HUN FORTRESS NOW HULK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15222, 21 May 1920, Page 3

HUN FORTRESS NOW HULK.

BERLIN, Feb. 28.—Heligolandtwo years ago Germany's most impregnable barrier against Allied sea power— to-day is a dismantled hulk of no military importance. The black, imperious bulk of the island itself, surmounted by tons of masonry and ingeniously constructed gun emplacements, is all that remains. Germans concerned m the construction of the fortress declare that another seven years' work will bo necessary to complete Heligoland's " demobilisation.-' ' Work has been m progress for over a year. All the guns have been dismantled, but the destruction of tho huge works and other fortifications on the island is proceeding. This stronghold was built at a cost of more than £35,000,000, but its mi ghty guns fired b,ut once throughout the war. The British warship Shannon was the target. The island played a negative part m the defence of the German coast, probably becau'io Allied experts agree that it would have been almost impossible to silence its but lories. The foundations of the harbor which is about 800 yards m length and 500 yards wide, consist of huge blocks of concrete. All these havo to bo destroyed. The ground on which tho barracks stand, to reclaim which from the sea a multitude of Germans worked for years at a cost of £1,000---000, is to be returned to the sea ' Everything m the defences of Heligoland is worked by hydraulic power. I The water necessary for tho defence and sanitary purposes is drawn by huge pumps from fifty feet below sea level. Tho subterranean galleries, which aro electrically lighted, aro regarded by military men as "wonder works. " Although the Germans considered that the secret of Heligoland had been kept inviolate, it is revealed that a British naval officer, posing as an American student, saw all tho fortifications m 1913.