Landships II

theburk · Captain

identification of the second hedi?

Mark Hansen · Legend

theburk wrote:

and could someone tell me what those odd "windsheild wiper" looking blades on either side of the bow of the a7v's? were they for unditching?

I think the "windshield wiper" blades you're referring to are actually the hinged covers for the towing hooks or shackles. They were made of thin sheet metal and were very easily damaged.

Centurion · Legend

Looking at the Landships Heidi article again there is one point in it that I think might be doubtful. This is that the two 'turrets' were two small for a driver and the driver's position must have been moved to the front. Remember that both Uberlandwagen (like the A7V) required two drivers. Given that the two vehicles were obviously put together fairly quickly and with limited resources. (use of boiler plate etc.) it would seem strange that time would be taken to undertake the complex task of redesigning all the control linkages and building these (when the controls on the underlying Uberwagen could have been used). The roof of the Heidi may have been higher and the drivers sat with their heads in the turret. One also has to ask just where at the front the drivers were supposed to sit without getting in the way of the various gunners and riflemen positioned there.

Peter T · General

To my knowledge, there is only one picture that shows both A7V �Hedi�. It is in the collection of Mario Doherr. All the other pictures (and I have found 5 until now) seem to be of two different tanks.
- Nr. 54, with the big skull on his sides an an inscription on ist bow, appeared in January 15th, 1919 in Berlin.
- The other one (151?) with the name �Hedi� on its bow and a smaller skull, had no covers for the towing hooks. It was later photographed in Leipzig, on May 18th 1919.
I�ve studied one of the two Leipzig-photos and realized, that the roof of Heidi was slightliy sloping towards the two coupolas on top. The front slope was less steep than the rear. That means, in my opinion, that the two coupolas were not in the center, but exactly over the drivers heads.
I further suppose, that the two �Hedis� were originally the two �Nachrichtenwagen�.

theburk · Captain

ah, i noticed the tow hooks there as well, that does make sense.

and i see no other reason for the "domes" to have a 360 degree feild of vision unless either the commander or the drivers sat there.

theburk · Captain

ah, so i was at least half right. but the article stated that all the pictures besides the one at the rail yard were of a single tank. that being hedi, and it appears both "54" and hedi both had the skull and writing, the question is on which end, or both? and the foreward sloping does make sense, because, if you notice in the picture taken with the captured british tank, the cupolas seem disproportionatly back from the front, at first i assumed this was just a visual trick, but the photograph of the crew with their tank (which i assume is 54) it seems that the front is facing the camera. (which i had assumed) now, im wondering, where was that first picture taken? it had to be near wherever the hedi's were built, because they had not yet been painted, they might have even been waiting for rail transport (you can see the railroad tracks clearly in the picture) the picture with the british tank also appears to be at a rail yard (i say this because of the high steps behind hedi) lawl i suppose i have way to much time on my hands, and a penchant for misreading photographs.

Peter T · General

I would like to add some thoughts to my last post. Once, everybody believed, that there was only one �Hedi� existing. So all you can read in the books about it, has to be seen under this aspect. Now that we know that there were two modified A7V-type tanks, I think, that Nr. 54 and Nr. 151�hedi� were two different vehicles. Of course, Nr 54 (hedi1.jpg and hedi4.jpg) could have been repainted after its Berlin adventure. For me it is more probably, that the second A7V of Leipzig railway station on May 18th 1919 (hedi3.jpg) is Nr 151. As I remarked already: Nr 151 seems to have no (no more?) covers for the towing shackles (Ref. Sturmpanzerwagen A7V; Bernard&Graefe Verlag, p. 274)
Although most of the pictures (there are 7, not 5) are blurred, it is not impossible to draw a plan of that modified A7V�s. Thanks to the bolt lines, you can find the position of most details more or less exactly.
Unfortunately there is no clear picture of the air louvres on the upper deck.
So, if anybody has annother picture of that vehicle, I would be very happy, to see it postet in the forum.

theburk · Captain

to me, it looked as if the air vents up top were removed, or perhaps replaced by a different system.

Peter T · General

You are right. That looks like a much simplier system. In your picture �hedi2.jpg� you can clearly see the difference. The A7V tank had a complicatet system of lengthwise, round ended openings. Hedi�s air vents were crosswise. I can imagine, that the system was near that one of Lk2.

Air louvres Lk2