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HeqvuArtillerg
oIllUo
To the sentty standing his pre-dawn duty in the trenches of
theWestetnFront, the sightof ajaggedline of light onthe
opgnsite horizon cannot have been comforting, for behind
szch aline lay the fire of the largest concentration of artillety
pieces in histoty.
World War I was an artillery war and, while large numbers of fieid gmns
were involved in.all the major battles of that conflict, lt was the heavy
artillery that ultimately won or lost battles, It was only the heavy artillery
that had the shell power to destroy'the earth or concrete protection upon
which each side.came to rely for survival in the front line, and it was only
the heavy artillery that could smash a way through the lines of defences
behlnd which each side sheltered.
By 1914 most European powers had built up large gmn parks that
contained artiliery of increasingly heavy calibres and power. These
were necessary to demolish the rings of fortifications that all the major
powers used to protect their territories against the intrusions of others,
but once those fortresses had been bypassed by the events of the first
year of the war the same heavy artillery was equally usefirl in the strange
condrtions of the Western Front, where trench lines imposed thelr own
peculiar method of warfare.
This short suwey cannot include ali the many and various models of
heavy artillery that were used during World War I. What has been
attempted is a general indication of the many types involved, and
included here are some of the models that might be considered the most
important. Thus the Paris Gun and 'Big Bertha' are included along with
the British 234-mm (9.2-in) gmns and 305-mm (12-in) howitzers, but
Heavy artillery of WorldWar I had
few mechanical aids for handling
heavy ammunition. Particularly on
the older models, shelk weighing
over 1000 kg(2205 lb)wouldhaveto
be manhandled into the breech, as
happened with this French 400-mm
equipment.
weapons such as the German 2l-cm (8 27-in) mortars have had to be left
out for space reasons, Space has been found for some of the smaller
examples of heavy artillery, such as the British l52-mm (6-in) howitzer
and the German tS-cm (5.9-in) Kanone 16, but the main emphasis is on
the really heavy weapons, for it is they that now attract the most attention
and interest.
The 'Great Wa/ was the heyday of heavy artillery. in the purely statlc
conditions that exlsted along the Western Front the heavy gmns and
howltzers could be carefully emplaced with few thoughts of dramatic or
rapid moves, and they could be fed with their heavy projectiles for as
long as the required logistic machinery remalned in being. They had
plenty of targets as each side burrowed deep into the earth to survive
the storm that daily flew over their heads. The only way to harm such
burrows was by the use of heavy projectiles that could smash their way
through such protection as there was, and these healry projectiles could
only be delivered by the heavy artillery.
Once thewar had settled down to aface-to-face confrontation between deeply
entrenched forces, the howitzer came to the fore as the main offensive weafion
of the various artillery arms. The monstrous 42-cm M-Gerijt (known as'Bigi
B erth a' ) was us ed by the G erm ans at Liige and N amur.
'i
1 .:-:l i
:;{
 GERI\,4ANY
lS-cm Kanone
The inclusion of a gn:n with a calibre of
only 150 mm (5.9 in) may seem out of
place in a description of heavy artil-
Iery, but the German lS-cm (5,9-in)
gn-lns were really in a class above that
of normal field artillery, Quite apart
from theu size and weight, they were
intended for use as corps arttllery cap-
able of long-range counterbattery and
'interdiction' employment, and thus
came into the heavy artillery category.
By i916 the long-range German
artillery in use on the Western Front
was mainly of a makeshift nature,
being derived ftom a policy ofplacing
coastal defence or naval gnrn barrels
on to improvisedfield carriages. While
this was adeguate as a stopgap mea-
sure, the gunners needed something
more suitable and manageable for
their longterm eqiripment, and conse-
quently the German general staff
made a special plea to its artillery de-
signers for a world-beater, Both Krupp
and Rheinmetall took up the chal-
lenge, and as things tumed out thelr
individual submissions were virh-rally
identical. Both gn:ns were named 15-
cm l(anone 16 or lS-cm K 16, but ln the
Iong term it was the Krupp lS-cm K 16
Kp submission that was produced in
the greater quantities, The Rheinme-
tall lS-cm K 16 Rh was produced in
some numbers as the demands from
the ftont were so gEeat, but never in
the numbers that Krupp was able to
churn out,
The 15-cm K 16 was along and large
The overall design was entirely
Qnrn,
orthodox for the time apart from the
fact that the barrel was extraordinarily
long (U42.7 in the Krupp design and
U42.9 in the Rheinmetall offering) for
the size ofthe wheeled carriage, The
carriage was a fairly simple box{rail
design fitted with a iarge shield for the
gun crew, Heavy spoked wheels were
fitted as the gmn had to be towed by
horse teams as motor traction was by
that stage of the war (it was 1917 before
appreciable numbers of the guns
achrally reached the front) at a pre-
mium and resewed mainly for the real-
Iy heauy guns, The werghts involved
meant that the l5-cm K 16 had to be
German 28-cm howitzers
By 19 14 the growth of the German navy
had ensured a corresPonding in-
crease in the number and power of the
coastal batteries that were built to de-
fend the various German dockYards
and harborus, Coastal defence was the
responsilcility of the German navy, and
as a general fule it adapted naval guns
ro carry out tlTe coast defence role. But
iollowing the general fashion else-
where it also adopted the hiqh-
tajectory howitzer, and for this it had
:c tum to the army for advice.
By the hrrn of the cenh:rY the Ger-
::al navy thus had an adaptation of an
a:ry 28-cm (11,02-in) howitzer knol,vn
:he 28-cm Kiistenhaubitze (coast
^"
riT;luer), weapon was the
The army
e8-sn Haubitze Ul2, and both of these
:sa-,li r/eaponswere products of the
;::i,ic Krupp armament works at
:sse: the Ruhr. Both howitzers were
=
-:::iei mainly for the static role: the
::; ::iTlEer had been desigrned Pri-
-,=-; :c: forttication-smashing, in
rr'' :' 1 -erqlhy emplacement period
r= :: :: :eal Lmportance. Thus the
l;;: -a:ei of the howitzer rested in a
16
Above : I n contr as t to most of the
artillery involved in World W ar I, the
German I 1-cm pieces were not
howitzers. With their long range, the
weapons were leared in the counter'
batteryrole, and could onlY be
opposed by much larger and less
m6bile Alliedweapons.
towed in two loads, the barrel and the
carriage. The carriage was usually
towed on a special four-wheeled lim-
ber which also had some seating for
the crew members, who also oPerated After I91B numbers of 15-cm K 16s The l1-ctnKanone [6was
the brakes, were handed out to various nations as manufactured by both Krupp and
On the Westem Front the 15-cm K 16 war reparations (Belgnum was a major Rheinmetall, the latter ( as seen here)
became one of the most feared of all recipient) but the gtr-rn was one of the being made in smaller quantities'
the German counterbattery gnrns. The few allowed to rema-rn on the strengrth The equipments were sAil in limited
Iong rangTe (22000rn/24,060 yards) of of the small post-Versailles German use during the early canpaigns of
the gun meant that it could reach well army, Thr.rs for nearly two decades it WorldWarII, itwas oneof thefew
as
into the rear areas behind the Aliied acted as a traimng weapon for a new militaty items permitted to Gemany
[nes to destroy gnrn batteries, road and generation of gunners who, re- afterVersailles.
rail junctions and generally to lay down equipped and with a new military phr-
harassing fire that could not be coun- losophy, went to war once again, Even
tered by anything other than the then the l5-cm K i6 was used during Weight: in actron 10870 kg (23,964 lb)
heaviest and longest-rangqd Allied some of the early World War II cam- Elevation: -3'to +42"
gmrs (railway artillery or specially em- paigms. Traverse:8"
placed weapors). ThiS entailed a gneat Muzzle velocity: 757 m (2,484 ft) per
deal of effort on the part ofthe Allies, Specification second
for despite its weight and bulk, the lS-cmK 16 Ma:rimum range: 22000 m (24,060
lS-cm K 16 was still more mobile than Calibre: i49.3 mm (5.88 in) yards)
its potential opposition, Lengrthof barrel 6,41 m (21 ft 0.4 in) shellweisht: 5 1.4 ks (l 13,3 ]b)
cradle mounted on a large and heavy
carriage which was in its h:rn located
on a hmtable connected to a heavy
firing platform dug into the ground.
Both howitzers had featr:res from an
earlier age: at the rear was a crane for
raising ammunition to the level of the
breech, while most of the recoll irrces
were absorbed by the barrel and cra-
dle sliding along short rails when fired,
the rest of the forces being absorbed
by the mass and weight of the camage.
Even by l9l4 standards the 28-cm
(t 1.02-in) homtzers were obsolescent.
Their werght and bulk rendered them
virtually immovabie, and the relatively
short ranqes possible (l 1400 rnl12,465
yards) made them somewhat unecono-
Continuedonpage ll04
The 28-cm Kiistenhaubitze was an
extremely unwieldY weaPon, its
weight and buk fixing it to one spot
and the relatively shortrange
making ituneconomicalin terms oI
manpower and r.esources.In spite ot
this, many served throughout the
war.
ffimw&waffi ffkw ffiflg Gruax?s
Yorld War I wcs fouEjh f m the early years a{ mator transpart,
oftert using massire/y&eary.egu4Srnen t and. aver thernosf
d iffi c u I t ferrarn. Wk i tre i t w a s apprecl'a fed th a t th e n ewengines
c a a l d b e of the grea f esl cf u s e, s upB ly w as s fi// s/ow, an C ift e
old standby o/rnanpower and fiorlejro wer came inta play"

ln an age in which mass-produced mechanical transoort devices are common-

place, it comes as something of a surprise to realize how scarce such devices
were during the early days of this century. Before World War I a greai deal of
power was generated bv the simple application of manual labour assisied at
times by the power of the horse, and this has to be remembered in the context
of heavr,artillery. At that tirne mechanical traction and powered lifting devices
were unirsual. so r,vhen it came to mov ng and handling heavy art ller-y there was
o'lerr lrtie mcre Lnan orulc to-ce ava lable.
Throughout the centuries gunners have learned to handle even the heaviest
of their charges_ using onlir what is to hand. This has always involved a compli-
cated svstem oi timbers, joisis, pulleys, levers and hard work, and while this ian
on rts own move even the heaviest field gun and its carrrage, such methods can
have on11, a limtted ut I ry in the rnovemenl of large-calibre weapons. Fortunately
the monsters in service during \{/orld War I had generally been designed at a
iime when metaliurgy and mechanics were beginning t6 reach an Sdvanced
staTe,. so designers were often able to build into these weapons some form of
handling system that required only a m nimum of physical effort and also offered
a greater deg ree of saf ety to all concerned. The va i-tous systems usually invclved
built-in rails and ln;inches that enabled a howttzer or qun'barrel to be removed or
withdrar,,vn on to its transport carlage without the need fcr spectal iigs and The Holt tractarwas very successfulin the task othaulingheavyequipment
overhead .structures. Some heavy artillery had inbuilt cranes for the"same t\rgugh themud of theFront.lteventually gaverise to tie ca**piitii-triiiea
purpose, whrle some designers simply decicied ihat the best way to assembie fighting vehicle, otherwise known as the iank.
and disacsemole guns was by supo ving a moo le crane [.3r was'ssued as part
ol the weapon's srdirCard eqJipmenL. W rh tne molor tracrors tnings were dif erent, however. The moLor veh.c e ,.
f ,-
-
So by the time of World \.Alar I the emplacement of a heavy arlillery piece was still a relatively sirrple venrcle, and very orlen the power generated o1 .
clten not quite the probiem it might have been, but usuaily there was still a great eng nes was relat'vely iow. Tne onlv wav to qain the powei reouireo to r ,.=
deal of work to be done. Pits had io be dug to accornmodate the heavy iirrng heavy artillery was by 1ne enlargement ol engines to mdssive proport o^s I - ,
platform needed by most weapons of the peliod, and in some cases eartliboxeE in tutn ied Lo large and heavy wheels to carry the eng,nes and trans- r
nad to be filied to counteract the Jorces produced on firing Heavy subassemb- power, wtth the result that the specialist artillerv trictors of World Wa.
: =
lies still had to be manhandled on occaslon, ano this nece-ssity ofien ied to the resembled nothing more than huge bonnets carrieb on large wheeis. ln su_-
aiiocation of only the iargest men to heavy artillery units. examples tne dr ve' appeared to be a mere appendage to th6 vehicle. -yp ca ..
,, ['utt ng rhe weapons [ogether or taking them apait was only one aspect of the these monsters were lhe rrany designs produced in Austria and Germany s _ _ -
iabour nvolved in mo'yirrg heavy artillery. Once the weapon had been broken as the Austro-Dairnlers and thelr ilkl
down into a number o[ ]oads, each load had somehow to be oulled to where it But it should roL ce lorgorren tnat all too o,ten the motor tractor and lracr . -
was required. Before World War I thts usualiy tnvolved the horse or other eng,ne could rot be used'or tne simple reason tlrat even underwar orod_cr
di-aught animal, but the iargest weapons required so many teams of horses that
any real efficiency rvas impossible. Some of the less advanced nations had to
conditions lhere were rareiy enouqfi Lo rneet all tne demands made uoon i-i
numbers available. All too often the gunners had to rely on the horse ior tir,.,.
rely on ihe horse, but the more advanced nalrons canne to rely upcn powered tracLion oJrposes, and it horses were ava.labte thev nad to call uoon s__-
lfaction in ihe fofm of the internal combustion-engined trabtor, the steam beasls as draughl oxen Dr even camels."or Tne difficult es involved ,n usinc r_c=
traction engine and even railways. tearns Oi sucr anirars [O tow neavv and awkward art:llery loads acro"ss:]=
-l-raction
engines were very often ncrmal commercial models impressed into shattered terrain of World War I battlef ields can barely be imagined, but foi- tne
nrlrtary service, and they rarely requtred any modifications for their nerar;ole. gunners who had to carry out such tasks we can now only offel our admirat cr.

:.:cve: The field versian of the 42-cm
: ::cia cauld be d$assem,b/edfor
e I, but with a weight o{ aver I 0A
: :-.'
:-:-:es, mcye"tne.ntwas nat easy.
Below: The 38-ern modei I6 from
Skoda was aJso designed for road
transpa{t, ta be towed by large
wfi ee/ed fraclors rh secfi ons.

n4bove: Very often the assembly and

disassembly of these heavy pieces
requried specra I equipment. Here
the barcel af a 370-mm French
mor tar { howitzer ) is suspended
prior to fitting onto the firing
plattarm. Often ffi e crane was rssued
as part of the equipment.

Right: The terrain-crossing ability of

the tankwas put to good use during
the battle af Cambrai. This Gerrnan
I 5 -cm ( 5.9 - in) gun was captured and
towed back across the batUefield.
German 28-cm howitzers (continued)

mic in terms of manpower and travell-.

rng requirements. Moreover, each
lr,owiuer took three or four days to em-
place and as long to remove, and was
extraordinarily difficult to move, For
tansport the howitzers were broken
down into the usual loads: the army
version favelled in fow loads, while
the coastai version had to be virhrally
aismantled and reassembled each
time. The most unusual feature of these
bowiEers was that they used bagged-
charge propellantsl for many years the
German artillery desigmers had wed
some form of cartridge case allied to a
sliding-block breech mechanism, but
the 28-cm (IL02-in) howitzers used
bagged charges allied to a screw
breech.
During World War I these howitzers
were dragged up and down the length
of the German lines in France whenev-
er and wherever there appeared
worthwhile targets for their power.
Both the army and navy versions were
rsed at Verdun and dwing many of the
other major German artillery battles,
and most suwived the war to be hid-
den away in various secret stockpiles,
Thus both models were to hand when
1939 came around. They were once
more pressed into service, this time was a wonder that they iasted so long. Elevation:0'to +65' The massive foundation and
somewhat modified for traction bY Traverse: 360' on hrntable turntable necessary for the 28-cm
half-track vehicles, and they were Specification Muzzle velocity: 350-379 m (I, 148 to (I f -in) howitzersmademoving them
used during the siege of Sevastopol in 28-cmKiistenhaubitze 1,243 ft) persecond a considerable task, and yet the huge
i942 and later during the savage Calibre: 283 mm (i I. 14 in) Ma:rimum range: I 1400 m (12,465 weapons wete dragged up and
crushing of the Warsaw Rising of 1944. Lengrthof barrel 3.40 m (l i ft Lg in) yards) down theWestern front throughout
Thereafter they faded ftom view. It Weisht in action 63600 kg (I40,214 lb) Shellweight:350 ks (77L6 ks) thewar.

ffierit or'Big Bertha'

=
The Schlieffen Plan that was intended
to secure the German defeat of
Fraace, by wheeling armies through
Belstlum to take the French armies in
the flank, was conceived during the
1890s, and honed almost to perfection
durrnq the years up to 1914, It entailed
the invasion of a neutral state (Belgium)
and the rapid destruction ofthe forts at
Liege and Namur, both of them among
the most powerful rn Europe. HeavY
artillery was needed, so Krupp was
ilvolved.
Throughout earlier years Krupp had
been responsible for a long string of
super-heavy gnms and howitzers, but
to defeat the Belqian forts it had to
produce something speciai, It under-
took a series of trials with heavY-
calibre weapons that ultimately ied to
a 420-mm (16.54-in) howrtzer known as
Gamma, a prodigtious beast that
proved to be very accurate when
Ering a healry projectile capable of
destroying any fortification, But Gam-
ma was a static weapon, desigmed to
be taken apart for moves and reassem-
bled piece by piece after rail trans-
portation. While the German staffplan-
ners appreciated the power of Gam-
na, they asked for a weapon that could
be towed on roads and the obliging
Krupp desierners looked to their re-
earch and carne up with the answer,
Tris was an enlarged and modified
,';reeled carriaqe originally intended
:rr a 305-mm (12-in) hovntzer, Thus
ras born the M-G€ret (Gerdt mears
eqnpment).
AI this development took Place
::;h: at the last possible moment, and it
r"s not ultil Auqn-rst 1914 that the huge
',:-,{iuers moved off to war, The tYPe
;r:s soon knom as lhe dicke Bertha
Fa: Bertha, but more commonly trans-
-..:ed
Big Bertha') to its crews and the
name sh:ck. The crews belongred to a
special unit known as kurz Marine
Kanone 3, and initially only two howrt-
zers went into action aqlainst the Bel-
gran forts, They moved on the roads in
a series of tractor-towed loads, five to
each gnrn, The carriages had been de-
sigmed to enable the howrtzers to be
assembled with a mtnimum of labour
and time. Special armour-piercing
projectrles as well as the conventional
high explosive types were avatlable.
The impact of these huge howrtzers
has now passed into history, Within a
few days the mighty Lidge forts were
smashed and forced to capitulate, soon
to be foltowed by the Namur forts, The
420-mm (I6.54-in) shells were able to
piunge deep into the earth before ex-
ploding and the resultant shock waves
shook the forts to their foundations.
They had a tremendous morale as well
as destructive effect, and alter a few
days of steady bombardment the
occupants of the fort had been re-
duced to a state of collapse,
After deployment in Belgium the
battery moved to the Russian fuont,
where it repeated its successes, The
howitzers were soon joined by more
examples from the Krupp works, and
yet more were used on the Western
Front, Hcwever, it was soon ]earned
that the "type's accuracy fell off as the
Specification
M-Gerat
Calibre: 420 mm (16, 54 in)
barrel became worn after even a li- Lengrth of barrel: 6.72 m (22 ft 0, 7 in)
mrted period of firing and that, conse- Weight: in action 42600 kq (93,915 lb)
quently, destructive impact was re- Elevation: 0'to +65'
duced. Although the 'Brg Berthas' had a Traverse:20o
maximum rangre of 9300m (10,i70 Muzzle velocity: about 426 m ( I,400 ft)
yards), their best accuracy was per second
obtained at around 8680m (9,490 Maximum range: 9300 m ( 10, 170 Yards)
yards). Another problem came pain- Shell weight: B l0 kq (I,786 ]b)
fully to light when it was discovered
that the projectiles were very prone to The m ighty 42 0 -mm howitzer know n
detonating whrle stili inside the barrel as'Big Bertha'was used by the
the instant after flring, and many bar- German army to nullify the
rels were destroyed in this fashion. threat oI the Belgianforts
The 'Big Berthas' had their maximum at Liige and Namur. It
impact against the Belgian forts, was afearsome
Thereaiter their importance fell away, weapon,powertul
and a measure of thrs can be seen in and accurate (at
the fact that although they were used leastwhilethe
extensively during the Verdun battles barrelwasnew).
French reports make vrhrally no men-
tion oftheir effects, a sign that their day
was already past, None remained after
1918, thouqh the Gamma howitzers,
used rn the development of the towed
'Big Berthas', did survrve, At least one
saw action in 1942, when it was used in
the siege of Sevastopol.

-j
{
n

i
I
TheParis Gun
March I 9 I 8 saw the final major German offensive of the war, with an all-out assault
which caught the Allies by surprise. One of the aims of the German general staff was
to create as much confusion behind the lines aspossib le; to this end, a Krupp project
was put into effect, and one of the most unusual weapons of the war entered seruice.
At 07.30 on 23 March19 i8 there occurred in the
Quai de Seine (in the north east of Paris) an
explosion for which no cause could be found.
About 20 minutes later there was a similar ex-
plosion in the crowded Boulevard de Stras-
bourg and this time, when the crowds cleared,
rt was found that eiqht unfortunates had been
killed and a further I3 injured. Again the cause
of the expiosion was not apparent but some
steel fragments were found, suggesting an ae-
rial bomb. But no aircraft had been seen, nor
were any noticed when a third explosion
occurred in the Rue de ChAteau-Landon,
where a building was partially demolished. By
this time the Paris officials were deeply anxious
to discover the actual cause of the explosions,
and investrgators began to piece together such
evidence as there was. Almost as soon as they
began there was a fourth explosion, this trme in
the Rue Charles-Cinq, and yet another person
was killed.
It was not long before more fragments were
found and this time there were enough to indi-
cate that they came from artillery shells. But
where was the gmn that had fired them? More
mystery shells landed as the investigators
worked and a general alarm was sounded,
sending the people of Paris to their shelters, By
the eighth explosion the investigators had
already decided that the shells were from a
208-mm (8 19-in) gmn and even hinted at a
possrble iocation for the gun lnvolved. Their
prediction was that the glln was somewhere in
the Cr6py reglon, but Cr6py was I20 km (75
miles) from Parisl
The Germans obviously had some sort of
long-range gmn of a kind hitherto only im-
agined, It was all too much for the citizens; as
more and more of these mystery shells fell ln
and around Paris the population simply left the
city. Over the next few days shells contined to
land in a sporadic pattern, causing limited
damage and some casualties, but much worse
was to come. On Good Friday, 29 March, a shell
fell into the church of St Gewals on the Ile de
France right in the centre of the clty: 82 people
were killed and 68 more injured, The mystery
gn:nhad caused its biggest casualty toll to date.
But what was the gn:n that had caused all this
carnage?
The answer was complicated, and began
with German ballistic trials inwhichthe projec-
tiies travelled much flrrther than anticipated.
The cause was found in the fact that the projec-
tiles had left the thicker strata of the Earth's
atmosphere; as air friction was greatly reduced
for much of the trajectory, range was en-
hanced, To take advantage of this eflect a spe-
cial gmn was desigrned. A 380-mm (14,96-in)
naval gnrn barrel wad relined with a new and
much longer 210-mm (8.27-in) barrel (about
40m/13I.2 ft overall), for which special Toweringover theother products of theKrupp
charges and projectiles were deveioped. The works, the ParisWn nears completion.Thegan
new gmn was an oddity with its very long barrel was such achallenge to the technologly of the time
that protruded some way out of the original that a fair proportion of even such a large firm's
resources was taken up by the project.
naval gmn. It weighed no less than 142 tonnes,
but it had a range of 132 lcm (82 miles) and it
could be made to work consistently, if only at a make a series of attacks along the Somme that
price. Each time the grlln was fired the shell were intended to win the war and the new
passing along the barrel produced so much long-range gun was to play its part in harassing
wear that the internal calibre actually in- the Paris area and generally causing confusron
creased, and successive shells had to be of and disruption, This is the reason for the popu-
larger diameter than the one before. The long Iar name 'Paris Gun'for what was officially de-
barrel tended to droop under its own weight so signated the lange 2l-cm Kanone in Schiess-
external bracing had to be provided, genist (long 2 I -cm gn:n in firing platform) . Later
As always, a Krupp desigmer was the man versions of the gnrn used a basic caiibre of
behrnd ali this advanced ballistic technologry, 232 mm (9. 13 in) when the original barrel was
the same man in fact who was responsible for
the 420-mm (16.54-in) 'Big Berthas'. The whole The banel of theParrs grun is fest-fired. Such were
project absorbed a great deal of Krupp's facili- the stresses of firing upon the metal of the barrel
ties but there was a reason behind it all. In early that each discharge appreciably increased the
I9l8 the German general staff intended to bore oftheweapon.
':ii;t:::i:::l:.}.ii!i :;
L 103
The Paris Gun
bcred out, but it must be stressed that each
shell that was fired enlarged the barrel calibre,
sc carefi:lly manufactured shells had to be fired
n the correct seguence,
The firing platform for the Paris Gun was of
navat origin, with a twntable under the forward
end and racers runninq on tracks at the other.
The gn:a and its carriage were carefully em-
piaced near Cr6py on a solid timber base and
te surrounding area was carefirlly concealed
ur the centre of a wood. So carefirl was the
concealment that the German qunners even
went to the trouble of planting extra trees and
replacurg them if they wilted.
Frenchreaction
But as the drizzle of shells continued to fall on
Paris the French reacted. They moved heavy
rar-lway gn:ns into the area closest to Cr6py and
began to fire into the area where they sus-
pected the gn:n might be located. This came at
a time when the degree of barrel wear in the
German gnrn was so great that its accuracy was
becoming extremely erratlc and range was
iallhg away. The barrel life was learned to be
ofihe order ofonly 60 rounds, and a new barrel
was fi.tted to the gn:n while it was still in its
location in the Cr6py woods,
Away to the north of the gnrn the advancing
German armies were pushing forward with
g'reat success. They had virtually eliminated
one British army, and by 30 March had adv-
anced as far as Montdidier. It had already been
decrded that the Paris grr-rn should then be
moved to the Bois de Corbie, which is even
closer to the French capital than Cr6py. The
gr:a then launched a second bombardment of
Paris that was far more accurate than the first as
'Jre gunners were not firing at the extreme
hmits of its range. More and more barreis were
changed, but once again the Paris gun
ailracted the attention of French army railway
glns and airborne spotters to the extent that
:fe on the new site became very unhealthy.
Cazualtles were in{licted on the gnrn crew by
On the prafrng range the Paris gun is prepared
for fuing. The external support was necessary to
ensute accuracy in the long and slender barrel.
The unprecedented rangewas purchased at the
expense of weight ot shell.
'e::-nt:!k,a:.:
41.:Hj:!
\*
t
near-misses and even by one shell exploding
in the gun: the shell had apparently been
loaded in the wrong sequence and did not fit
the barrel correctly.
By this time the Parisians, or rather those
who were left, had begnrn to get used to the
idea of being constantly shelled, Paris was a
big place and shells could not fall everywhere
so a form olnormal life was resumed. On occa-
sion one would iand in a vulnerable spot, such
as a Metro station, but on many more occasions
they fell on open roads or empty buildings,
causing few casualties. The German advance
on the Marne by the end of May caused much
more concern.
The Paris gun was evenhrally moved to a
new position at Beaumont in order to escape
the attentions of French railway quns, and from
there the third bombardment was started. This
was a very carefirlly prepared position with a
steel bed for the carriage turntable and rail
access for the ammunition on a lavish scale (the
eariier gnrn positions had possessed ratl ac-
cess, but not on the scale of the Beaumont site).
By this time the 232-mm (9. l3-in) barrel was tn
use and was shootrng very well, but already the
gnrn was having less and less effect, The mighty
land battle that was takinq place to the north
hadreached the stage where the main German
thrust had been contained, so the chances of
the Germans having any major success before
the American armies arrived in force had pas-
sed. The Paris gnrn could do little to remedy this
state of affairs, and could merely keep up the
harassing fire to create as much nuisance as
possible, The ebb and flow of the battle led to a
new gun locatron at a site in the Bois de
Bruydres, and by 5 July it had resumed its
bombardment of Paris. But it was all to no avail,
By Augnrst the Allies were once more on the
move. The German attacks had finaIly come to
an end and in the process the German army
had exhausted its last reserves of men and
enerQly. Al1 along the ]ine they fell back to-
wards Germany, abandoning all the gains they
had made in the early months of the year, As
they retreated they moved well out of range of
Paris and the gnrns were dismantled and wlth-
drawn. By that stage there was more than one An impression of the Paris gan (officially known as
gnrn (perhaps as many as three) though only the'lange 2 l -cmKanone in Scfir'essgreriist'), on
one was used in actton at any one time, location in the f ores t of C rdpy.
lljiiil,:..,it. ....,._..,
'd*il
: - .
 Heavy Artillery of World War I
Exactly what happened to the Paris gmns ln Special ammunitionhad to be developed to make
the aftermath of the war is still a mystery. None best use of the potential range of the weapon.
ever fell into Allied hands, although some firing Illustrated helow are two types of shell together
platforms were found and carefirlly recorded with twocharges (by varying the charge, range
for history. It seems safe to say thai they were could be altered without changing elevation) and
the case inwhich thecharges wereplaced.
cut up to prevent the Allies from learning their
secrets, but a great deal of ballistic data was
accrued and carefully hidden away ready for a
later generation of German artillery designers,
At least one German World War il weapon, the
21-cm Kanone (Eisenbahn), owed more than
passing influence to the Paris gnrn, and perhaps
others did as well.
But for all its brilliant technical success, the
Paris gmn was a fallure. It was intended to make
Parrs a dead city and render it useless to the
Allies as a cenke of industry and communica-
tions, but apart from a brief initial period of
panic this never happened, Paris was too large
a city for even a constant drizzle of. shells to
have anything more than local effect, and once
the Allied advance had placed the city out of *9;+
range the Paris gmn could have no other ap-
plication.

;-1: l'lt
'.&:;: ek:\

Above : The fu lly assemb,led Pans gun fir e s a t 4 5'

elevation. Eachfiringwidened thebore of the
With a barrel length of some 40 m ( 131 .25 ft), the barrel, and during the barrel life of some 60
Paris gun presented problems ofconstruction rounds, a serr'es of shells of successivelv
never encountered before. The 2I-cm barrel was increasingcalibrehadtobeused.'
i o used rhsrde a n old naval 38-cm barrel but, being
longer, a good deal protruded from the end. The
external bracing was essentr'a I to prcvent barrel
sag in such long equipment.

:r!_1_ir:1 11.,r..._ - -rj;

>K 6-ir, 26 cvvt BL How itzer
T:e &in 26 cwt BL Howitzer is one of
-l:se weapons that just scrapes tnto
:j:e cateqory of heavy artillery,
alihough its 6-in (152.4-mm) calibre
i'iculd seem to categorize it more as an
:rdilary field arti1lery piece, Howev-
er. ihe type was frequently used as
;earry arillery by the British during
l"brld War I for the simple reason that
ln many occasions there was nothing
else to hand. Thlrs the 6-in 26 cwt had
io fill a grap, though it must be admitted
uat it f,lled that gap very well,
When the Brrtsh army went to war in
i914 its Royal Artillery siege batteries
,';ere equipped with an eiderly piece
krowl as the 6-in 30 cwt BL Siege
Howitzer. This was very much a reltc of
earlier trnes, had a very limited range
and lacked such refinements as an
effective recoil mechanism. It was also
tco heavy for the conditions encoun-
tered r.n France, so a new piece was
demanded. This was produced in a
remarkably short time, design begin-
r:ing rn early 1915 and the first exam-
ples being ready soon after the middle
of the same year. By the end of l9l5
rearly 700 were in the hands of the
troops.
The new howitzer was named the
6-rn 26 cwt BL Howitzer to differentiate
it from its predecessor. It proved to be
a remarkably efficient weapon, and its
employment was conflned aimost
completely to the front hnes for the
demolition of enemy earth works, tren-
ches and bunkers. It had a short stubby
barrel that could be elevated to pro-
vide the plunging fire that was re-
qurred in such tasks, such elevation
beingi made possible by the use of a
heavy box trail. The recoil mechanism
was particularly effective, so effective
in fact that it was used many Years
aJterwards as the mechanism for the
World War II 5.5-in (I39,7-mm) qun-
howrtzer. a piece still in use in many
places. A further measure of the suc-
cess ofthe design can be seen in the
iaci that once in semce the weapon
remained virtually unchanged apart
fuom some minor modifications, no de-
sigmation higher than Mk I berng re-
qured.
By 1916 the 6-in 26 cwt was one of
ihe most important and numerous
healry gnrns rn the British inventory,
and its use spread to many other Allied
and Commonwealth armies. Two
types of projectile were fired, one
'*-eishins 45.36 kg (I00 lb) and the
olherweighing 39 kg (86 lb), The max-
lmrm range with the lighter shell was
tC425m (11,400 yards), Millions of
:cirnds were flred foom these howit-
zers but many were rn active use when
>K li-it Bl Howitzer
:'.1hen the BEFwent to France in 1914
-,';as. like most combatants, ill-
3q.rpped with heavy artlllery, It did
::o: take lonq for the British to realize
-:ar
'Jrey would need heavy artillery in
lr-ii quantities and in a very short
:I]e. but there were few sources for
s::: in'eapons. Unlike their German
French coimterparts, the milltary
=i
:-:r::ers were unwrlling to striP the
::as:al defences, and there were few
:.:-s lcm whuch to remove the arma-
al alternatle had to be Pro-
=e:: soqurckly.
l::e: The answer was the
-:2 {-nm (6-rr) naval gn:n, already in
;::'d:cacn for both Royal NavY and
-.-:
The 6-in 26-cwt BL Howitzer was a
very effective artillery piece, light
enough to serve at the front as field
artillery, and firing a large enough
sfieII tobepressed into seruice as
heavy artillery when necess ary.
Right: 6-in 26-cwt howitzers of the V
Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery
parked in the Grande Place,
Peronne, on I 7 March I I I L By this
time, motor transportwas a
relatively common teature of the
BritishArmy.
the war ended, and were retatned in
service until World War II. Some saw
action during the early North African
battles, Exports were made to Bel-
gium, Italy and the Netherlands, where
the weapon was designated Obusier
de 6", Obice da I52l13 and Houwitzer
6" respectively. Weapons taken over
by the Germans from these sources in
World War II were thus the l5.2-cm
sFH 410(b), 15.2-cm sFH 412(i) and
15.2-cm sFH 407(h), while pieces cap-
twed from the Bntish were 15.2-cm
sFH 4I2(e),
Incidentally, the 6-in 26 cwt was the
subject of one of the first attempts to
produce a self-propelled alillery plat-
form. In late 1916 some Mk I tanks
were converted to carry 6-in 26 cwt
howitzers on two forward 'horns', but
despite the potenttal of this arrange-
ment they were little used.
Specification
6-in26 cwtBL HowitzerMk I
Calibre: 152,4 mm (6 in)
Length of barret:,Z.Z2 m (7 ft 3.55 in)
Weight: in action 3693,5 kg (8, 142 lb)
Elevation:0'to +45"
Traverse: B"
Muzzlevelocity:429 m (1,407 ft) Per
second
Maximum range: with light shell
10425 m ( l 1,400 yards) and with hearry
shell 8685 m (9,500 yards) 1J uly I 9 1 6, and the battle of the action around Albert. Note the cleats
Shell weight: 39 or 45.36 kg (86 or Somme is under way. This 6-in fitted to thewheels in an attemptto
100 rb) howitzeris in actionduring the aid traction in the Flanders mud.
The first f -inch howitzers in action
it
were re-bored naval 6-in weaPons
with cut-down barrels. The carriage
was hastily built in railway
workshops, and the wheels were
originally produced for traction
engn'nes,
8-in BL Howitzer (continued) Heavy Artillery of World War I
coast-defence purposes, but a 152,4-
mm (6-in) projectile was not thought
heavy enough.
The answer was to obtarn a quantity
ol barrels from old 152.4-mm (6-in)
gn]ns from stockplles all over the coun-
fy, These barrels were generally well
wclrn, but thls did not matter for they
were consrderably shortened by cut-
ting off a lengrth from the muzzle and
boring out the barrel and chamber to a
new calibre of 203 mm (B in), The re-
sultant barel was then mounted on a
hastlly devised carriage produced at
numerous railway workshops through-
out the UK, and to complete the
makeshift nature of these gn:ns they
were mounred on traction engine
wheels for ease of movement.
The 8-in BL Howitzer was a ponder-
ous load and a bulky weapon, but it
was at least something to issue to the
troops in France, Initially 100 were
ordered, but these were soon followed
by more, the flrst entering service in
February 1915, These initial howitzers
ran to no fewer than five marks with as
many marks of carriage, all of them
differrng in some way or another from
the rest, These were soon followed by
an 8-in BL Howitzer Mk VI, whichwas a
purpose-burlt weapon with a longer
barrel than the earlier five marks for
improved range, In its tuln this was
replaced in late 1916 by the 8-in BL
Howitzer Mk VII, which had an even
longer barrel. A later 8-in BL Howitzer
lvlk VIII differed only in detarls.
The Mk VII and VIII howitzers were
excellent weapons that formed the the modern 203-mm (B-ln) gnrns have in France by the Germans during 1940 By May I 9 1 8, when this example was
basis for a family of 203-mm (B-in) gnrns been derived. were redesignated 20.3-cm sFH 501(e) in action at W agonlieu, the I -in BL
that are in service to this day. The later After 1918 the eariy Mks I-V were but saw littie use, howitzer had evolved through
marks had a much more sophisticated withdraum (if they had not been re- severalmarks; and had become an
carriage than the early marks, and tired already) but the Mks VII and VIiI Specification excellentweapon.
were thus easier to handle and to move were retained by the Bntish army and 8-in BL Howitzer Mk VII
to the extent that they can be consi- some others (includinq the US Army). Calihre:203 mm (B m) Muzzlevelocity:457 m (1,500 ft) per
dered as different enms. Some of these In 1939 they were still on hand for the Lengrthof barrel:3.I7 m(12 ft4,3 in) second
late howitzer marks were handed over early campaigms of the war and later Weight:in action90l7 kg (19,880 1b) Maximum range: I 1245 m ( 12,300
to the US Army when it arrived rn many were converted to a new calibre Elevation:0'to +45" yards) ,f
France in 1918, and it is via them that of i83 mm (7.2 in). Examples caph:red Traverse:8' Shellweisht:90.7 kq (200 lb)

ffi ii.e-ir, BL Siesre Howit zers

In l9l4 the Britrsh army was not entire-
ly devoid of heavy artillery, for the
Royai Artlllery had rn sewice a healry
weapon known as the 9.2-in BL Siege
Howitzer Mk L This had its origtns tn a
staffrequuement dated 1910, but it was
not until 1913 that the first examples
were produced, The type was cleared
icr sewice in 1914, As its designatron
rmplies, the 233.7-mm (9.2-in) hourtzer
was intended as a siege weapon for
the demolition of fortifications, andwas
accordingly constructed as a purely
static weapon mounted on a large and
heavy finng platform, On the road the
howrtzer was carried in three loads.
Emplaced, the Mk I appeared to be a
rather complex weapon, but closbr ex-
amination soon showed that it was real-
Iy very simple.
The short howitzer barrel was
mounted in a cradle that contained the
hydro-pneumatic recori system. This
cradie was carried on huo large side-
frames that in their twn sat on a seg-
ment-shaped firing platform supplied
with platforms on which the crew
cor:ld work. The entire unit was in tum
mounted on an emplaced firing base.
The recoil mechanism was of fairly h-
mited efficiency, and thus there was
=ctovision in front of the carriage for
arhat must have been the 9.2's most
unpopular feature. This was a large
steel box, open at the top to allow it to
be filled with earth, The weight of the
filled box provided more stability
when the weapon was fired at low
anqles of elevation, for without it the
entire howitzer and carrrage could
rear upwards and to the rear on firing.
Filling thrs box wrth earth took time
and labour, and before the howltzer
could be moved it all had to be
emptied out aqaln,
The Mk I had only a limited range of
9200m (10,060 yards). It was not longl
therefore before the Royai Artillery
started to request a similar weapon
with more rangre, and this duly
appeared during late 1916, It was
known as the 9.2-in BL Siege Howitzer
Mk II, and differed mainly in that it had
a longer barrel provrding a range of
12740 m (13,935 yards), but for the gnrn-
ners the main importance was that the
recoil system was enlarged to absorb
the recoil forces to such an extent that
the unloved healry earth box was no
longer necessary, Otherrmse the Mk II
followed the same general lines as the
Mk I in both general appearance and
construction, As before, the Mk II was
carried in three loads, but there was an
overall increase in weietht of each ]oad
by about I tonne,
Productron of both marks of 233.7-
mm (9.2-in) hou'rtzer ran to 812 by the
time the war ended in 1918, and many
of these were either stockpiled or pas-
sed on to other nations, The US Army
had been provided wrth some equip-
ments when it arived in France during
1918, but others went to Common-
wealth armies and after 1918 others
ended up in such nations as Belgium,
the newly-formed Baltic States and
even the Soviet Union (via the White
Russian forces). In 1939 the weapon
was still in Royal Artillery service, but
many were lost dudng the events of
May and June 1940, which was just as
well as ammunition for these howrtzers
was in increasingly short supply and
there were no facilities to manu-facture
more.
The major heavy artillery pir'e in
British service in I I I 4 was the 9.2-in
Siege Howitzer. As its name
suggests, itwas desrgmed to be used
from a fixed position, and movenant
involved bre aking the equipment
down in to thr ee secdons.
Specification
9.2-in BL Siege Howitzer Mk tr
Calibre: 233.7 mm (9.2 rn)
Lengthof barrel 4,33 m (I4 ft 2. 51'-'
Weight: in action 16460 kgr (36,288 lbl
Elevation: + 15'to +50'
Traverse:60'
Muzzle velocity: 488 m (I , 600 ft) per
second
Ma:rimum ranqe: 12470 m (13.93d
yards)
Shellweight: 131,5 kq(290 ]b)
 ,ie-ir,
>K BL Siese Howit zers
By l9l5 World War I was well under
way, and the pattern of the battles that
were to ragJe for the next three years
had already been set, Aiso established
was the need for yet more and heavier
artillery, and the Elswick Ordnance
Company was reguested to Produce a
heavyweaponfor delivery into the line
as soon as possible. Elswick simply
took the existing 233,?-mm (9.2-in)
howitzer desigm and scaled it up to a
new 305-mm (I2-in) calibre, In general
the new howitzer resembled the ear-
lier weapon, but the recoil mechanrsm
was much revised and bY earlY 1916
the first examples were readY,
The l2-in BL Siege Howitzer I\/Ik I
** int"nJ.o toi aiailway mouriting,
but a version for road use was also
regurred. Here Vickers became in-
volved, and it too took the 233,7-mm
(9.2-in) weapon as a starting base and
enlarged rt accordingly, This resulted
rn the l2-in BL Siege Howitzer Mk II,
whrch in appearance ciosely resem-
bled the 233.7-mm (9.2-in) equrvalent
right down to the retention of the mas-
sive earth box, On the 305-mm (I2-in)
versron this requlred no less than 20
tons ofearth to prevent the recoil over-
coming the stability of the carriage at
low angles of elevation, Being larqer
than the 233,7-mm (9.2-in) weapon, the
305-mm howitzer had to be trans-
ported rn six loads (barrei, cradle,
bedplate, carriage, earthbox and
accessories), Assembiy was carefully
thought out and accomphshed bY a
system of girder ramps, winches and
jacks, but it was a lengrthy process and
all for a maximum range of onlY
10370 m (1I,340 yards).
The 1 Z-in BL siege howitzer M k IV
w as an improved vers ion of the
original model. The longer barrel
and improved shell handling
arfangementswere much
appreciatedby their grunners, but
the retention of the earthbox in front
of the equipment was not looked on
with any greatfavour. Itwas
desigmed to minimize the
destabilizing effect olrecoil at low
elevadons, and had to be fiLled with
up to 20 tons of earth.
k
The 12-in BL Siege Howitzer Mk III
was another railway mounting, so it
was not until the appearance of the
l2-in BL Siege Howitzer Mk IV in 1917
that the field gunners got their re-
quired range increase, which had
been requested almost as soon as the
Mk i reaChedthe batteries. The Mk IV
was a lengthened Mk II which Pro-
vided a range of 13120m (14,350
yards), but other changes were In-
i:orporated at the same time. A new
Asbury breech mechanism was intro-
ducedand the carriage was beefed up
all round, but to the dismay of the gnrn-
ner the earthbox in front of the car-
riage was carried over, so the spade 1
woik had to contnue. A Power ram-
mer was provided, which no doubt
took away a considerable workload
from the gn:n crews, and extra ammuni-
tion handlinq jibs were provided at the
rear, The overall effect of all these
additiors was to provide an increase in
the rate of fire.
On the move the Mk lVwas origrinal-
ly towed by steam traction engines-in
six loads, as had been the case with the
Mk lL After 1918 heaw trucks were leavinq a tiny handful in the UK for The breech of a I Z-in howitzer,
introduced for towing, and this training purposes on1y, showing the cradle for the massive
arrangement was still in sewice in The 12-in BL Sieqe Howitzer Mk V shell together with some of the shell-
1939 when the BEF took some Mk IVs was another railway mounting, handling equipment. Later modek
over to France, There the weapons employed a mechanical r anzming
took up so much room on the road sYs- device to insert the shell into the
tem that they were known as '12-in Specification barrel.
Road Hogs', They did not last long, for 12-inBL Siege Howitzer lvlk [V
when the Germans invaded France in Calibre:305 mm (12 in)
1940 thelr tactical initiative rendered Lengrthof barrel 5,65 m (18 ft 6,5 in) Muzzlevelocity:447 ft (1,468 ft) Per
the 305-mm (I2-in) howitzer's lack of Weight:in action 57915 kg (I27,680 lb) second
mobility a major disadvantage, Events with earthbox loaded Maximum range: 13 120 m ( 14,350
simply'swept around them, and all Elevation: +2O"to +65' yards)
Shell weisht: 340 ks (750 1b)
wer-e either destroyed or captured, Traverse:60'
 - 2-in BL Sieqe Howitzers (continued) HeavyArtillery of World War I

't rt
5
I f d;;

ffi€
1

$"{**,

Above : M ay 1 9 1 8, and a I 2-in howitzer is firing somewhere near

Louez. Note that the blast has kicked up dustfrom an area several
yards around the equipment. The longer barrel gives the howitzer a
greatef range than earlier models.

Above:Atypical
artillery position o:
1917. From the nunLe:
of l2-in shells reac',':c:
use, itwould seen-. ::a:
apre-offensive
barrage is being
prep ar ed. p o s s :.b :.; : : :
dawn the next ia;. i:e
camouflagewa-s
necessary to pre:,'e.:
aerial obseryaic:
>K Ts-in BL Siege Howit zers
The Britrsh army at no time requested
a 38l-mm (15-in) howitzer, but was
presented v,rth such a weapon. Exact-
Iy how this came about rs an odd story,
but rt had its origins in the Coventry
Ordnance Works, which as a private
venture took the 233.7-mm (9.2-in)
howitzer as a starting point and en-
larged it, One of the directors of the
Coventry Ordnance Works was a re-
cently retired senior naval officer, who
contacted the Admiralty in order for
them to pass on the news of the exlst-
ence of the enlarged weapon to the
War Office, rather along the lines of the
'Old Pals Act', Instead the news fell
upon the ears of the then First Lord of
the Admiralty, Winston Churchl11,
whose ever-active mrnd soon thought
up a role for the big howitzer as part of
a Royal Navy presence on the bat-
tlefields of the Western Front, and a
single example of the Coventry gnrn
was obtained,
Thus arrived on the military scene
the lS-in BL Siege Howitzer, In a very
short time the howitzer was in France
in the hands of a Royai Marine Artillery
crew and in action, A further lI were
then ordered and delivered into Royal
Marine hands. The Royal Navy made
much of the howitzers' capabilities, but
experience soon showed that it had Above: Arising from a private
fathered something of a problem. venture, the I i-in BL siege howitzer
The main difficulty was that the 381- first saw actionin the hands ofthe
mm (I5-in) hor,'1tzer was a largte and RoyalNavy contingent on the
ponderous brute that lacked the ranqe Western F ront. M aximum range was
that would be expected from such a limited to less than I 0000 m ( I 0,936
large-calibre weapon. It was true that yards), but the projectile weighed
it could fire a projectile weighing no some635 kg(],400 lbs).
less than 635 kg (1,400 Ib) with dread-
ful effects on the receivingt end, but the battery work, so dispropodionate care
maximum range was a mere 9870 m and consideration was requrred for
(10,795 yards). The hormtzer required their siting in locations close to the
a crew of no less than 12 men on the front lines, But the weapons had to be
gnrn, and even more were involved in put to some form ofuse, so they saw the
the weighty task of ammunition supply. war out at odd times and locations
In 1916 the Royal Navy apparently whenever targets could be found in
tired of the whoie scheme and with- situations where the howitzers' dire
drew, presenting the 12 howitzers to lack of rangre was of little account, As
an unwanting Royal Artillery, which soon as the war ended theY were
had to accept them with good grace for quickly withdrawn from use and dis-
inter-service political reasons, But posed ol apparently to the White Rus-
once the Royal Artillery had time to sian forces during the Russian Civil
examine its new charges it lost no time War of the early 1920s.
in announcing that it was none too
pleased abqut performance, The Elevation: +25'to +45' The 1 5-in howitzers were all
Royal Artillery considered the howit- Specification Traverse:25' transferred to the RoyalArtillery,
zers to be too larqe and too heavy for lS-inBL Siege Howitzer Muzzle velocity: 340 m ( 1, I 17 ft) per who were not enthused with their
the results and range that could be Cdibre:38I mm(I5 in) second performance. Here a shell is being
obtained. And at the ranges tnvolved Lengthof barrel 4. 19 m (13 ft 9.OS in) Maximum range: 9870 m ( 10, 795 yards) Ioaded into the breech of a I i-in near
they were obvious targets for counter. Weight: in action not known Shell weight: 635 ks (I,400 lb) Ypres in September I I I 7.

AUSTRiA-HUNGARY

Skoda howitzers
During the years that led up to World
War I the Skoda concern, based at
Pilsen in what is now Czechoslovakia,
waswellto the fore in the development
and manufach-re of super-heavy artil-
lery. Like so many other natlons tn
Europe during that era, Austrla-
Hungary faced the prospect of havtngt
to smash through the rings of massle
rorn-ficatrors that protected the main
centres of the emp[e's potential foes,
and as the fortifications gEew heavrer
sc did the weapons to defeat them. By
,311 Skoda had already produced a
3'i3-mm (12-in) hormtzer that was the
of any comparable weaPon in
=q:al
F'rope,
aad thrs stubby howitzer fired
a 382- or 287-kg (842- or 633-lb) shell
of penetratrng the heaviest
=pable of any fod,
:l:.:ection
l:-:s Skoda Model l9ll was an lm-
portant deslgn in that it was one of the
first of such heavy howitzers to be de-
signed foom the stafi with motor trac-
tion in mind, Each ol the howitzers
could be broken down into three main
Ioads, the barrel, the firing platform
and the main carriage. The barrel and
the main carriage could be towed by a
massive Ar.rstro-Daimler tractor along
roads at a ponderous but steady pace
over considerable dlstances, By 1911
such tractors were not unusual, though
the desigrning of a heavy howitzer for
such traction was novel and so
attracted much attention, The howit-
zers were organized into two-howltzer
batteiles vflth hvo qun-cariaqe tractor
loads and another tractor pulling the
two firinq platforms. On each towed TheSkodamodel l914was in northern ltaly the 4.2-cm piece was
Ioad sat crew members to operate the produced as a coast defence used as a forfress smasher. Rate of
brakes, while further tractors pulled howit zer, bu t dur ing the c am paigns fire was only two shells per hour.
 Skoda howitzers (continued)
::munttion, assembly cranes, tools
-d even a special mobile workshop,
l"lore trucks carried such items as fire-
lcntrol instruments, the battery's ra-
:ons and offices and so forth. Mobile
batteries such as these were used in
:e crushing of the Belgian forts in 19
'alcng with the Krupp 42-cml16,54-in
tsig Berthas') and were later used dur-
,::g the Verdun battles and the cam-
pa-rgn in Ita1y,
Once World War I was well under
',';ay the need for even
artillery
heavier
iecame apparent and Skoda went on
:: produce larger-calibre weapons,
lhe first of these was ready ln 1914,
alihough it was not a field hormtzer but
a coastal artillery piece intended for
':se inside armoured turrets, The
:a]ibre of this Skoda Model I9I4 was
=20 mm (16 54 rn) the same as that of
re Krupp howrtzers, but desplte the
l.fodei 19]4's intended employment
ie type was used on occasion as a
rieapon to demolish heaqr fortifica-
:ors during the campaigrns along the
corder with northern Italy, Some sur-
'"rved as coastal artrliery weapons until
,Vorld War IL Moving the massive 420-
nm (16,54-in) howitzer was a huge
:ask, so in i916 Skoda introduced a
formal howitzer design lor use in
=ore
ield conditions, Even so this was still a
;ery hefty 420-mm (16.54-in) howitzer
-rat took days to emplace or to move,
:-nd it was not until 1917 that a 420-mm
:i6.54-tn) design intended from the
--utset for relatively easy movement
:rd emplacement was ready, This was
'-re Skoda Model 1917, which was in
nany ways the same piece as the
re EXno" de 220
Before 1914 the French military philo-
sophers who dictated the nah:re ofthe
French army training and tactics de-
cided that as fast attack was to be the
mair strength of the Prench army there
'nould be little needfor heavy artlllery,
whose main purposes were defence or
slow attack. The 75-mm (2,95-in) rnle
1897 field qun was ail that would be
needed as massed French infantry
swept all before them, so scant atten-
'iron was griven to the provision
of heavy
weapons before the start of World War
L The 1914 Battle of the Frontiers de-
morstrated in a terrible fashion the fal-
lacies behind such thinking, and the
battered French army wrthdrew be-
hrnd the trench lines that were to be
the virhral 'trade mark'of World War L
Once in its trenches, the French
anny soon discovered that heavy artil-
1ery was sorely needed. The concen-
lration on the '75' as a weapon for all
tasks proved to be a major blunder, for
against protected earthworks field
gnus such as the '75' were vtrhrally use-
less, Heavier-calibre weapors were
needed to destroy trench lines and
bunkers, and the French army had but
few, The only sourbes for such
weapons were from the batteries situ-
ated all around the French coastline,
and from the nation's ancient forts.
Heavy gn:rs were stripped ftom these
sources and it was with these elderly
weapons that the French army with-
stood the rigrours of the dreadul Ver-
dun battles of 1916,
Better weapons were demanded,
but it took time for these to be pro-
duced for the French desioners had to
'rork virhrally from siratc"h. Develop-
Heavy Artillery of World War I
TheSkodamodel I9l I 305-mm
howitzer was one of the first heavy
artillery pieces to be designed with
motor traction in mind. The
eguipment broke down into three
parts comprising barrel, gan
14
carriage and firing platform.
Model 1916 but designed so that the howitzer which was nicknamed 'Bar- Specification
individual loads could be towed by bara', It too was designed for motor SkodaModel 19ll
large wheeled tractors. The total traction, but few such weapons were Calibre:305 mm (12 in)
weight of the emplaced Skoda Model actually built. lengrthof barret3.03 m(9 ft ]L3 Lnl
I9l7 was well over 100 tonnes, and on
the road the combined loads came to
A-fter 1918 the 305-mm (12-in) howit-
zers still around were distributed
Weight: in action 20830 kg (45,922 li'
Elevation: +40'to +70'
far more than that, The rate of fire was among the new nations that grrew out of Traverse: on carnage 16"
only about one or two rounds per hour, the otd Austro-Hungarian Empire, Muzzle velocity: with heauy shelJ 34- :.
but the heaviest shell weiqhed no less Most went to Hungary and Czeclioslo- (1, I I5 ft) per second
than 1000 kg (2,2051b) and the max- vakra, but Italy also received some Ma:rimum range: with light shell
imum range was 14,600m (15,965 along rmth a few of the 420-mm (16,54- 11300 m (12,360 yards) andwith hea',r
yards). in) coastal howitzers. shell 9600 m ( 10.500 yards)
Skoda also produced in 1916 a Sko- Shell weisht: 287 or 382 kq (633 or
da Model 1916 380-mm (14,96-in) 842 lb)
[ mle tgt? Schneider
ing and manufacturing new heavy
weapons tookyears and itwas not until
I 9 i 7 that Schneider was abie to deliver
the first of its heavy offerings, a gn:n
known as the Canon de 220 L mle I9l7
or the Can 220 IJ 17 S. It had a caiibre of
220mm (8.66 in) and was a derivative
of a navai gmn design. It had a long
slender barrel and was mounted on a
long heavy carriage in such a way that
the barrel slid in its cradle back along
the lenqth of the carriage when the gmn
was flred, The L 17 S was a heavy
weapon that had to be towed in two
loads (the barrel and the carriage) but
it had a very good range of 2B,B00m
(24,935 yards) and fired a shell
weishins 104.75 ks (231 Ib).
In action the L 17 S proved to be an
excellent heavy weapon but it amved
ofFrance onlyjust ur
on the battlefields
time. By mid-1917 the French army
was in such a state following the lethal
maulings of the Verdun battles that
large sectors openly mutinied and re-
fused to fight further, For some reason
the Germans never got to hear ofthe
mutinies, and for long periods were artillery gn:n park and it was retained TheSchneider Canon de 22A L r:r'Je
held at bay only by the artillery, The until 1940 when the many examples I917 was derived from a naval
French Millery arm was relatively un- still around fell into the hinds ofthe weapon. The long-banelled EruJ.! r-6s
touched by the mutinies and fought on Germans, who used them as coastal the first new desigm to enter Frenck
using the L 17 S and other such heavy gnrns emplaced in the Atlantic Wall, army seruice inplace of the largeiy
weapons until the troubles were re- Some saw action again during the Nor- obsolete coastal artillery. which had
solved and the French army once mandy landings of June 1944, beenastopgapin 1914.
more settled down to face the enemy.
Thus the L 17 S may be regarded as the Specification
gmn that helped to save France in the Can220L l7S
desperate troubles of 1917, but went Calihre: 220 mm (8.66 in) Muzzlevelocity: 766 m (2.51: r, per
on to play its part during the battles of Llngnhof barrel 7,67 m (25 ft 2 in) second
1918, Weight: rn action 25880 kg (57,055 Ib) Ma:rimumrange:22800 m
By l9l8 the L I7 S was one of the Elevation: - l0o to f 37o (24,935 yards)
better of the many types in the French Traverse:20' Shell weight: I04,75 kq (23r lbl
 Canon de 240 L mle 84/17 St Chamond
One of the early candidates consi
dered for stripping ftom the French
fortifications of an earlier era was a
heavy gn:n known as the mle lBB4. Thrs
was a St Chamond design with a
calibre of 240mm (9 45 in), but in the
early part of 1915 the weapon was
generally considered too heavy for
field use by conventional means and
was thus mounted on special railway
gn:n carriages, As such the weapors
were as successfirl as any of the other
extemporized French railway gnls of
the perlod, But railway gnrns have a
habit of not always being able to get to
the locations where they are most
needed, and this lesson was driven
home during the Verdun battles of Above : The Canon de 240 L mle 84/ I 7
1916,which settled down to a sloggnng St Chamond was originally a fortress
match between the opposing artillery, weapon dating from I I 84. First
and under such circumstances the attempts at making the weapon
heavier calibres were often of more mobile involved a railway mounting,
use than the longer-ranged gn:ns. Thus but by 1 9 1 7 a field mounting had
a call went out to mount the St Cha- beendeveloped.
mond 240-mm (9.45-in) qnrns on to
some form of field carriage,
The new carriage was delivered
during l9l7 and the gmn and carriage
combination became known as the Right: The barrel of the Canon de 240
Canon de 240 L mle 84/17 St Chamond L mle 84/ 1 7 was easily detachable
or Can 240 L 84/17 St Ch. By that time from the carriage. Movable in two
there were few of the original mle 1BB4 loads, the great length of the
guns available, so the guns were equipment made for an extemely
placed back in production (these were awl<ward load, and setting up a
known as Can 240 L mle l9l7 St Ch). position could take several days.
The best that could be said ofthe resul-
tant weapon was that it was a ponder- yards), but the ordnance fired a I6I-kg 1940, but in that year the Germans de- Specification
ous item. The qnm barrel had to be (355-lb) shell of considerable power, monstrated that the L 84/17 was a left- Can240LStCh
towed separately from the cariage, The numbers produced during I9l7 over from another era by destroying all Calibre:240 mm (9.45 in)
and on the road both were lonq and and after appear to have been limited, the remaining weapons with Stuka Lengrthof barrel mle 84/17 6,70 m
awkward loads. The usual towing veht- no doubt as a result of the time re- dlve-bombers, most of them while they (22 ft) andmle 1917 7.00 m (22 ft I I.6 tn)
cles appear to have been steam trac- quired to manufach:re the large barrel were still on their road carriages. Weight: in action 3 1000 ks (68,343 lb)
tors; these endowed the weaponwith a and carriage.Tthe new barrels pro- Elevation:0oto *38'
very limited cross-country capability duced in 1917 were slightly longer Traverse: l0'
unless special roads were iaid, and the than the originalbut had the same per- Muzzle velocity: 575 m ( I 886 ft) per
,

time to assemble or dismantle the snrn formance, so they were still relatively second
often had to be considered in days, unworn when the Armistice was Maximum range: 17300 m (18,920
Because olits age, the range ofthe l, sigmed in November 19 18. At least two yards)
BzVlT was limited to 17300m (18,920 or three batteries were retained up to Shellweight: 16I kg(355 Ib)

lI irilfni"t de 280 mle 14116 Schneider

The years up to 1914 were not entireiy
devoid ofheavy artiliery activrty for the
French armaments industry, The large
Schneider concern continued tvtth its
full range of artillery development,
mainly funded from internal sources in
order to keep abreast of desigm inIlu-
ences elsewhere and to remain ready
to seue upon any possible sales oppor-
tunities that might arise. Thus in 1914 it
had ready to hand a design for the
280-mm (I1.02-in) Obusier de 280 mle
1914 Schneider that was soon
accepted for sewice by a French army
eager to improve its heavy artillery
holdings,
It was two years before Schneider
could deliver the first examples,
however, By then the howitzer's de-
sigmation had been decrded as Mortier
de 280 mle 14116 Schneider, the term
mortier (mortar) in place of obusjer
(howitzer) belnq a typical piece of
Ewopean terminologry as on the Conti-
nent heavy howitzers were frequently

The Mortier de 280 mle 14/ 16 was a

ponderous piece designed fot siege
warfare. Rahge was limited, which
placed the howitzer wellwithin the
r ange of G erman long-r ange guns.
Indeed, many suffered Irom counter-
bombardment.
 Mortier de 280 mle l#16 Schneider (continued) Heavy Artillery of World War I
called mortars. As the type was a pair of rails to the breech, Rammrngt of breakrng down the howitzer into bulk were no rlisadvantage. Thus ihe
ordered bffthe shelf', the French army the shell into the breech was carried four loads, and once on site pit had to
a mle 14116 ended up in the hands of --ae
had to take what they got and what out by a chain-driven rarnmer, be dug for the heavy steel platform, enemy it was orignna-lly procured ic
they got was a very ponderous Once the assembly lines for the mle together with a deeper pit to allow the defeat.
weapon. The original mle l9I4 as pro- l4li6 had been established the units barrel to recoil when the howitzer was
duced by Schneider had been de- were churned out in relatively large fired at high angles of elevation,
sigmed as a heavy artillery prece that numbers. Many suifered from enemy After 19lB the mle 14116 was one of Specification
would be used for siege warfare, in .counterbombardment as the range the types selected to remain in ser- Monier de 280 mle lzVl6 Schneider
wtuch plenty of time would be avail- was only 10950m (11,975 yards), put- vice. Thus some were strll around in Calit're:280 m (11.02 in)
able for the move to the battlefield and ting the type well within the reach of 1940. By then they belonged to a past Lengrth of barrel 3.35 m (1 I ft 0 rn)
more time for the empiacement. Thus many of the German long-range gmns, generation and had no chance for Weight: in action 16000 kq (35,274 lbl
the mle 14116 had to be broken down The mle 14116 was nonetheless a very effective use as the German Panzers Elevation: + l0'to +60'
rnto no less than four loads for travell- useful weapon for destroying trench rolled across France, Many mle 14ll6s Traverse:20'
hg and in position for firing rested on a systems and underground installa- were captured intact and were added Muzzlevelocity:418 m (1.37i ft) per
heavy metal firing platform, Ammum- tions, though rt cannot have been a to the German army 'siege train', being second
tion was delivered to the breech by very popular weapon with the French used once agrain during lhe siege of Maximumrange: 10.950 rn (l1 9?5
means of a little crane which lifted the enrnners. Every move, however short, Lenrngrad and later during the siege yarcts)
sheli on to a small trolley that ran along entailed the lengrthy and involved job of Sevastopol, where their weiqht and Shellweight:205 kq (452 lb)

E irfi[ni"r de 3?o Fillorur

Ihe Mortier de 370 Filloux had its ori-
giirs in a requirement for a coastal artil-
lery weapon capable of producing
plunging fire to pierce the relatively
ilun protection of warship decks. By
1913 a number of these short howitzers
fiat fired at high angles of elevation
had been produced, but in 19i3 the
I 370-mm (14,57-in) weapon was pro-
Cuced and this remained thereafter
'Jte largest ofall these French special-
st weapons.
In appearance the Mortier de 370
Filloux was a deceptively small
rveapon. In fact it was a brute. It had
crig.inally been designed for use in sta-
jc coastal emplacements where (in
-.ireory at least) it was to have been
Celivered, emplaced and thereafter
left. ltrIhat actually happened was that
in the perlod following the early car-
nage of 1914, the French army rushed
whatever it could find in the heavy
artillery line to the areas behind the
tenches in order to have some trench-
:n:shing capability, however limited.
Fodunateiy for the French, when the
Mortier de 370 was delivered it came
with special handling gear of two
kinds, One was for use on railway
irucks and the other for road transport
and both had handling gantries, Above: A French 370-mm howitzer in
:ranes and special rigs, The largest of position in the Ravin de laBaraquette
these rigs was for the barrel, which west ofFoucaucourt, seen in
was carried slung under a special September 1 9 1 6. The great batttes of
wheeled gantry; the other loads were thatyear saw artillery become the
carried slung in a similar fashion, In all great m ankiller of an alre ady
there were three main loads withmore murderouswar.
ior the ammunitron and the various
accessories, were two of these 1917 type projec-
If moving the Mortier de 370 was not tiles, the heavier welqhing 489 kg
enough, emplacinq the thing was (1,078 1b), But wrth this the range was
worse. The preparation began with only 8100 m (8,860 yards), which made
t}te diggnng of a largre pit into which all the labour involved rather a waste
was lowered the main firinq platform: of potential. But for a considerable
ihis had a series of vertical spades on period it was all that there was to hand
its underside whrch were intended to and the unfortunate French gnrnners
absorb some of the barrel recoil. More just had to put up rmth it all,
of the recoil was taken by the heavy After l91B the Mortiers de 370 Fil-
carriage, which was mounted on the loux were placed into storage to be
platform and featured a rudimentary dragged out again during the 'Phoney
recoil cylinder system coupled to the War' of 1939-40, There then appears to
runnions ofthe barrel, The emplace- have been some indecr.sion as to ex-
ment and assembly of all this took a actly where they were to be em-
considerable time and a gneat deal of piaced, and in the event most of them
labour, but it was a price the French were apparently destroyed by l,uft-
had to pay in order to put some form of waffe attacks. Traverse:6' Simp/e in appearance, the Mortier de
heavy artillery in the front line during Muzzle velocity: w-ith light shell 370 m 370Filloux was a brute to handle,
19 15. Specification ( 1, 2 14 ft) per second and with heavy andiLsfteavjest projectiles had a
Once rn the line the ammunitron for Mortier de 370 Filloux shell 316 m (1,037 ft) per second range of only 8 I 00 m (8858 yards). As
}te howitzer was gnadually changred Calibre:370 mm (14,57 in) Maximum range: with light shell was trueof somanyheavy artillety
zom the orignnal armour-pierbing pat- lengthof barrel 3,31 m (10 ft i0,3 in) 10400 m ( 11,375 yards) and with heavy pieces of the period, the370-mmwas
:em to a heavy blast-producing type; Weight: in action betureen 29000 and shell 8100 m (8,860yards) originally a coast defence weapn.
ie last of these projectiles was intro- 30000 ks (63,934 and 66, 139 ]b) Shell weight:413,5 or 4Bg kg (911,6 lb
Cuced into use during 1917. There Elevation: -6"to +65' or 1,078 lb)
Verdunl9l5
The titanic struggles of 1916 have gonedown inhistory as perhaps the mostttagic
waste of human life the world has seen. Arr'srn g out of a need to overcome strong
defences by frontal assault, attrition was appalling, decimating a generation and
looming large in the memories of those who survived. Of the campaigns ofWorld
War I , it is Verdun which probably casts the darkest shadow.
The Battte of Verdun lasted from February 1916
until it finally petered out in the December of
the same year. It can be regarded asone of the
greatest battles of all time, for although other
battles involved more men and equipment, or
produced greater resirlts for one side or the
other, the Battle of Verdu::r was a conflict that
maintained its ferocity and scope through
many months to reach a pitch where it seemed
that the very vitality and honour of the two
combatant nations was being put to the test.
The result was horrific in the extreme for the
unfofimate soldiers sucked into the maelstrom
of the area around the.old clty of Verdun: they
existed and died in a hell on Earth where they
were rareiy able to catch a giimpse of their
prime adversaries, for these were the gurs.
The Battle of Verdun had its origins in the
mind of the German Chief of the General Staff,
General Erich von Falkenhayn. By the end of
1915 the German and the Allied armies faced
each other across the trench lines of the West-
ern Front with little immediate prospect of
either ever being able to break the stalemate,
thougrh neither side would admit it at the time.
The vgar by then had already regressed into a
statebf attrition where the only way either side
could win was by reducing the manpower and
equipment strength of the other by sheer
weiqht of repeated destruction. In effect this
meant the use of artillery, for infantry alone
could make little impression against the
powerfiri defences of the other side. But Ger-
many was not in a position to win such a war,
mainiy as a result of the Ailied blockade of raw
materials, so Germany had to make some sort
of move to destroy a major part of the Allied
strengrth during 1916 or face the prospect of a
possible defeat.
Falkenhayn devised the notion of a gigantic
'mincing machine' battle that would destroy the
French army. His idea was simple in the ex-
freme but horrific in its execution: the German
forces would make limited attacks against the
mlient around Verdun to suck in more and
more of the French army, which would then be
gradually destroyed by the German artillery
on a chosen killing gnound. Falkenhayn's con-
cept was logically sound in a terrible way, but
as things hrmed out the concept of his ourn
army's iimited attacks were somehow never
imparted to his subordinate commanders,
t 116
amongwhom,was the Kaiser's son. Additional-
Iy, he and his staff regarded the attacks in this
area asa matter of honour in that Verdunshould
be taken. Thus as more French troops were
sucked into the flghting so too were more Ger-
man troops, until the point was reached where
as many Germars were being fed into the
'mincing machine' as there were French, and in
this way the two armies slugged it out through
many dreadfi:l months.
The Verdun battlefield was divided into two
almost equal halves by the River Meuse, Fal-
kenhayn originally dictated that his 'limited
attacks' should take place on the east bank
only. The opening attacks were to be pre-
ceded by a barrage from the largest concen-
tration of artillery yet seen on the Western
Front, for Falkenhayn had gathered together
no less than I,220 artillery pieces to Iay dorim
flre on a front only 13 lcn (8 miles) iong. Of these
there were 542 heauy pieces and 306 field guns
along the immediate front to be attacked,
together with 152 heavy mine projectors. The
rest of the artillery force was assembled along
the flanks.
Largest in calibre of all this massed artil1ery
were 13 420-mm (16.54-in) 'Big Berthas'. Much
was expected of these weapons, but in the
event their accuracy was less than anticipated.
But this was to matter little, for hidden away ln
the covering branches of the Bois de Wapre-
mont were two of the massive 380-mm (14.96-
in) quns taken from coastal defences away !n
the Baltic. Fwther forward were 17 of the 305-
mm (I2-in) Skoda howitzers that had done so
well against the Belgian forts in 1914. When it
came to the smaller calibres the numbers of
artillery pieces began to grow. Next down from
the 305-mm (12-in) howitzerswere the 210-mm
(8.27-in) Mdrser (mortars or howitzers) that
were to become one of the most widely used
German weapons of the Verdun battles. They
were greatly feared by the French soldiers,
who had an equal dislike for the i30-mm (5. i2-
in) heavy gnrns that were really navai pieces
monnted on field carriages. Their higth mtvzle
A battery of German 2 l0-mm howitzers. Once
troops beganburrowing into the ground on the
westernfront, the howitzer carne intoits own.lts
high angle of fire enabled it to drop shells right
inio a trench or bunker, with even a near miss able
tocollapse aposition.
velocity was such that the projectiles arrived
on target with no presaging sound signals. The
mine projectors were essentially short-range
weapons that fired huge canisters of explosives
(packed with all manner of scrap metal to en-
hance their nastiness), while more short-range
support was supplied by the 105-mm (4, I3-in)
and 77-mm (3,03-in) field pieces of the fleid
artillery. If all this was not enough there was
also the might of the massive 420-mm (16.54-in)
Gamma howitzer hidden away with the 'Bigt
Berthas' behind the hills of Morimont and
Romagme.
Al] this massed firepower opened up on the
morning of 17 February 1916. The 420-mm
(16.54-in) mortars were used to fire against the
ring of forts that surrounded Verdun, and from
that day onward they worked their way over
and around the individual forts, though with far
less effect than they had obtained against the
Belgian forts in I9I4. The 380-mm (14.96-in)
naval gnrns opened up a harassing fire against
the city of Verdun itself and its approach
routes, at times managing 40 shelis per day
from each gnrn, But it was the lesser calibres
that were used against the hapless French
lines, the 210-mm (8.27-in) howitzer batteries
being especially notable, In places they were
situated at intewals of one battery to every
150 m (i65 yards) ofopposing trench, and they
wrought fearfr:l havoc. The French trench lines
in certain sectors simply ceased to exist, along
wrth their unJortunate defenders.
At the same time as short-range fire fell upon
the trenches, the longer-range artillery began
to spray the recognized French artillery posi-
dors with gas. fo meticulous had the German
artiJlery preparation been that they even had
reserve 150-mm (5.9-in) batteries standing by
to open fire on any French battery that miqht
not have been spotted or that somehow evaded
the initial gas sahrration. They had little enough
to do. At that stage of the war the use of gas was
stili a relative novelty and the Prench were
ill-equrpped to deal with its effects.
The overall effect of the initial bombardment
was dramatic: iarge holes were punched
through the French iines through which the
advancing infantry could pass, but here and
there some French positions had somehow sur-
vived the hail ofsteel and put up a fierce resist-
ance. It was a harbinger of what was to come.
No matter how fiercely the artillery fired there
were always some positions left undamaged,
and from these the occupants couid crawl to
open fire on the attackers, as happened time
and again in the long days, weeks and months
that lay ahead. But t7 Februarywas a foretaste
of what was to come, for the artillery that had
been so carefiilly amassed by Faikenhayn was
to remain in place almostthroughout the battle.
By 23 February the Germans had made their
breakthrough, although at that stage reinforce-
ments were carefuliy husbanded and fed into
the battle at a limited rate in order to lure the
French into the 'kiliinq ground. But it was not
long before this carefr:lly plarured sequence
began to run out of control. By the end of the
month the mighty Fo4t Douaumont had fallen
into German hands almost by default, and as
Douaumont was one of the king pins of the
armoured ring around Verdun this was
heralded as a major victory. Thereafter things
began to increase in intersity, if such a thinq
were possibl,e, for a breakthrough to Verdun
itself seemed increasingly likely.
This impression was enhanced by the close
investment of Fort Vaux, which in the event
 HeavyArtillery of Yflorid 'trlar i

-.=iiaged to hold out for weeks until 7 June.
, :cm Fort Vaux the suburbs of Verdun
=:oeared to be almost within reach but it was
=::und this stage that the battle took on a tempo
:- rls ovm, In order to turn the conllict into a
:.ajor German victory more and more units
',':re thrown into the attack and the figrhting
,.;read to the west bank of the Meuse following
= combardment similar to that which opened
:-e battle, This attack also came to a halt on the
.-:pes of the aptly named hlil called Le Mort
377,231, although the true total was probably
much higher at 542,000 On the German side
most references seem to agree on a figmre
around 434,000 the combined total of casual-
ties being around 976 000 Many of these were
caused by the artillery alone, for thousands
died wrthout even seeing the enemy they
sought so desperately to fight. Ard they did
want desperateiy to fight, for by mid-1916 the
battle of Verdun had assumed the nature of a
gigantic struggle between two ancient foes, in
Despite the enormousweightof tire dtected at
Vaux, the fort's strqcture survived, the garrison
only surrenderingwhentheirwater ran ouL The
French concluded that if a fort was well
provisioned it could hold out indefinitely, lea&tg
to the philosophy of the Maginot Line.
A border fortress fior centuries, Verdun was no
stranger to attack. The increasing power of
artillery Iorced the French to build a chain of for',s
to keep enemy gans out of reach of the aty, bur b:'
1 9 I 6 artillery ranges had increased aga:r a.n c

---:mme and C0te 304, which the outcome became a matterof national Verdun was shelled heavily.
But they got little further as the battle raged
::-, absorbing ever more men while at the
:rme time producing increasingly less in the
'','ay of gains, As the German infantry attempted
:: edge further forward across ground churned
j-:o a morass by the rain of incessant shelling
::ey found advances more difficult to obtain,
:stead, the qnrns continued their constant bar-
::ge from both sides, for soon after the initiai
ierman attacks the French had brought up
::ore of their own artrllery, rn places denuding
:eir front in order to supply weapons, The
--:ench had few really heavy weapons to em-
:-ace, Instead they relied on huge volumes of
1e from their famous '75' field gnrns backed up
:y numbers of I05-mm (4 I3-in) field gmns and
-:S-mm (6 l-in) gmns and howltzers, Only later
.'-ere they able to bring up railway gnrns and
.--eavler pleces,

Amatterof honour
Ammunition for all these French batteries
a constant headache for the French sta-fi
'..as
:acers, for they had only one logistlc road as
:-e Germans commanded the others, Thls road
.'.'as the famous Voie Sacr6e to Souilly and Bar-
,:-Duc, and along it had to pass all the supplies
=rd reinforcements for the French front. It was
= road that many French soldiers took only
- rce, for vast numbers died at Verdun: French
::icial figures iater put the casualties at
Verdun 1916

pride and honow. Throughout it the artillery

fired almost without cease, all the time powing
shells on to the forward and rear areas alike.
The soldiers went underground whenever
they could, taking shelter in such locations as
railway tr.:nnels and the basements and cellars
oithe villages like Douaumont and Fleury, vil-
iages that were simply wiped off the map by
the artlllery from both sides, The infantry
emerged on occasion only to fight oflthe infan-
try attacks from the other side, and ihen went
back to eround to attempt to avoid the shells
they knew would come.
By June the battle was in a state of crisis. By
sending in yet more men the Germans had
':advanc,ed to Fleury after further artillery
satwations of hiqh explosive and gas. But this
"r, was the high point of their advance. During the
rconflict the original concept of the 'mincing
machine' had been lost as events, rather than
Falkenhayn, dictated the battle, and thereafter

in acapturedGerman
nt.Theafienlandscape
of shellsfkedatVerdun
in itsef , liquid mud made movement
and shell holes often contained
picketsolgas.

The
testimoryrtothddread
ar tillery. Positidns ]lke
depicted rained high explgsivEtjttfte.ene
estimated 37 milIion rounds beiig fited in
monthstruggle.
 :e Germans were forced to fali back, By mid-
:ly the Frenchhad somehowmanagedto push
re Germans back to a line that was to remain
:ntil almost the end of the war, Fort Douaumont
,",'as retaken by 24 October, with the support-
:g fire of two 400-mm (15.75-in) railway gmns
ind sporadic local attacks continued until De-
:ember,
It had been a hoiocaust, dominated through-
:ut by the artillery, Later references state that
rroughout it all the German gnrns fired off
:round 22 million rounds while the French re-
:.:rned about l5 million rounds, The result was
a battle that haunted the minds of a whole
generation of French and German people,
:aused the deaths of hundreds of thousands
FortVaux under bombardment. The defenders of Douaumont,February 19l6.Down below, a series
-nd has a dreadful effect on the minds of many Vaux were subjected to some of the most intensive of undergiround levels were the scenes of som e o/
:r this day. The immediate result was that a few shelling of the war. They sheltered underground, the mostferocious tighting in French history.
square kilometres of French soil changred protected by the massive concrete casematet buf During an attempt to retake the fort, hundreds of
:rands, but the final results may never be fuIly the sheer volume of noke in the darkened tunnels Germanswereentombed by an explosion caused
-sessed. was appalling. by leaking flamethrower s.
*,..*.-?:

i
f

a
rtt'
I
reffi iiE""rt self-propelled heavy sruns
By 1917 one of the main problems suf- Based on a large chassis developed
fered by the gunners of all nations en- by Schneider, the M 280 sur chenilles
gaged in the artillery war that by then carried a derivative of the mle I 4/ I 6
prevarled, was the lack of mobility im- S chneider howitzer. Few of these
posed upon them by the nature of the 280-mm models were produced.
terrain and the ponderous weight of
their charges. Whenever any sort of
advaace seemed llkely opporh:nitles
were missed simply because the gnrns
could not be movedup rapidly enough
to positions foom which they could pro-
vide the necessary support. All man-
ner of experiments were conducted in
efforts to remedy this state of affairs,
but the only answer was soon seen to
be caterpillar tracks,'and rf any emph-
asis were required it was provided by
the advent of the tank.
Once the potential of the. tracked
carriage had been appreciated it was
not long before the French were in-
volved in a series of experiments to
mount heavy gnrn barrels on to self-
propelled tracked chassis. These ex-
penments were carried out quite
separately from the French tank prog-
ramme, and involved a largie tracked
chassis developed by Schneider at its
Ire Creusot works, Early trials involved
a 155-mm (6.l-in) qun, but this was la-
ter chanqed on production models to a
long grun knovrrn as the Canon de 194
mle GPF (Grand Puissance Filloux, or
High-Power Filloux). Another weapon
carried by some of these carriages
was the Mortier de 280, a derivative of
the mle 14116 Schneider, and this was
also known as the M 280 sur chenilles,
These hvo weapons shared a com-
mon carriage driven by a petrol en-
gine installed at the rear ofthe chassis.
The driversat at the extreme ftontwith
the barrel cradle almost immediately
behind him, A small crane was pro-
vided to raise ammunition to the level
of the crew platform behind the
breech. The desigm had one draw-
back, the installatron so arranged that
ordnance elevation was somewhat ii-
mited (preventing the fi:ll range of the
piece from being reached), but the
mobility that the carriage provided
more than made up for this. Later mod-
els were redesigmed to achieve in-
creased elevations,
Not many of the 280-mm (1l.02-in)
models appear to have been made,
Production was apparently concen-
trated on the 194-mm (7.64-in) model,
but even so the main problem during there were never enough of them, De- records of any remaininq in service. TheCanon de 194 mle GPF used the
the latter part of World War I was that spite their bulk and weight they were The 194-mm (7,64-in) model was still in same c/rassr's a s the 280-mm model.
able to cross terrain that no equivalent use, and was fired in anger dwing the While elevationwas limited, the
towed weapon could negotrate without 1940 campaigms until overrun by the vastly increased mobility was more
drfficulty, and the gn:n itself had a good German Panzers. The suwivors then than adequ ate compens ation.
range and a useful projectile weight. joined the German ranks and were
After I9lB the 280-mm (I1.02-in) car- used for a while by garrison units of the
riages were either withdravrn from use German occupation forces based in artillery platform to be used oper-
or converted to take the 194-mm (7.64- France, ationally in any numbers, and it cer-
in) gmns, and by 1939 there are few For its day the French self- tainly had many featues that were car-
propelled carriage was a remarkable ried over to later desigms, Apad from
achievement, It now seerns safe to say theu caterpiliar tracks these camages
that it was the first true self-propelled had automatically-adjusting recoil
mechamsms to suit al1 angles of eleva-
tion. hydrar:lic brakes and pneumatic
recuperators.

Specification
Canonde l94mleGPF
Calibre: 194 mm(7.64 in)
Lengrthof barrel 6,50 m (2i ft 3,9 in)
Weight: in action 29600 kq (65,257 lb)
Elevation:0'to *37"
The driver oI the carilage sat at the Traverse:55o
front of the equipment, with the Muzzle velocity: 725 m (2,379 ft) per
working area and reatward-facing second
ordnance behind him. The petrol Maximum range: 20900 rn (22,855
engine was at the rear of the yards)
carriage, below the elevating gfear. Shellweight: 78.83 ks (U3 8 Ib)

I 120