Once again running the risk of embarrassing myself. This might be well-known, but I don't recall seeing it before. A Whippet surrounded by what look like Austro-Hungarian troops, with maybe a sprinkling of Germans. How could that have come about? The tank is clearly labelled A249. I came across it on the Hungarian Museum site.
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
I know of three - including this one here - photographs showing Austro-Hungarian soldiers with Whippet A 249. The Austro-Hungarians furnished - after some German pressure - a small number of divisions for the Western Front in mid-1918. Incidentally, these formations were deployed to the St.Mihiel Pocket, where they were promptly hit by the US-French offensive of September 12th. - The German tank formation sent to Army Group Gallwitz, in command of this front sector on the German side, for tank familiarisation was Abt. 12, who - for reasons unfathomable - had been given A 249 - although a Renault FT (of which the Germans had at least two runners) should have been the proper supplement. Abt. 12 was lodged together with Assault Bn No. 14; and the assault battalions usually were responsible for training incoming new formations. This explains the presence of A-H soldiers near Mk.IVs of Abt. 12 - and Whippet A 249.
Thank you, gents. We had a discussion about Austrians (and possibly Turks) on the Western Front a while back, IIRC. This is a splendid photograph.
-- Edited by James H on Thursday 13th of May 2021 10:26:35 AM
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
