HOW DID THE GERMANS SHELL PARIS?

Hokitika Guardian, 17 April 1920, Page 4

HOW DID THE GERMANS SHELL PARIS?

THE SECRET OF “BIG BERTHA.”

Australia has received into its keeping the * ‘Little Bertha’’ that was captured by tho Diggers in tlie last few days of the war, and its transportation to Autstnalia was one of the big problems of modern shipping. But “Big Bertha,” the great machine that was used for shelling Paris at a range of 70-80 miles, lias been “distributed,” Many theories were advanced to explain the vast range of “Big Bertha” and one of them agrees substantially with the views that were put forward by the ‘Scientific American.’ It would appear from the report that the Germans were as much surprised at tho long range of the “Big Berthas” that shelled Paris, as were the Allies. It was built to shoot about 37 miles, and actually carried about twice as far. Tlie idea of turning it on Paris did not occur to its owners until they found this out. At any rate, this is the tale that was told by a German major in the Rhine province to Robert Haven Selia,ufller, a Boston author and musician, serving at the time as an officer with the United States army.. Mr Schauffler (to quote the Boston ‘Herald’) got the story about the big gun from a German major, in whose home h© was billeted when on detached service in a town in the Rhine province. “Tlie inventor is a personal friend of mine,” remarked the German major . “and the gun that fired on Paris was under my personal observation for months.

“Four of these ‘Big Berthas’ had boon built. Tlie gun which shelled Dunkirk, and which later exploded killing several members of the gun crew- was ‘Number 2’. ‘Number 3’ fired on Paris. This was the gun which the major knew about. “Tlie gun was 33 metres (about- 100 feet) long. It had two tubes, which fitted end to end, tlie bore of the foreward tube being smaller than that of the rear. The aiming . apparatus was separate from, the gun, off a little to one side, connected with the gnu by an intricate and delicate system of levers. ‘Hie gunner played on it,’ said Mr Schauffler, ‘just as an organist plays on a detachod electrical keyboard.’ Tlie gun stood in a regular heavy artillery emplacement. Tt fired at an angle of B 0 degrees. Forty-five degrees is supposed to achieve the maximum carrying distance for a shell. When the 15-inch shell of the ‘Big Bertha’ reached a certain height the force of gravity naturally began to pull it down.”

The principle on which the gun worked was this: When the shell reached an angle of 45 degrees it shot a smaller shell—which did the actual damage when it reached its mark. This theory had already been advanced by artillery experts, hut the objection had always been raised that the first shell would not have stability enough to fire a second.

“This is wliat actually happened according to the German major’s description: “The gun was built to fire 60 kilometres’ (37 miles) said the old major. On the first day it was fired everything was in readiness. Fifty-eight kilometres away our aeroplanes waited to spot the shot.

The gunner was given the signal. He fired. He waited for tho report on the shot. Something was wrong. The spotters reported that they could not find it—to all appearances the shell had gone floating off into space like a planet. It was baffling. “The next day complaints began to come from peasants in a country 11S kilometres (71 miles) away that an unseen airplane was bombarding them with heavy stuff. They wanted protection. Our airplanes flew over. To their amazement, they found that the shell of the Big Bertha had landed in tho village, 118 kilometres away. They reported the extraordinary event to headquarters. “Then and there the idea of shelling Paris was conceived. The gun was not built for that purpose at all—it happenel through a remarkable case of miscalculation. It took 20 hours to make tlie calculation for tlie first shoton Paris, and when the gun was fired German airplanes were over the city to spot it. The first three Big Berthas fired three times a day, but the fourth shot eight times a. day.’ “Another interesting piece of information, which Mr Scliauffer got from the major was the distance at which the Germans kept the guns. The Allies believed that the guns were a long distance behind the German lines. They were in error. The ‘Big Berthas’ weie scarce four miles and a half behind the front German lines. At first they were camouflaged in thick woods, but later, when the Germans found that the smoke hung heavy in the branches, they removed tho guns to ordinary barns in open fields. Tlie major told Mr Shnuffler, that at times over 100 Allied airplanes circled over the barn where Number 3 was concealed, hut that they never spotted it.

“Tlio major would not give the inventor’s name. He did tell Mi Schnuffler, however, that the inventor had been captured by the British, and that they had never known the prize they had. “Later, Mr Schnuffler learned that the guns all stopped firing when the Germans realised that they could never break through the western front. ‘Number 2,’ which had shelled Dunkirk, blew up, owing to some faulty construction in the two inner tubes. The other three, including ‘Number 3,’ together with emplacements, aiming apparatus, ammunition, etc., were destroyed by the Germans to prevent their falling into the hands of the Allies. The British captured ono or two of the tubes of one of them, and thought for a time that they had the whole gun—at least, the Germans like to believe that the. British thought so. But the British have a. habit of not telling ah they know, so perhaps they were never fooied at all. Tlio officers and men m the four gun crews were scattered and transferred to different, regiments in the German army, the better to provenu anv information leaking out.” Life.