Amiens Gun
Encyclopedia
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and returned to Australia as a war trophy
War trophy
In ancient Greece and Rome, military victories were commemorated with a display of captured arms and standards. A trophy was originally a war memorial assembled from such items on a battlefield. The Roman triumph also displayed these items as well as cultural objects, which later came to be...
. The gun was placed on public display on 26 March, 1920 in a position adjacent to the Central Railway Station
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
. While the gun's carriage was scrapped during the 1960s, the gun barrel remains on display at the Australian War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
in Canberra.
Unveiling Ceremony at Sydney's Central Station
Major General (Australia)
Major General is a senior rank of the Australian Army, and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of Major General. It is the third-highest active rank of the Australian Army, and is considered to be equivalent to a two-star rank...
Lee, State Commandant. Also present were Major-General Sir Charles Rosenthal
Charles Rosenthal
Major General Sir Charles Rosenthal KCB, CMG, DSO, VD was an Australian Major General of World War I, and later a politician elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.- Early life :...
, Brigadier-General Cox, C.B., Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Kingdon, Colonel Brughe, Q.M.G., Captain Soane, A.D.C, Mr. R. T. Ball, Minister for Works, Mr. James Fraser
James Fraser
James Fraser may refer to:*James Baillie Fraser , Scottish author*James A. Fraser , gold miner and Canadian politician*James E. Fraser James Fraser may refer to:*James Baillie Fraser (1783–1856), Scottish author*James A. Fraser (1843–1937), gold miner and Canadian politician*James E. Fraser...
, C.M.G.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, Chief Railway Commissioner, and many Railway officers. Major-General Lee, in addressing the gathering, complimented all concerned in the unloading and reassembling of the gun.
General Sir C. Rosenthal, speaking of the capture of the gun by the 31st Battalion of
the 8th Brigade of the 5th Division, jocularly remarked that as it was a Victorian Brigade, they would no doubt have kept the great trophy for Victoria, but for the fact that they did not have the proper railway gauge there for it, and General. C. Cox added: "Thanks to our 4ft. 8½in. gauge we have this trophy permanently." The Chief Commissioner of Railways (Mr. James Fraser) remarked that he had been authoritatively informed that Great Britain had built the biggest gun on earth as an answer to the German "Big Bertha
Big Bertha (Howitzer)
Big Bertha Bertha") is the name of a type of super-heavy howitzer developed by the famous armaments manufacturer Krupp in Germany on the eve of World War I...
." It never fired a shot — there was no occasion for it — but it had a length of 83 ft. (25.3m), being 11 ft. (3.35m) longer than the gun at Central, and a range of 87 miles (140 km). It was intended as our answer to Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
's if the war had lasted any longer. Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
George Burrows, M.C.
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(and Bar) was decorated for his gallantry in connection with the capture of the gun.
The Capture
The following account of the capture was given by Lieutenant Burrows. On the morning of August 8, 1918, the Australian CorpsAustralian Corps
The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British Empire army in France...
, with two Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
s of Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on their left, attacked the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
position in front of Villiers-Bretonneux, the Australian portion of the line extending from the Somme River
Somme River
The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning tranquility. The department Somme was named after this river....
to a point some hundreds of yards south of Villers-Bretonneux. Preparations for the attack were carried out secretly along the front for several weeks before the attack. A heavy concentration of artillery was brought on to the front, and every wood for some distance behind the line concealed tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, ready to move forward into position, during the night prior to the attack. The infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
and tanks got into position under cover of the noise created by aeroplanes flying overhead for that purpose. A dense fog came over at about 2 a.m., and did not clear until about 9 a.m. Following a terrific bombardment, the infantry supported by tanks, attacked at 5 a.m., and after passing the German front
Front (military)
A military front or battlefront is a contested armed frontier between opposing forces. This can be a local or tactical front, or it can range to a theater...
and support lines very little opposition was met with until reaching the final objective, which was the old Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
defence line in front of Harbonnieres
Harbonnières
Harbonnières is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:The commune is situated on the D337 road, some east of Amiens.-Population:-Places of interest:...
. The attack was well organised, and came as a complete surprise to the enemy.
Referring to the particular part of the front where the gun was captured, in the 5th Division sector, a section of sappers from the 8th Field Company Engineers was detailed to go over with the 31st Battalion. Their work on arrival at final objective was to put out wire entanglements in front of the front line, and dig a series of strong points about 200 yards (180m) behind the front line for the reserve companies. On arrival at final objective, east of Harbonnieres, about 200 yards in front of the front line, there was a train consisting of
an 11.5in. naval gun on railway mounting, a locomotive, two ammunition trucks, and about twenty other trucks. The rear portion of the train was on fire. An Engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
officer went forward, examined the train, and found it to be in working order, and with the assistance of two sappers raised steam. Whilst this was being done the water feed-pipe from the injector to the tank was perforated by a machine-gun bullet. This was bound round with tracing tape. The burning portion of the train was detached, shunted into a siding, and the engine, gun, and ammunition trucks were brought back about 600 yards (550m) behind the lines, to where the rails had been blown out by shell-fire. A message was sent back to the Field Company Headquarters for a party to repair the track. This was done during the night. The message also asked for more water to be sent forward.
Steam was again raised the following morning and, in trying to move the gun back, the gun slipped the rear bogie wheels off the rails. There were nine lifting jacks on the train. With the aid of these the gun was got on to the track again and brought back to Bayonvillers the following morning at 2 o'clock, and a receipt obtained from the officer sent up from Army Headquarters to take over the gun. The gun was complete in every detail, ready for firing, with 37 rounds of ammunition in the trucks. Each shell weighed over 320 kg (704lbs).
Firing Sequence
Load - the gun was run back on its mountings with the breech in under the shelter. In here was the ready-for-use ammunition - shell and cartridge case (German guns had the Krupp breech and used brass cartridge cases for all calibres) and the hydraulic rammer which rammed the shell and cartridge into the gun.
Loaded - ready - the loaded gun was run back on its mounting with the breech end over the well between the two side frames of the carriage.
Aim - the piece was raised to the required elevation which, for the heavy siege guns, was a relatively high angle.
Fire - the gun fired and the recoiling barrel went down into the well between the frames with the thrust of the recoil being transmitted to the ground via the recoil pad. The barrel then dropped to the "load" position and the sequence repeated.
Subsequent Events
The Capture paragraph is a first-hand account by the man who captured the gun. This account is of subsequent events.An Engineer and two sappers were on the train. The Engineer obtained a receipt for the gun from an Artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
sent up from the Australian Corps Headquarters. This receipt in the ordinary course of events was filed with the Field Company records.
When he returned to the Field Company's headquarters two days later, he was paraded before the Divisional General
Divisional General
Divisional General is a rank used in many armies to denote a rank of general, corresponding to command of a division. For convenience Divisional General is almost always translated into English as Major-General, the equivalent rank used by the UK, USA, etc., although this translation is, strictly...
, Sir Talbot Hobbs
Talbot Hobbs
Lieutenant General Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs KCB, KCMG, VD was an Australian architect and First World War general.-Early life:...
, and was asked what had happened and how the gun was captured. He told the General, and also put in a full report.
From the time he handed over the gun he did not see it again, but later on heard it had been exhibited in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
There was one amusing incident. He was an officer of the 14th Field Company (5th Division), Engineers, and was on loan to the 8th Field Company only for the attack and was on loan to them when the gun was captured. After the gun had been taken behind Australian lines the O.C.
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
of the 8th Field Company sent a man up with a pot of white paint, and he painted on the side of the gun in large letters:—
Naturally the seizure of such a 'big gun' — with the bogies it weighed 185 tons (168t) — excited some interest. Besides, it was the gun that the Germans had brought up specially to shell Amiens. Well, when the announcement of the 8th Field Company appeared on it the
C.O.
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the 31st Battalion was not satisfied. As soon as he spotted it he sent along a man with another pot of paint, and the first announcement was painted out, and the new words painted on:—
It was interesting, as well as amusing; but the fact is I was not under the orders of the C.O. of the 31st Battalion, but was under the orders of the O.C. of the 8th Field Company, although really an officer of the 14th Field Company.
He added that the train consisted of engine, gun, two ammunition trucks containing 37 rounds of ammunition, two officers' carriages, and about 25 other vehicles loaded with cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
charges, ammunition, and other war paraphernalia. The fire at the rear part of the train was caused by shellfire from a British tank, and a number of Germans were burnt to death. Cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
rounded up about 800 of the enemy in the vicinity.
It was a bit exciting while they were trying to get the gun away. He was all prepared to destroy her if they failed; but all's well that ends well.
General Birdwood’s Congratulations
| Headquarters, Australian Imperial Force Australian Imperial Force The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force... , B.E.F., France, 21 September, 1918. Dear Burrows, I send you my very hearty congratulations on the award of a Bar to the Military Cross in recognition of your conspicuous bravery, initiative, and devotion to duty during our operations near Villers-Bretonneux on the 8th August. You were in command of a section of sappers attached to one of the attacking battalions, and reached the final objective east of Harbonnieres. Some two hundred yards beyond your new line a long-range ll.5in. gun on railway mounting, a locomotive, and several ammunition waggons and coaches were standing on a siding. The latter vehicles were on fire. Without hesitation you rushed forward, with two sappers, and, despite heavy enemy machine-gun and artillery fire, raised steam on the locomotive, and shunted the burning coaches into another siding. You then coupled up with the gun and ammunition waggons, and brought them well back within our lines. Your action called for very great courage and determination, and I thank you so much for it. With good wishes, yours sincerely, W.R. Birdwood |
After Capture
After capture, the gun was exhibited in Paris before being removed to England, via a ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
ferry. It was later taken by rail to Woolwich Arsenal
Royal Arsenal
The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England.-Early history:The Warren...
for examination and finally to Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
for transport to Australia.
Mr. G.D. Delprat, the then general manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, who happened to be in London at the time, offered to place the company's facilities and skilled personnel at Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
at the Government's disposal, but on the advice of Mr. Shellshear, consulting engineer for the N.S.W.G.R. in London, that the gun's axle loading would exceed the safe load on the original Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge
Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge
The Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge spans the Hawkesbury River just north of the town of Brooklyn on the northern outskirts of Sydney, Australia...
, unless the gun's barrel was removed. This was agreed to.
Floating crane Titan
Titan was a floating crane that operated in Sydney Harbour from 1919 until 1991. She was fabricated in Carlisle in the United Kingdom, then sent to Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney for assembly, before entering service with the Royal Australian Navy .After being declared surplus to requirements,...
was available in Sydney and was capable of lifting weights up to 200 tons, the problem was solved. So the bogies, central pivot, undercarriage and gun were unloaded in the Port of Sydney direct on the rails, at Jones Bay, Darling Harbour. From there, the gun was hauled to the N.S.W.G.R.
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways was the government department that operated the New South Wales Government's railways until the establishment of the Public Transport Commission in 1972. Although later known officially as the Department of Railways, New South Wales, it was still generally...
Eveleigh
Eveleigh, New South Wales
Eveleigh is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eveleigh is located about 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.- History :...
Workshops, where with the assistance of Lieut. Pockett, Australian Army Ordnance Corps
Ordnance Corps
The United States Army Ordnance Corps is a Sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia.-Mission Statement:The U.S...
, all fittings and parts were reassembled.
From Eveleigh the gun was hauled to Station East Box by a superheated T-class locomotive and from there pushed forward to a specially prepared track at Eddy Avenue, via a ramp, the rails of which sank under the weight (approximately 18½ tons per axle). After strengthening, another attempt was more successful, although one bogie ran off the end and remained suspended in mid-air until powerful jacks were used to re-rail the trophy, which was floodlit at night by special arrangement with the Australian General Electric Co. for some weeks during the 1920 visit of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) who inspected it. Thousands of Sydneysiders passing the site saw the gun until its eventual movement to Canberra in 1923.
Move to Canberra
Details of this movement by rail are unknown, but must have involved partial dismantlement, if only to negotiate the various tunnels en route, especially those on the Pine Range Bank between BungendoreBungendore, New South Wales
Bungendore is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from...
and Queanbeyan
Queanbeyan, New South Wales
Queanbeyan is a regional centre in the Southern Tablelands in south-eastern New South Wales adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory. The city's mixed economy is based on light construction, high technology, manufacturing, service, retail and agriculture. It is the council seat of the...
.
In 1927, prior to the visit to Canberra of Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
) to open the Federal Parliament, which had sat hitherto in Victoria, the Amiens gun was moved from a siding near the former power station at Kingston
Kingston, Australian Capital Territory
Kingston is the oldest and most densely populated suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after Charles Cameron Kingston, the former Premier of South Australia and minister in the first Australian Commonwealth Government. It is adjacent to the suburbs of...
and set in position on a set of rails embedded in a concrete base, near the railway station
Canberra railway station
Canberra railway station is located in Kingston, Australian Capital Territory. The station is the terminus for CountryLink rail services from Sydney...
.
This task was carried out under the direction of the then District Superintentent (Mr. Reid) and involved building a spur line 100 yards long employing 40 men who were engaged by the Federal Capital Commission
Federal Capital Commission
The Federal Capital Commission was an agency of the Australian government formed to construct and administer Canberra from 1 January 1925. The Chief Commissioner of the body was Sir John Butters....
. The cost of the removal was said to be £500.
From 1923 until 1942, one of the first things seen by the train traveller arriving at the terminus of the Australian Capital Territory Railway in Canberra, was the enormous railway gun captured by Australian troops, the so-called Amiens Gun.
Use during World War II
The gun remained outside the station, resplendent in its camouflage paint and target for the climbing ambitions of numerous small boys until the outbreak of the 1939-45 warWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when in 1942 the Australian Army began to express interest in the gun. The Inspector-General of Munitions, in a request for the transfer to the Department of Munitions 'for the duration' pointed out that a mounting of this type in which heavy British guns and ammunition could be test-fired was badly needed, as the stresses involved in such firings made our own coastal defence gun mountings unsuitable.
It was planned to install the mounting at the Artillery Proof Range at Port Wakefield
Port Wakefield, South Australia
Port Wakefield was the first government town to be established north of the capital, Adelaide, in South Australia.Port Wakefield is situated approximately 98.7 kilometres from Adelaide and lies on the Port Wakefield Road section of the A1 National Highway...
, South Australia. The Army gave an undertaking to restore the gun and its mounting to its former condition and to meet all expenditure involved, and claimed that because the mounting was indispensable to the war effort, the Chairman of the Australian War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
Board of Management had given approval for its removal.
A party of engineer troops from Kapooka
Kapooka
thumb|right|300px|Army Recruit Training Centre entrance signArmy Recruit Training Centre is the official name denoted by the Australian Army Department of Defence since December 1, 1998 for its Recruit Training Centre situated at Kapooka, an outer suburb of Wagga Wagga, in the Riverina region of...
Camp, Wagga Wagga, under command of Lieut. Colonel Warren McDonald were given the task of dismantling the gun under supervision of Mr. Rettinger of the Department of the Interior. Thus, the mounting was sent to Port Wakefield, presumably by rail and the bogies were sent to No. 1 Central Ordnance Depot, at Bandiana, Victoria
Bandiana, Victoria
Bandiana is a bounded rural locality of the City of Wodonga Local Government Area in northeast Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bandiana and had a population of 114, mainly based at the military camp.-References:...
, for storage. They remained there until after the war. The gun barrel remained in Canberra.
Final Resting Place
In 1954. the Memorial was advised by the Department of Supply and Development that the mounting was no longer required at Port Wakefield and discussions began as to the ultimate fate of the gun barrel, mountings and bogies. These extended over some years and involved both theTourist Bureau and the Returned Servicemen's League
Returned and Services League of Australia
The Returned and Services League of Australia is a support organisation for men and women who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force ....
. At one stage, consideration was given to assembling the complete gun on Mount Pleasant, overlooking the Royal Military College, Duntroon
Royal Military College, Duntroon
The Royal Military College, Duntroon is the Australian Army's officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, in the Australian Capital Territory, in 1911 and is situated on picturesque grounds at the foot of Mount Pleasant near Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Department of Defence...
. In 1964, the Director of the Memorial advised that the Board of Management had decided to exhibit only the barrel. This is on the lawn adjacent to the Memorial building.
In reaching this decision the Board had taken into consideration the anticipated enormous cost involved in the removal of the component parts of the gun, while there was some doubt, because of its immense size and weight, as to the suitability of the gun as a whole as an exhibit in the grounds of the Australian War Memorial. Thus it was that in 1961 the bogies were sold for scrap, while the gun mountings were similarly disposed of two years later.
Two Guns
Mr. Bill Crooks, M.B.E., E.D.. of Bribie Island, QueenslandBribie Island, Queensland
Bribie Island, 34 kilometres long and 8 kilometres at its widest, is the smallest and most northerly of three major sand island forming the coastline sheltering the northern part of Moreton Bay, Queensland. The others are Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island...
is clear that there were, in fact, not one, but two 'Amiens Guns' captured by Australian forces operating in France in August, 1918.
1. The 28 cm railway gun, the subject of these pages, which weighed 149 tons and was subsequently shipped to Australia; and
2. A concrete-emplaced siege gun with a 38 cm (14.96") calibre 72' long barrel, one of a number disposed by the German forces for the bombardment of Paris and other targets. This latter was presented to the City of Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
by General John Monash
John Monash
General Sir John Monash GCMG, KCB, VD was a civil engineer who became the Australian military commander in the First World War. He commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade before the War and then became commander of the 4th Brigade in Egypt shortly after the outbreak of the War with whom he took part...
and should rightly be called the Amiens Gun.
Both guns were products of the Krupp works which specialized in super-heavy artillery for land use.
See also
- 28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno"28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno"The 28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno" The 28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno" The 28 cm SK L/40 "Bruno" (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick-loading cannon) L - Länge (with a 40 caliber barrel) was a German railroad gun. Originally a naval gun it was adapted for land service after its ships were disarmed beginning...
main article for this type of railway gun