Big Bertha

Before the war Krupp built two types of 42 cm mortar: the heavy Gamma-Gerät, set on a concrete foundation, and the lighter wheeled M-Gerät, moved by rail and tractor. The latter weighed about 42 tonnes and fired shells of over a tonne to about 9 km, a few an hour. Sources differ on how many were built, from a dozen or so to about 30. The name Dicke Bertha, Big Bertha, arose among the troops in August 1914, probably after Bertha Krupp, the owner of the firm.

At Liège the 42 cm mortars, together with Austro-Hungarian 30.5 cm Škoda mortars, forced Fort Pontisse to surrender, and on 15 August 1914 a shell hit the magazine of Fort Loncin. They went on to smash the forts of Namur, Maubeuge and Antwerp, and in 1915 shelled Przemyśl, Osowiec, Kovno and Novogeorgievsk. At Verdun in 1916 they could no longer pierce modern concrete forts. The Allies called other heavy German guns Big Bertha too, and in 1918 Parisians gave the name to the long-range gun.