A German A7V Sturmpanzerwagen (Nº504 "Schnuck") of Abteilung 2.
Captured by the New Zealand Division at Frémicourt, Nord-Pas-de-Calais on the 31 August 1918 (photo taken 18/9/18).
The A7V had a crew of 18 men and was powered by two 100hp Daimler engines. It was armed with one 57mm Gun and six machine guns.
"Schnuck" was displayed in London on Horse Guards Parade in 1918/19 and given to the Imperial War Museum in 1919 but disposed of in 1922 with only the main gun kept.
(Nb. "Schnuck" was a Hybrid, combining the vehicles Nº504 and Nº544)
In some ways the A7V was a better tank than the British Mark IV, it had two engines which gave it more power and a top speed of 8 mph (12km/h) and was protected by 30 mm (1 3/16 inch) armour. In other ways, however, it was inferior: its high centre of gravity made it somewhat unstable over rough terrain and it could only traverse trenches under 6 feet (1.82 meters) across. The Germans did not have a lot of confidence in their own tanks, only about 20 A7V's were built, and they preferred to use captured Mark IV's. In fact the German army was so enamoured with the British Mark IV tank that the High Command ordered a German tank to be built based on the Mark IV design, which gave birth to the A7V/U. It had all-round tracks like the British machine, but kept all the internal components of the old A7V. Still, only a prototype was ever built. [Colourised photo]
