BOMBARDMENT OF PARIS.

Taihape Daily Times, 30 March 1918, Page 6

BOMBARDMENT OF PARIS.

The statement that Paris has been bombarded by long-range guns would not have been credible had it not been ! supported by a Preach official report. The German line is at certain places about 60 miles from Paris; at no point is it much nearer. On present information, therefore, the news from Paris leads naturally to the amazinginference made in the unofficial cablegrams that the shells have travelled 60 miles There is no known gun capable of throwing a shell half this distance, The shelling of Dunkirk in May, 1915, was regarded as a feat in long-distance gunnery, although it had no effect whatever upon the course of the war. Shells wdre then thrown 23| miles from near Dixmude. When the first of them fell it was believed that the German Fleet had come out and was shelling Dunkirk from the sea. Then the gun was located. It was within range of the French guns from some points in an irregular line, and was attacked by land batteries and from, the air. The first bombardment was on April 29; there was another the following day; some shells were fired on May 10, and again on June 21. The shells did considerable damage in Dunkirk, and there was loss of life, but the Germans gained nothing by the demonstration. It was subsequently ascertained that the shells were thrown from one gun—a Krupp 15-inch—plac-ed on a concrete foundation. The present statement is that guns, which by 'one report are 9.50 inch and by another 13.35 inch, have projected shells nearly three times the distance. In the circumstances it is not surprising that American experts have suggested that there must be some error. There is, in the news of the present offensive, a statement that the Ger-

mans are using long-range naval guns and that they have shelled to 2S miles behind the British lines. Even this is an advance upon all previous gunnery records. Whatever are the actual facts, it appears that the Germans arcsupporting their offensive by the use of great guns. It does not follow that such weapons will prove effective. Large guns have always deteriorated rapidly. -The Dixmude-Dunldrk gun was an instance. It involved enormous labour. The laying of the concrete foundations and the placing of the gun in position extended over months. From first to last it fired less than 50 shells. Nothing has been heard of it since June of 1915, and it is understood to bo on a German scrap-heap. If jmst experience is any guide there is no reason to believe that the use of huge guns in fixed positions can bring Germany the decision she wants, or even help her materially in the great battle now in progress