| Subject: Re: German WW I tanks |
Author:
Shawn
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Date Posted: 08:07:51 07/03/02 Wed
In reply to:
Johan Ryheul
's message, "Re: German WW I tanks" on 00:58:12 07/03/02 Wed
Johan,
That is a a moving story!
By the way, here is the account of the first British tank captured by the Germans in running order (page 152 of the book I mentioned). There is a great photograph in this book of a smiling Fritz Leu wearing helmet and EKI leaning against the front of a captured British tank!
From the book:
On November 21st [1917], Captain Borchert, the Commanding Officer of motor transport troops of Second Army, received orders to salvage some of the British tanks immediately. The vehicles were to be tested and to be exposed to test firing. All units of the Second Army were subsequently to be instructed on antitank measures.
Instantly, reconnaissance teams were sent out to locate suitable vehicles. Borchert himself was wounded while reconnoitering in Fontaine-Notre-Dame. [Unteroffizier Fritz] Leu volunteered for for reconnaissance and was teamed with Lieutenant Müller from Army Motor Transportation Depot 2 (Armee-Kraftwagen-Park 2: AKP 2). These two succeeded in recovering a British [Mark IV] Female tank from No Man’s Land in the early morning hours of November 22nd.
The salvage proved not to be an easy one. Nearby, the voices of British infantrymen could be heard, and the tank was not in running condition, but Leu’s experience [assembling German A7V tanks in Berlin] paid off. He knew how the A7V worked, and with some imagination, he transferred his knowledge to the Mark IV. It some hours of work and the cannibalization of a second tank, all done in utter silence so as not to arouse the enemy, before Leu could finally start the engine of the vehicle.
Slowly, refractorily, the tank rumbled towards the German positions. The German infantry had been told what was going on, and now enthusiastically surrounded the captured monster. Amidst a cheering crowd, Leu and Müller directed their booty up to the market place of Cambtai.
Regards,
Shawn
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