BIG BERTHA

Hokitika Guardian, 17 April 1930, Page 8

BIG BERTHA

THE PARIS GUN

A new hook ‘The Paris Gun , by Colonel Henry Miller, tells a new story of the gun for the first time. According to Ins story, it was early in 191(5 when Dr. von Eherhardt presented theories and calculations showing that a gun of dO miles range was possible. The new gun was put into construction, but at the close ol the year von LudeudoriT iound that the ringe was too short and telegraphed to Krupps to increase the range to To miles. Eventually the miracle was accomplished, and the firm bad three of the weapons ready by March 1918. The gun itself was said to be as high as the average ten-story building, and weighed almost 200 tons. Tho shell however, was small, being 8.26 inches, and the bore of the gun was smooth. Five of the guns were used on the first emplacement. Four of them rapidly wore themselves out, and the other exploded quite early in the proceedings. At this stage the French commenced to bomdbard the position, and another site was selected. From here guns with rebored barrels and larger ctlibre were used. In all, seven guns were either made or rebored, and when the last shot was fired, in August, 1918, a total of hi" shells had been flung towards Paris.

The most curious thing about the gun was the extraordinary precision. Each weapon had a pressure chamber, and after the gun had been fired the ballistics officer read the pressure in the barrel and from it was able to compute to within a comparatively small margin, where the sheel had struck. Tf the' pressure was low. the gun bad over-shot, and if too high the range needed lengthening. Each sheel was fired from a new position 'in the gun. and thus required a new calculation. There were three powder

charges; a variable charge in a silk hag, a standard charge in another silk hag, and a huge cartridge charge for firing. Each shot required a different charge in the first silk hag, and caldilations were made of the temperature of the powder of the gun. Even the curvature of the earth was not forgotten amid the multitude of figurings. The first shell fell in Paris at 7.20 a.m. on Monday, March 21, 1918, and was followed by another twenty minutes later. Seven shots came across to Paris on that day, killed eight people and wounded thirteen more. At first the French thought that the missiles were air-bombs, hut though aeroplanes scoured the skies to fight off the attackers, none could he found and then the grooves and hands found on the fragaments showed that they had been fired from a gun. The shots were plotted on a map, and a straight line drawn between them led to the nearest point in the German lines, over 70 miles away. The assumption was that a gun had been emplaced in the St. Gobain Wood, and when aerial photographs were examined and showed some fresh railway spurs into the wood, the discovery was complete.