Since Know Your Meme doesn't give the reference for why it's a lake, maybe not everybody is familiar with british lore:

The mythical Lady of the Lake:

Probably best known via Monthy Python:

Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

In short: She teaches Lancelot arts and writing, infusing him with wisdom and courage, and overseeing his training to become an unsurpassed warrior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnigmaticEmpower...

This feels like a ghost of the internet of the 1990s.

This writeup deserves its own website, something with minimal CSS, where you'll discover a bunch of family snapshots and party photos if you click around.

This entire deep dive is great. I feel compelled to call out this heroism:

> 1st Lieutenant de Wispelaere had prepared the bridge for demolition ... De Wispelaere immediately pushed the electrical ignition, but there was no explosion... Wispelaere now left his shelter and worked the manual ignition device. Trying to get back to his bunker, he was hit by a burst from a German machine gun and fell to the ground, mortally wounded. At the same time, the explosive charge went off.

I haven't seen the lake tank image being used as a meme anywhere, except now or maybe I have to explore the world of memes some more.

Hats off to all who helped each other find this once lost story from history.

The fact that this extraordinarily obscure question had such a thoroughly researched and intricately detailed answer almost restores my faith in Internet forums.