“BIG BERTHA.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18466, 30 January 1922, Page 6

“BIG BERTHA.”

GL'X meant to create panic, cartridges twice a man's LENGTH. , ’ - Big Bertha, which, if it did not cause the panic in' Paris which the Germans oountedupon, was at least responsible for ■»'state of nervous apprehension, opened its career modestly. It first hit a cow shed; '.there were no casualties. . The last shred of mist hiding the secrets of this wonderful gun has now been torn aside by the designer, and the story of the conception of the idea and its slow sluggish—evolution makes interest- ' ; ing reading, , . Thp D'g Berthas were put in action in charge of a naval battery, which lost 7 killed and 13 wounded. - ■ .The gun had a life of loss than ICO shots. The ignition chamber then became so damaged that further firing was impossible, tnd the old barrel was returned to the factory and a new one supplied in its place. ■ From the, spring of 1917 the German ordnance staff were for nine month trying to design a gun capable of shelling Paris at a radge of 56A miles. Then Ludendorff ' suddenly asked them to increase the range ■-te'7s fniles. It was a tall order, but the ’ oi'diiadce' staff triumphed. The designer says of the fruits of their laboursThe ' charge ordinarily one-third of the weight of the projectile, was twice as heavy. The 1 length of the chamber was monstrous. At an angle of 45deg the barrel towered over houses, trees, and roofs. It needed some courage to shoot with a thing like ‘a stick ■ of gigantic asparagus.’ But the material • utood it-’’ . . ‘ The trials were carried out with every secrecy. To fire over enemy territory would have given away valuable technical information, and on that ground was rejected and it was decided to fire the gun from land at pbout the approximate distance from the sea. Seaplanes were sent, to sea to keep watch. Three minutes was the time estimated for the shell to reach the marked area. It was found on inquiry • that the shell had fallen 59 miles from the gun, and 1400 yards inland. Tho distance being short of the decided range, alterations in design were made, until “Big Bertha” as it finally burst upon the world was evolved. Tho two guns were fired from a wood ■ behind Laon, 80 miles from Paris. Special rlbgouts had to be made for the cartridges and shells and special smoke apparatus for concealment, since at 45dog the barrel 1 overshot tho forest. Tbe shells looked modest side by side with the cartridges, which were three and four times as long jia the shell and the length of two grown men. Within 30 hours of the first snot being fired the French artillery had located “Big Bertha.” which was afterwards moved to the triangle Soissona, Chafceau-Thierry, Rheimfl. ... Commander Kinsel, the designer, whose atory is told by The Times Berlin correspondent, says the Germans counted on “Big Bertha" creating u panic in Paris; ii waa moral &uu