie II funeral cortège. Other A7Vs were displayed in both England/France but they to met a similar fate just a few years after the WW1 and a more recent find was a British Mark 4 who's shows the damage it took is now displayed in France after almost a century after it was lost.
the pics of schnuck being cut up almost make me cry. i guess one of nixe IIs mg mounts turned up and is diplayed in f full size mock up of the gunners station in a museum. sadly i cant recall where anymore.
The tank is on display at the Queensland Museum, located in the city of Brisbane. THG mentions Southbank, but that refers to the riverside location of the museum. While it's now kept in a glass enclosure to preserve it, for many years after its installation you could walk around it and touch it, as I and so many other school children did on visits to our state's premiere historical repository.
Now I know the relevance of our history and the town of Villers-Bretonneux (They hold an ANZAC Day ceremony each year, supported by the school kids and up). Southbank, Brissy? One museum I haven't seen yet, but it on the list next time I'm down there. Thanx THC! Luv ya work!
'Terror: to cause unreasonably extreme fear in the enemy'.
While mechanically of poor quality, the early tanks were truly terror weapons.
Great video, Take Care and be safe, John
It was my understanding that the reason it came back to Brisbane Australia is that it was abandoned in no mans land and in the middle of the night Australian Engineers risked their lives and managed to salvage it. As most of those Engineers came from Brisbane it was decided to be take there.
It was British tank troops who salvaged Mephisto. They towed it away using Gun Carriers. The Australians cleared a path for it.
I the late 50s or early 60 s the British Museum tried to claim it! They had just set up the Bovington tank museum and realized they didnt have one and the only left was far away in the colony, we must have it back! Thankfully the Queensland Government told them to go jump and we kept it!
i guess they shouldnt have scrapped the 2 they had (#504 schnuck and #528 hagen)
The happy face when he describes World of Tanks and his offer to meet us on the battlefield? Priceless.
I used to see Mephisto every time I went to the museum as a kid. But I didn’t realise it had been used at VB. Visiting the town for ANZAC day in 2011 was incroyable. Very special place, particularly if you’re an Aussie. Pas de rien Australie et nos amis en Villers-Brettoneux.
I live in Brisbane and have been lucky enough to have a really good look at and through the Mephisto!! The last one in the world!!
Actually went there last summer on a long trip to France. A wonderful museum near by and well worth the visit
9:49 Captured Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr perhaps?? We need Ian from Forgotten Weapons for this :)
The story of the tank Fray Bentos would be well worth covering.
The professionalism of your channel and your work (the plural your) is a joy to behold. As is Mephisto. Now inside the museum and away from the elements. Thank you
I got to see the Mephisto when it was still on display at the War memorial museum in Canberra in 2016 along with the Me262, comet, V1 flying bomb etc an awesome collection
Excellent and informing as usual.
I would like to suggest a series of videos on American history because it is obvious that it was either never learned in the first place or has stopped being taught and the experience of being taught the nuances of American history from someone who loves history as much as The History Guy does would truly be an honor.
BadBobV65 it was refreshing to watch a THG video. I’ve been watching too many videos on the unraveling of American society. We need historians to tell the tales of our past so that we don’t repeat it (the bad portions). We need to remember the good, the bad and the ugly. And we need to remember the brave people and the difficult accomplishments that brought us to this point in time.
When I was younger (about 30 years ago, I think) the tank was on display on the outside of the Queensland Museum, under cover but out in the open where anyone could come and walk up close to it and touch it, there was nothing to separate you from the tank. I remember climbing on it, and it was unfortunately a target for vandals and graffiti. Underneath it there was a metal tray to catch oil that dripped out of it.
Wait . . .our Mephisto, the one in Brisbane?? Awesome . . .thankfully, its gotten a much better setting for display: INSIDE the museum rather than outside . . .
In 2018 Mephisto was borrowed by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and I got to see it up close a couple of times. My grandfather was with the 13th Battalion AIF when it was captured, so he must have seen it over there. The 13th Battalion also captured a German messenger dog named Roff. He was given to the quartermasters section to look after and my grandfather is photographed with Roff, sitting in a home made cart that they harnessed to him. Roff died in 1919 and his stuffed remains are also on display at the AWM. Photo's are on the AWM website!
I have seen Mephisto up close. Fabulous! There is a reproduction in the German tank museum in Germany.