Artillerie (1e GM) - Allemagne : livres - histoire

The importance of artillery in warfare grew more and more throughout the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. New developments such as solid cannon barrels improved hit accuracy and the range of projectiles. This Fact File volume focuses on German Artillery during the Great War, when it could be argued that artillery was for the first time the dominant weapon on the battlefield. Wolfgang Fleischer discusses the diversity of artillery developed and used during the First World War by the Germans.

In the early days of World War I, Germany unveiled a new weapon - the mobile 42cm (16.5 inch) M-Gerät howitzer. At the time, it was the largest artillery piece of its kind in the world and a closely guarded secret.
When war broke out, two of the howitzers were rushed directly from the factory to Liege where they quickly destroyed two forts and compelled the fortress to surrender. After repeat performances at Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp, German soldiers christened the howitzers 'Grosse' or 'Dicke Berta' (Fat or Big Bertha) after Bertha von Krupp, owner of the Krupp armament works that built the howitzers. The nickname was soon picked up by German press which triumphed the 42cm howitzers as Wunderwaffe (wonder weapons), and the legend of Big Bertha was born.

This book details the design and development of German siege guns before and during World War I. Accompanying the text are many rare, never-before-published photographs of 'Big Bertha' and the other German siege guns. Colour illustrations depict the most important aspects of the German siege artillery.

Contents: Introduction - Design & Development - Operational History - Variants - Bibliography - Index.

An account of a series of bombardments of Paris by a specially built 21cm gun from a distance of some 75 miles. They began on March 23rd and ended on 9th August 1918. Over 300 shells were fired.
This is the story of a unique gun called, by the Germans, the Pariskanone and mistakenly referred to by our troops as 'Big Bertha.' The gun was 210mm calibre with a barrel length of 130 feet, an overall weight of 142 tons and a maximum range of about 80 miles. It was designed to fire on Paris bringing alarm and despondency to a population which, though subject to air bombardment had no reason to suppose they were threatened by enemy artillery.

The design, manufacture, the training of the crews and the preparation of the firing sites are all described, but the main aim of the book is to describe the four bombardments that were carried out by this weapon and the effects, material and morale wise.
The use of the Paris Gun was incorporated in the planning of the major German offensives of the first half of 1918. March 21st was the first day of the assault and at 7.20 am on 23rd March the first shot was fired. The four periods during which the gun was in action were 23 April-1 May; 27 May-11 June; 15-19 July and 5-9 August on which day the last round was fired.

The author, a Lt Col in the US Ordnance, describes each of these bombardments against a background of the ongoing German offensive and the progress of the ground forces. There are differing figures as to the total number of rounds fired but it was at least 300 and according to The Times Diary and Index of the War the total casualty figures were 196 killed 417 wounded.

N&M Press reprint (original published in 1930).