HELIGOLAND DISMANTLED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16780, 8 July 1922, Page 18

HELIGOLAND DISMANTLED.

DEMOLITION OF THE FORTIFICATIONS. HOW THE MIGHTY GUNS WERE BROKEN. (Berlin Correspondent “New York Herald.") Gone are the glories of the olden da vs departed is the last vestige of German naval greatness—the Kaiser's pet project;, the fortification of Heligoland as a perpetual menace to Great Britain is no more. For the las* of the gigantic fortifications which made Heligoland, impregnable lias been destroyed by the Allied order, and now the island, which once bristled with giant guns and was surrounded with deadly mines, is again the home of simple fish erf oik. The romantic expectations with which the Germans bought the island are a matter of the past, and what now is going on in Heligoland is b process of the most prosaic nature and a most disheartening one to those performing it. It consists of the systematic destruction of some of the best fortifications and one of the best naval harbours in existence. The considerable amount of scrap material yielded by the work of demolition is characteristic of the time, energy and material invested in the fortifications. By .September 30. 1921. the quantity of concrete and brickwork demolished was about 200.000 cubic yards, and in connection with ibe work done until the same date about 132 tons of explosives bad been used. F.ven with the ii.se of the most efficient and modern methods and devices the ta c k of razing the fortifications was unusually difficult. MORE A BATTLESHIP THAN A FORTRESS. In regard to the system of its fortifications. Heligoland resembled much more a battleship than a fortress. It comprised the war harbour and submarine base on the one hand, and the fortifications on the other. The former possessed all the characteristics of a strong naval base, while the forts sported the most modern and powerful guns Krupp was able to produceThe most conspicuous part of the islands armaments were four twin turets. with long-barrelled guns of 12 inches calibre. Ever since 1914 Heligoland was considered impregnable, and the British fleet refrained from any attack upon the island, the guns of which fired just one shot during the four years of the war; they had no opportunity to fire more. And they never will, because the huge barrels and their emplacements are a pi!** of ruins and the steel constructions which aroused the admiration of the experts have become a heap of scrap iron.

T? i‘ only natural that the demolition of the tremondmu and singularli' systematic fortificatinns of fhe isle slmukl now necessitate a correspondingly grean amount of energy and svefemntio action. The results act‘nmplished in this respect wixhin the last two years are indeed remarkable, A I'ITI'CLE OF‘ \‘ERSATLLF‘S TREATY. Article 115 ml the Versailles Treaty provided that “ the fortifications. mill! Lat-3' establishments and harbours of the lfiland of Heligoland {‘4 Dune shall Be destroyed under the supervision of'th“: principal Allied Govarnmvnt-s. by Ger—man labour and at the expense of Ger--

Tiianv. within a period to be determined by the said Governments. 5 \ The demolition was carried out with the aid of drilling and boring machinery and explosives of the most modern type. The emplacements of the differ- i ent batteries, the gun tut rets and. in particular, the protective walls and ceilings of the dugouts. which consisted of huge blooks and powerful ' strata of solid concrete, were blown up. The same, npethod of destruction was applied to the different breakwaters, moles and so-called “ caissons.'• The gun barrels arid a great part of j the armour plates apri •. sWI construe- I hions were cut tx> pieces. Th<-> hydraulic rooms which were connected with the gun turrets and with other srtiileri?tic devices, were likewise demolished. The <'-norma 11 engineers used an apparatus which somewhat resembles the notorious flame thrower of the war. Tt shoots out pure oxygen, which bum? into the strongest steel plate holes nn« foot deep and one inch wide The j explosive- are then inserted into tbes® ♦ holes, wherehv the destruction is made ? complete The demolition of the war harbour i was even more difficult than that of the fortifications. A complete annihilation of the breakwater which surrounds the inner harbour appeared inadvisable, he '•■ause not only would the island itself have become defenseless against the gradual but unceasing destructive action of the sea but the ships coming to and from Heligoland would have been in permanent danger, especially in winter, when the gales around the island are particularly strong. DESTRUCTION OF BREAKWATER. Tn certain places of the harbour mat- j ters were simplified hv blowing: up the foundation of the breakwater and learing the completion of the destruction to the action or the sea. which will gradually was), away the debris left hr the explosion. It is not. however, the 1 intention of tlm Vara I Inter-Allied : < nmm ission of ( ontrol to annihilate the harbour completely. Only those, parr., oi tho breakwater were removed wk'cb served. or rould again he made to serve, active warfare. Thus a considerable portion of the breakwater has been snared from destruction By October I. 1 Til, the demolition had made such progress that the subcommission of allied engineers in charge of the supervision could leave Heljenlaud. After that date onlv periodical inspections by Admiral Sir Edward <‘har!ton of the British Vaw president of the V.1.A.C.C.. and by other members of The commission were made. By February 15 of the current year all machinery in the power houses had been removed.