THE BIGGEST GERMAN GUN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 15 February 1915, Page 7

THE BIGGEST GERMAN GUN

INTERESTING BETTER FROM A ; BEIiGI^;O^KraqER. Doubts have been cast bri the existence of a German,siege gun of 42 centimetres '(sixteen inches), which' Has been reported as -being used in ; ,the,-reduction of Antwerp and "other fortresses. For instance., an officer, who had been with the Belgian Army since August, and' was through the siege of Antwerp,,.wrik ing to "Truth" in December, said he had never seen'direct'evidence of a 42centimetre weapon, and . failing . reliable information, he would go" on'.disbelieving the stories.'about it: This elicited a highly interesting letter from : a major of fortress artillery in the Belgian Army. He says :— ■ ' " '■'• "In xefprence to the letter of your correspondent F. in your, issue .of the 9thI beg to say that T; quite "understand his doubts as. to the existence of the Gei*man or, rather, • Austrian centimetre gun. When .-'I reached Antwerp" on : August 27th; after the'fall of Narnur, where I had; been on from the Bth to the 23rd, I a'eporte'd, am4ng' : other things, to General De Guise that the rapid destruction of the attacked forts —namely,' Marchovelette and ; Mai-'zei-et—-was to' be attributed' to'the over- ! whelming .effects of some of the shells, which must- v ihavei.been ; .thi;own from a more powerful weapon than the German 2.B'Centimetre gun.* He plainly told me that he did not believe in the existence of. such a weapon, as there was ho official evidence of its being part of the enemies' armament. It -was-not long, however, before he was enlightened. A few weeks later the commander of the Fort de Wavre-Sainte-Catherine.was able to send him the base of one' of these large.shells that had fallen on the fort; its -measurement showed that it was 42 centimetres in diameter. General De Guise showed it"to me himself, and many others, of my brother officers saw. it at the 'Quartier General de la Position' in Antwerp. A colonel of the French Garrison Artillery who ' came to Antwerp with . the Creusot 12-cehtimetr.e '■'■-' ho wit; zers could-hardly believe : his eyes when he was shown the palpable proof of the existence of a weapon .unknown to the French artillery officers. lam certain that in Austria and Germany" only a few privileged persons' were in the secret, which was jealously concealed, not only from the 'man in the street,' but also from the highest military authorities.