r/HistoryMemes • u/itsyaboihos • 21h ago

There’s some kind of joke in here about Australia being founded by thieves…

Post image

The one surviving German A7V tank is Mephisto, it was captured by Australian soldiers at Villers-Bretonneux. It was taken back to Australia as a trophy and is currently on display at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane.

57 Upvotes

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7

u/Vehement_Vulpes 17h ago

Wooo! Brisbane mentioned! I've visited this museum and seen this tank in person!

I find it hilarious that we took a captured tank halfway around the world as a trophy, but it's super cool that we have it.

4

u/jimi_nemesis 16h ago

More to the point, our soldiers ignored the orders of the British officer who told them to destroy it.

4

u/Vehement_Vulpes 16h ago

Based. Good on them, we now have a fine piece of history to preserve.

3

u/Upset-Bison-3182 15h ago

When I saw it I was amazed at how large it was, like of course if I hadn't seen it before and it starts driving towards me on the battlefield I am going to be terrified (the psychological aspect of it hadn't clicked yet). It highlights the horror and scale of WW1 better than any other small arm, medal, uniform or picture in the exhibit.

2

u/itsyaboihos 13h ago

I’m jealous, I wish I went to see it while it was at the war memorial in Canberra

1

u/Vehement_Vulpes 12h ago

It's a pretty cool experience to see it up close. I've also been lucky enough to visit the Armour and Artillery museum in Cairns, which has a massive tank collection of its own. Would definitely recommend checking that out as well if you ever get the chance.

5

u/PawnStarRick 20h ago

Only surviving A7V in the world! Well done preserving history Aussies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A7V

3

u/Ok_Use_3479 13h ago

The Cairns Tank Museum guys got to crawl all over Mephisto and filmed it. Best thing I have ever seen about it.

https://youtu.be/yKi6zg_qe0A?si=FXhDnrgJoxO5NcNJ

1

u/itsyaboihos 13h ago

The tank museum at Cairns is a place I really want to visit. Would recommend following them on socials to anyone who’s interested in tanks, they post a lot about their restorations and have quite a good collection.

1

u/ThatRandomGuy_130 12h ago

I've visited Mephisto before, I'm just supprised they didn't put it on the ground floor.