THE FACTUAL ELEMENTS OF THE TANK BOYS STORY
Although Tank Boys is a work of fiction, it is based on fact and many episodes in this book actually took place. In particular, history’s first tank-versus-tank battle, with Lieutenant Mitchell’s Mark IV tank and the Whippets going up against the German A7Vs. So, too, the Australian seizure of Mephisto, the execution of German prisoners, and even the tearful British corporal who told the advancing Australians he couldn’t get his men to keep moving forward during the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.
MEPHISTO
The story of Mephisto – its movements, operations, battles and initial capture by the advancing Australian 52nd Battalion, and its recovery by the 26th Battalion – is factual. The German commanders of Mephisto in March–April 1918 were the two officers described, Lieutenants Skopnik and Theunissen. Skopnik returned to service and was killed by Allied shelling in June 1918 while trying to take a message from one German tank to another. The other members of the crew of Mephisto are fictitious characters. The ages of the men of Mephisto’s crew are unknown, but a photograph of the real crew taken just days before the Villers-Bretonneux battle shows a fresh-faced youth, looking to be around sixteen years of age, on the roof – the only clean-shaven member of the crew.
ELFRIEDE
Elfriede remained on its side in the quarry near Villers-Bretonneux until it was recovered by French troops in May 1918, becoming the first German tank of the war to fall permanently into Allied hands. Displayed in Paris for a time, it was later scrapped by the French Government.
SIR LANCELOT AND LIEUTENANT FRANK MITCHELL
The British Mark IV tank number 4066, commanded by Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, operated just as described in this book. The name Sir Lancelot is fictitious, as the actual name given to Mitchell’s tank by its crew was not recorded. Mitchell was awarded the Military Cross for his part in the first tank battle in history. The description of Sir Lancelot’s battle is based on Mitchell’s written account, British war records and the German Army’s record of the battle. Mitchell’s superior was indeed Captain Brown, and Brown and Brigadier-General Grogan acted as described in this book.
LEUTNANT WILHELM BILTZ
Biltz the chemistry professor and commander of the German tank Siegfried was a real person and lived out his life as Richard Rix describes in this book.
COLONEL KESSEL AND CAPTAIN GREIFF
Kessel is a fictitious character, but Greiff was a real person who acted much as described in this book.
DR ERICH VON HIPPEL
The character of Dr von Hippel, Aunt Bess’ husband, is based on Dr Erich von See. He lived in northeastern Tasmania and, during World War I, was treated by his patients just as described in this book.
RICHARD RIX
Richard is a fictional character. Like Richard’s family, many Germans migrated to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and did congregate in Manhattan’s Yorkville – an area which today is home to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of New York City. Many German immigrants drowned in a ferry accident on New York’s harbour in 1904.
While the smuggling of Richard Rix back to Australia is fictional, two Australian brothers, Tim and Ed Tovell, who served with the Australian Flying Corps, did succeed in smuggling a foreign boy back to Australia at the end of World War I. He was a French orphan named Henri Hermene and, like Richard Rix, he subsequently settled down in Australia. Sadly, eight years after arriving on Australian shores, Henri was killed in a motorcycle accident in Melbourne.
LIEUTENANT–COLONEL JOHN WHITLAM AND MAJOR ‘ROCKS’ ROBINSON
Both were real people and acted as described. Major Robinson’s nicknames were indeed ‘Rocks’ and ‘Old Uniformity’, and the capture of Mephisto on 22 July was his idea.
LIEUTENANT RAY ‘JOCKEY’ BLAIR
Blair is based on Lieutenant John Alfred Rena of the 57th Battalion. Like Blair, Rena was an American electrical engineer from New York, who joined the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt in 1915 while working for the Marconi Company.
Rait the Rat, Eager, Nash, Blizzard, Battey, Flynn, Glass, Hughes and other members of Blair’s platoon are all fictitious characters, as is the intelligence officer Lieutenant Tom Byford.
SERGEANT FRANK HANSON
Sergeant Hanson was a real person who did indeed lead the thirteen-man party that secured Mephisto on 22 July 1918.
FRANKIE PICKLES AND TASMAN ‘TAZ’ DUTTON
While both are fictitious characters, Frankie and Taz are an amalgam of a variety of young Australians who lied about their ages to voluntarily enlist. Some as young as fourteen are known to have fought in the war. Australia was one of only a few countries that did not conscript its troops during World War I. Pickles and Dutton are among names scratched on the sides of Mephisto by Australian troops in 1918, which can still be seen there to this day.
THE FATE OF MEPHISTO
The struggle between the British, Australian and Queensland governments over which of them would get Mephisto is entirely factual. Mephisto’s 1986 re-unveiling at the new Queensland Museum also took place, but Professor Rait and his speech are fictitious. Mephisto is the world’s only surviving genuine German A7V tank from World War I, and it can be seen at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia.