Landships II

Hi, I was responsible for researching the compass belonging to A7V 506 Mephisto at Qld Museum.  There is quite a it of evidence for compasses in A7Vs and also in Beute Panzer MKIV s .  Lt Ernst Volkheim mentions problems with the compass of his A7V at Villiers Bretonnaux and we have a photo of a crewman of 560 holding the vehicles compass as well. I am pasting to the bottom of this part of my discussion document regarding the proposed compass donation. please do not reprint it without my permission. 

"

As the records are fragmentary it is necessary that we ask the questions:

Did Mephisto have a compass?

Is this the correct type of compass?

How did it come into the possession of the donor's grandfather?

Did Mephisto have a compass?

Mephisto A7V, #506 was in the first batch of A7V tanks constructed and fitted with armour plate by Rochling. This batch: chassis numbers 501, 505, 506, 507 and 540 were not initially fitted with a compass, unlike the first production vehicles from Krupp and all the second production batch which were made by Rochling.

Following the British practice, the Germans originally planned on producing cannon and machine gun armed 'male' tanks and machinegun only armed 'female' tanks in a 1:4 ratio.  Subsequent to the first field trials of the A7V in the autumn of 1917 it was ordered that all of the machine gun armed “female” tanks, Mephisto included, be converted to 'male' configuration carry a 57mm cannon in place of the two machineguns in the bow. Other modifications ordered included the fitting of a compass to the roof panel of the driver’s /commander’s cupola and extensions to the engine exhaust pipes and modifications to the mudguards over the track unit.  

The compass was fitted under a small armoured hemispherical dome on the cupola roof between the driver’s and commander’s stations and was also a standard modification on captured British Mark IV tanks employed by the Germans as Beute Panzer (booty tanks). The unfortunate absence of the original cupola roof panel on Mephisto means we cannot simply take the compass and see if the 'slipper fits'. The lack of surviving documents in German archives also does not allow us to state that chassis number xxxx was fitted with a xxxx compass at xxxx workshop on xxx date.

As the compass dome is quite low it is impossible to see from ground level under normal circumstances and can only be discerned in photographs when they were taken from such an angle that the cupola roof is visible. In the case of the Rochling production vehicles the raised hatch on the cupola would obscure the compass dome if viewed from the port side, unless viewed from above.  The habit of the A7V crews to drive with 'the top down' when not in action or to sit on the roof also makes it hard to find photographic evidence of compass domes even on A7V's that we know were originally manufactured with them.  Even in photos with an unobscured view of the command cupola on an A7V it is often difficult to identify the compass dome as its small, rounded form frequently blends into the otherwise angular features of the tank.

The damaged cupola front, rear and roof panels are missing on Mephisto as are many of the internal fittings, the rear door and escape hatch, though they were present when the vehicle was captured in 1918. Photographs taken at Tilbury Docks in London and of Mephisto being dragged into the old Queensland Museum in 1919 show that damaged sections of the roof were removed probably after its arrival in the UK and before it was unloaded in Australia. Presumably this, along with the removal of the cannon, was to enable it to fit onto the hold of the HMAT (His Majesty's Australian Transport) Armagh for its journey to Australia. This may also be the fate of the three damaged cupola panels as they are visible in photos taken of the vehicle in Australia hands in France and as it was transported by barge from Dunkerque to London they presumably would not have needed to be removed.

Certainly, there is photographic evidence that #501 Gretchen and others from the same 1^st production batch as Mephisto were retrofitted with a compass in compliance with the orders. Gretchen was the last of the original production batch to be converted and the only one to have seen service as MG armed ‘female’ tank and consequently easy to identify in photographs. The compass dome only appears on #501Gretchen after the conversion to ‘male’ at the Bayerischer Armee-Kraftwagen-Park at Charleroi in mid-1918.  Chassis #507 also does have a compass fitted, though this only shows up in images taken after the loss of Mephisto, prior to that there are no clear views of the cupola roof.

As yet we have not been able to find a photograph giving a clear view of Mephisto’s cupola roof to confirm that the compass was fitted; but it seems unlikely that Mephisto was not retrofitted with a compass as it was a standard requirement for all tanks in the Imperial German Army. Mephisto was sent to back to workshops for work twice in its short service career; once back to the factory at Marienfeld in Germany to be converted to a male tank and the second time to the B.A.K.P. tank workshop in Charleroi, the main base of German tank units in France in 1918.  The B.A.K.P. workshops were extensive; all repairs to the A7V's were undertaken there as well as the salvage, repair and modification of captured British tanks to be impressed into German service. One of the standard modifications to captured tanks undertaken at Charleroi was the fitting of a magnetic compass under an armoured dome on the driver’s cupola. The photographs of Mephisto after capture show the cupola roof folded back placing the probable location of the compass dome in dark shadow, though they are some tantalising hints in the images that it was there.

The compass

The compass is of a floating type with the bowl mounted on a gimbal on a pedestal. The whole unit is roughly 14cm high and 12cm across.  The bowl is made of copper alloy with visible soldering on the joins. According to the owner it was originally painted grey which he removed when he decided to “clean it up” when he was around 13. It does not have a visible manufacturer's plate and the direction card is currently unreadable due to the replacement fluid (oil) clouding inside the body of the compass. The maker’s details will most likely be on the direction card. The only visible marking is a stamped “52” on the rim. It is possible that there may have been more parts to the compass frame and mounts and that the large washer on one side of the gimbal is not original to it. 

To eliminate the possibility that it may have come from an allied tank the RAC Tank Museum at Bovington UK as well as contemporary vehicle manuals were consulted. The compass is not a match for those fitted to British MK I -V or the Whippet tanks. These were all of one pattern and according to accounts were not always carried as they were notoriously unreliable due to the magnetic interference caused by being in a large steel box! French tanks: St Charmond, Schneider and Renault do not appear to have been fitted with a compass.

J-P Donzey, curator of the Online Compass Museum has examined photos of the compass and identified it as being a product of either Carl Bamberg of Berlin or Carl Christian Plath of Hamburg. Though the pedestal supporting the gimbal is not a known match for the aircraft or ship mountings, no other example fitted to a WWI German tank is known to have survived to allow a direct comparison.

Carl Bamberg served an apprenticeship with Carl Zeiss at Jena and studied at the Universities of Jena and Berlin. In 1871 he established BambergWerkstätten für Präzisions-Mechanik und Optik in Friedenau, Berlin. He was appointed inspector of scientific and measuring instruments for the Imperial German Navy a couple of years later. Among his many innovations was the development of the modern fluid filled or “swimming” compass with magnetic dampeners to counteract the effect of the steel in modern steam ships. His son took over the business after his death and they produced specialist compasses for U-boats, zeppelins and aircraft for the Imperial German Army and Navy. Bamberg merged with Centralwerkstatte Dessau in 1921, forming a new company Askania Werke, the company premises and archives were subsequently destroyed by bombing during the Second World War.

Carl Christian Plath was a specialist manufacturer of compasses for shipping and like Bamberg produced an innovative floating compass with magnetic dampeners for use in steel hulled steamships. The business was taken over by his son Theodor in 1908 and they produced compasses for the Imperial German Navy, specialist compasses for artillery units in the German Army and later for Zeppelins. Their premises and archive were destroyed during the bombing of Hamburg in WWII.

The Bamberg or Plath magnetic dampened floating compass was the ideal compass for mounting in an all-steel armoured vehicle such as the A7V. The high central mounting point in the cupola roof would have minimised the interference or at least equalised it.  As it was presumably used for checking direction rather than as a “blind” driving instrument it did not need to be constantly within the driver’s immediate field of vision.

Lt Horace Warner Lynch

Tom Lamin was given the compass by his grandfather Horace Lynch during the 1960’s. Horace Lynch, an apprentice engineer, enlisted in November 1914 in Elsternwick, Victoria.  He embarked for overseas service in April 1915 and was mustered into the 5^th re enforcement draft for Gallipoli where he served for the duration of the Dardanelles campaign. In April 1916 he was posted with 10^th battalion to France with the rank of sergeant. He remained in France on active service and was subsequently commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant in August 1916. In January 1918 he was promoted to Lieutenant and appointed as the Intelligence officer of the 3^rd Infantry Brigade and attached to Divisional intelligence staff a month later.

He contracted influenza and was transferred to a hospital in England on 23 June 1918, three weeks before Mephisto was retrieved by a combined British- Australian operation.  He remained in the UK until his embarkation to be repatriated to Australia in February 1919. The official record shows him on convalescent leave from 27. 12. 1918 to 27 .2. 1919. On his return from leave he is declared unfit for duty and attached to 1st Infantry Brigade in London for Repatriation.  

A note on his record says he was returned to Australia on the SS Demosthenes in April 1919 however this does not match up with his disembarkation 27 May 1919 in the 4^th Military district (South Australia and parts of NSW). This is compounded by a telegram exchange with the Lynch family in which the Army confirms that he is not on the SS Demosthenes and the publication of his name was an error.  A conflicting entry in his record states he was aboard the HMAT Medic, which does match both the ship's diary and reported arrivals in the Port of Adelaide for the week of 27th May 1919.

Embarkation rolls for returning troops do not appear to have been preserved, and only the names of the officers on active duty onboard the returning vessels have been recorded in the War Diaries of the ships.  

A lieutenant Lynch is listed as being on the HMAT Armagh during the voyage from the UK that carried Mephisto, which would have made things nice and neat, though further investigation has shown that it was a different Lt Lynch.

Summary

German A7V tanks were fitted with a compass, either in initial production or when they were returned to workshops for modifications as per orders.

Mephisto underwent extensive modifications including the addition of a 57mm cannon as main armament after its initial testing and before it was sent to the front. It is likely that the compass was fitted then or in the tank workshops at Bayerischer Armee-Kraftwagen-Park Charleroi when it was completely overhauled after its first action in March 1918. Photos in the B.A.K.P. show that the entire cupola and much of Mephisto’s armour was removed during this overhaul.

While there are no clear photos showing the compass dome on Mephisto, there are also none showing it wasn't there. The absence of evidence in this case cannot be treated as positive evidence of absence.

The compass has been identified as a German made Bamberg or Plath floating compass which is the most likely type of compass fitted to the A7V due to its magnetic dampeners.

The glass of the compass needs to be removed and the replacement oil filling drained so that the compass card can be read and conserved, and any internal markings revealed. The compass card should give the manufacturer and model number.

Lieutenant HW Lynch was training to be an engineer before the war and completed his training upon his return to Australia and would likely have been interested in what was a highly advanced compass.  He would have been familiar with the reports of German A7V’s and as member of 3^rd Infantry Brigade may have been a witness to them in action during the German Spring offensive in 1918.

He was in London when Mephisto was stored at the Tilbury Docks which was one of the main embarkation points for returning Australian troops. The HMAT Armagh which transported Mephisto and the HMAT Medic were both docked there at the same time. He had no official duties and as an officer would have been able to gain access to Mephisto, which was a curio/trophy of no further official military interest.

The compass was made to be easily removable by the crew for calibration and would have taken minimal effort to remove.

He identified it as belonging to the captured German tank of which Mephisto was the only one he is likely to have access to and certainly the only one his grandson would have known about.

In conclusion I believe that this is in all probability the compass from A7V # 506 Mephisto.