We were given unprecedented access to Mephisto — the world’s rarest tank and the only surviving German A7V of the First World War. Inside, outside… and underneath.
Captured by the Australian 26th Battalion at Villers-Bretonneux in July 1918 — dragged from a shell crater at night, under a mustard gas bombardment — Mephisto was shipped home to Brisbane as the ultimate war trophy. Since then she has survived six decades in the open air, the 2011 Brisbane floods, and even a 1950s attempt to scrap her. Today she rests in the Anzac Legacy Gallery at Queensland Museum Kurilpa, and this Workshop Wednesday we bring you the closest look at her ever filmed.
Enormous thanks to Dr Liz, Nick, Lincoln, Damian and the whole team at Queensland Museum for making this possible.
📖 THE BOOK — So much of this story couldn’t fit in one video. “Mephisto: Technology, War and Remembrance” covers it all, and we can’t recommend it highly enough: https://www.shop.qm.qld.gov.au/default/mephisto-technology-war-and-remembrance-paperback.html
⏱ CHAPTERS
00:00 The Last Ride of Mephisto (Animated Map)
02:21 The Recovery — Under Fire and Gas
04:11 War Trophy — The Journey to Brisbane
04:54 Intro — Arriving at Queensland Museum
06:30 Inside Mephisto: Rear Compartment & Engines
10:09 The Cupola — Commander & Driver’s Positions
13:36 Forward Compartment & the 57mm Gun
18:44 Cracking Open the Transmission
21:07 War Trophy to Wreck to Wonder
23:30 Underneath Mephisto
29:21 Identifying Relics — Queensland Museum Research Lab
34:52 Lt Lynch and the Compass
36:34 What Mephisto Means Now
38:51 Could We Get Her Running?
39:13 Special Thanks & Outro
🎵 MUSIC Ardie Son — Epoch Ardie Son — She Wolf Ardie Son — Dawn Christopher Galovan — Aire
🎬 OPENING ANIMATION Martin Kyselica
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Credit to : The Australian Armour & Artillery Museum