Big Bertha (howitzer)

Design and production

Model of a later M-Gerät at the Musée de l'Armée without its spade, identifiable by its camouflage

The M-Gerät weighed 42 metric tons (42 t), had a maximum range of 9,300 metres (30,500 ft), and a maximum barrel elevation of 65°. The gun stood 4.5 m (15 ft) tall, 10 m (33 ft) long, and 4.7 m (15 ft) wide, while the barrel itself was 5.04 m (16.5 ft) long. The M-Gerät was two-thirds the weight of the Gamma-Gerät, but had 30% less range and was less accurate. This reduction in weight was accomplished by shrinking the Gamma's barrel and thinning its walls, while installing a simpler sliding-wedge breech. The five wagons that a disassembled M-Gerät (each designed to hold a specific load) took up could not be pulled by horses or tractors, as they weighed 16–20 metric tons (16–20 t). To pull the wagons, gas-powered tractors were designed by Podeus that could move the guns at 7 km/h (4.3 mph) under optimal circumstances. To move across open country, the wagon wheels were fitted with articulations called Radgürteln to reduce ground pressure. When fully emplaced, the howitzer was stabilised by steel platforms under the wheels and its spade, driven into the earth, which could also turn the gun. Post-prototype M-Gerät guns had a crew platform in front of the blast shield, a detachable breech, and solid wheels. The APK ordered the first M-Gerät in July 1912, delivered in December the next year, and a second in February 1913. Another two guns were ordered before the First World War on 31 July 1914, and then two more on 28 August and yet another two on 11 November. Krupp built a total of 12 M-Gerät howitzers.^[10]

The 30.5 cm Beta-M-Gerät, designated the schwere Kartaune L/30, was developed in late 1917 to replace M-Gerät guns that had been rendered inoperable by internal explosion. To increase the range of the M-Gerät and lower the likelihood of internal explosion, the APK selected a 9 m (30 ft) long, 16-metric-ton (16 t) naval barrel to be mounted onto the chassis of the M-Gerät. Two large spring cylinders were added to the front of the gun to counterbalance the new barrel, which had to be carried in a new cart weighing 22 metric tons (22 t). Fully assembled, the Beta-M-Gerät weighed 47 metric tons (47 t) and had a maximum range of 20,500 metres (67,300 ft). However, the propellant used to achieve that range caused three of the four Beta-M-Gerät guns to explode, forcing their crews to limit its range by 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), defeating the purpose of the longer L/30 barrel. Only four Beta-M-Gerät guns were modified from two M-Gerät howitzers and two Gamma-Gerät mortars (a one to two-month-long process per gun), but 12 L/30 barrels were built.^[11]

Ammunition

German siege artillery had three types of projectiles: Panzergranate (Armour-piercing), Langgranate (High explosive), and kurze Haubengranate (Intermediate). The armour-piercing shell was designed to smash through concrete and metal armour, but was largely ineffective against reinforced concrete. High explosive shells were fitted with two charges and could be set to have no delay or a short or a long delay. If set to "no delay," then the shell burst on impact. 42cm high explosive shell craters could be as wide as 9 m (30 ft) and as deep as 6 m (20 ft). If set to a delayed detonation, it could penetrate up to 12 m (39 ft) of earth. Finally, the intermediate, or "short shell," weighed half as much as the high explosive shell and was fitted with a ballistic tip for range and accuracy. 42cm shells were generally 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long, weighed between 400–1,160 kg (880–2,560 lb), and were propelled via primer loaded into the gun with a brass casing. Siege artillery shells were produced in limited runs, ensuring a gradient in their quality. Beginning in early 1916, German siege guns began to suffer internal explosions due to faulty ammunition. As a result, crews were required to disembark from the gun before firing.^[13]

Western Front

Ruins of the Fort de Loncin, 1914

By June 1914, the prototype M-Gerät howitzers had returned to Essen for final adjustments and would have been formed into a reserve artillery battery on completion in October.^{[lower-alpha 3]} On 2 August 1914, they were organised into KMK Battery 3 and sent to the Western Front with 240 men.^[16] On 4 August, the German 1st Army arrived near Liège, the first target of the Schlieffen Plan, and began the Battle of Liège. Although German troops entered the city on 7 August, its forts were firing upon the road to be taken by the 2nd Army and had to be reduced. Heavy artillery began their attack on 8 August but on 12 August,^[17] KMK Battery 3 was the first siege battery sent into battle to bombard the Fort de Pontisse, which surrendered after two days. The battery next moved to the Fort de Liers but the fort surrendered as the battery was emplacing. KMK Battery 3 relocated to the Fort de Loncin,^[18] where Gérard Leman directed the defense of Liège.^[19] Firing commenced on 15 August and lasted two hours, as the 25th shot fired struck an munitions depot, destroying the fort in the ensuing explosion.^[18] The Germans carried Leman, unconscious, out of Loncin, and the last two forts, Hollogne and Flémalle, capitulated on 16 August.^[20]

With Liège captured, the 1st Army continued northwest while the 2nd and 3rd Armies marched to Namur, whose forts were undermanned, unmaintained, and poorly stocked with ammunition. The 2nd Army arrived on 20 August 1914 to open the Siege of Namur, but began their main attacks the following day with 400 pieces of artillery.^[21] KMK Battery 3 fired upon the Fort de Marchovelette, which was destroyed on 23 August by a magazine explosion caused by the battery's 50th round fired against it. The battery shifted its fire to the Fort de Maizeret, already under attack by four Austro-Hungarian Skoda 30.5 cm mortars, and compelled its surrender.^[22] With the eastern forts occupied, the Germans entered Namur itself and the remaining Belgian forces evacuated from the city.^[21]

A ruined cupola at one of the Maubeuge forts, 1914

Following the defeat of the Western Allies at Charleroi and at Mons, the British Expeditionary Force withdrew past Maubeuge, their base of operations after arriving in France. On 24 August 1914, the advancing Germans arrived at the fortresses of Maubeuge and laid siege to its garrison of 45,000 soldiers. The next day, the VII Reserve Corps were left behind the main German armies to take the city.^[23] Bombardment of the forts began on 30 August, with KMK Battery 3 tasked with reducing Fort Sarts, but it mistakenly shelled an interval fortification in front of Sarts. Although the German siege guns had largely depleted their ammunition, only one of Maubeuge's forts was modernised. By 5 September, a hole in the fortress ring had been opened by the 21cm guns, but they had by now exhausted their ammunition supply. To widen that gap, the siege guns then expended their remaining ammunition against Forts Leveau, Héronfontaine, and Cerfontaine on 7 September, and destroyed them in quick succession. The two remaining French forts surrendered that same day and the Germans occupied Maubeuge on 8 September.^[24]

Maubeuge taken, German siege guns were available for an attack on Paris. However, Germany's defeat at the Battle of the Marne blocked the advance of the 1st and 2nd Armies, and the guns were instead sent to Antwerp.^[25] King Albert I had ordered a general retreat to Antwerp on 18 August, and his army arrived in the city two days later. From Antwerp, Albert made attacks on the German flank on 24–25 August and 9 September, prompting General Alexander von Kluck of the 1st Army to send the III Reserve Corps to seize Antwerp.^[26] It arrived and partially surrounded Antwerp from the southwest on September 27, and bombardment began the next day. KMK Battery 3 arrived on 30 September and opened fire on the Fort de Lier, whose artillery narrowly missed the battery. The fort was abandoned by its garrison on 2 October, allowing KMK Battery 3 to attack and destroy the Fort de Kessel in a single day. The battery then moved to attack the Fort de Broechem, which was also destroyed within two days.^[27] From 7–9 October, the Belgian army fled from Antwerp and the city surrendered on 10 October.^[26]

Early in 1916, all 42cm guns were assigned to the 5th Army, which amassed a total of 24 siege guns, the highest concentration of them during the war.^[28] The Battle of Verdun was opened on 21 February 1915 with an intense, nine-hour long artillery barrage.^[29] The 42cm guns were tasked with suppressing the artillery of Forts Vaux, Douaumont, Souville, and Moulainville, but were unable to penetrate the concrete of the modern fortresses. On the second day of the battle, both of KMK Battery 7's M-Gerät guns were destroyed by internal explosion and KMK Batteries 5 and 6 both lost an M-Gerät each to the same cause. Most of the siege guns at Verdun were moved north in July to participate in the Battle of the Somme, and by September the only M-Gerät units left in Verdun were KMK Batteries 3 and 6.^[30]

In the last two years of the war, KMK batteries that suffered losses of their big guns were replaced with smaller calibre artillery. Those that remained primarily shelled field works and often had low survivability due to malfunctions or Allied counter-battery artillery. KMK Battery 10 lost one M-Gerät to an internal explosion and the other to British warships near Ostend in August 1917 and was rearmed with captured Russian 12 cm (4.7 in) howitzers. It and KMK Battery 10 were given the four Beta-M-Geräts made during the war in early 1918. For the Spring Offensive, KMK Battery 8 was assigned to the 6th Army,^{[lower-alpha 2]} Battery 6 to the 2nd Army, and Battery 3 to the 18th Army. The effect of the siege guns was negligible. For Germany's final offensive in July 1918, KMK Batteries 5 and 6 were reassigned to the 7th Army at the Marne, while Batteries 3, 8, and 10 went to the 1st Army at Reims. The batteries again had little to no effect, and Battery 10 became the last German siege battery to fire on a fort, the Fort de la Pompelle. In November 1918, KMK Battery 5 surrendered its guns, the remaining two M-Gerät howitzers, to the American Expeditionary Force.^[31]

Eastern Front

Kaunas's Fort II in ruins, 1915

On 2 May 1915, August von Mackensen launched the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. By the end of the month, his forces neared Przemyśl, which had been captured by the Russians from Austria-Hungary on 22 March 1915.^[32] KMK Battery 6 took part in the bombardment of forts X, Xa, XI, and XIa, opened on 30 March. Two days later, the Germans took and held forts X, Xa, and XI from a counterattack, compelling the Russians to abandon Przemyśl. German troops entered the city on 3 June, then took the remaining forts two days later. From 8 August, KMK Battery 6 supported the XXXX Reserve Corps's attack on Kaunas Fortress by bombing Kaunas's three westernmost forts. Although the German siege artillery's shelling of Kaunas was slow, the fortifications were outdated and were easily destroyed. By 18 August, Kaunas was overrun by the Germans. The next month, KMK Battery 6 was moved to the Serbian front to support a crossing of the Danube by the 11th Army. Firing began on 6 October, and the Germans crossed the next day to take Belgrade.^[33]

To the south, KMK Batteries 3 and 5 participated in the siege of Novogeorgievsk, which the Germans had surrounded on the 10 August. On 13 August, KMK Batteries 3 and 5 attacked with the siege guns from the north, shelling forts XIV, XV, and XVI. On 16 August, German infantry stormed forts XV and XVI as the artillery attacked them. A single 42cm shell struck German troops attacking Fort XV, resulting in heavy casualties, but the Germans took the forts. The Russians abandoned the outer ring on 18 August, allowing the Germans to open a hole in the inner ring and capture Novogeorgievsk the next day. In response, the Russians abandoned fortresses wholesale on the Great Retreat. At Grodno, KMK Batteries 3, 5, and 6 were not even fully emplaced when the fortress was evacuated on 3 September.^[34]

Citations

Further reading