Tanks for the memories

Ever seen a British Mark IV tank from the Great War?  You can if you go to Australia*.  This one is named Grit, and is nearly a century old.  She was a female model, armed with machine guns rather than cannon.  By war's end, the Brits realized that tanks should be both male and female (hermaphroditic?), with both artillery and machine guns to maximize effectiveness.



Probably the best tank of the War was the Renault FT.  Certainly it was built in very large numbers.  This one has been restored and now actually runs.



The only surviving German A7V tank is also in Australia** but there are replicas.  It was a terrible tank, and there were only a couple dozen ever produced, but they did actually meet the British Mark IVs in the world's first tank battle at Villers-Bretonneux where three Mark IVs met three A7Vs.  The Brits won the day, with one A7V destroyed, although one Mark IV threw a track.



But the A7V was not considered a success.  Indeed, most of the Kaiser's Army used captured Mark IV tanks, rather than the A7V.  Still, cool to see a reproduction actually running.

* Well, other places too.  But not too many other places.

** Worth a journey, if you're a tank aficionado.