War Pictures from Europe: Scenes in the vicinity of Belgian Battlefields.

Otago Witness, Issue 3160, 7 October 1914, Page 36 (Supplement)

War Pictures from Europe: Scenes in the vicinity of Belgian Battlefields.

umiJirtA i I > 1' i i« u . The German® are rising exceedingly heavy siege gun- \v:th their field armies, and during the retreat from Marne, when the country was sodden after heavy rain, they found great difficulty in moving them, even with teams of 32 horses. An American nnii.ary expert stated that one reason for tnc breakdown of th ■■ Gcinuum - plans was the failure to estimate the difficulty of transporting such huge weapon s. These heavy guns will throw a 40lb charge of shrapnel 9000 yards or a high exph sivo shell 11,090 yards. The heavy field howitzer lies a maximum range of about 7501 yards, to which distance it wi.l throw an explosive shell weighing about OOlb. The 8.27 inch mortar, which is, properly speaking, a. brooch-loading howitzer, fires an explosive shell omy, which weighs about 2701 b. The battery consis's of four guns only, and their mobility is chiefly confined to the roads. Recent cables stated that the Allies had captured whole batteries of German howitzers.