Only two 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha were available at the beginning of World War I, and they were used to destroy the Belgian forts at Liège, Namur, and Antwerp, and the French fort at Maubeuge, as well as other forts in northern France.
They were Batterien Hauptmann Becker & Hauptmann Solf.
kz. Mar.Kn.Bt.1 Hpt. Solf 6. Armee
kz. Mar.Kn.Bt.2 Hpt. Becker OHL
My quandary is, what shoulder straps did these two independent 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha Batterien wear? Das Ehrenbuch der Deutschen Schweren Artillerie shows them as Batterie Hauptmann Solf being "below" 2. Garde-Fußartillerie-Regt. Jüterbog and Batterie Hauptmann Becker being "below" Fußartillerie-Regt. von Hindersin (1. Pommersches) Nr.2 (Swinemünde-Emden) II Armee Korps. However, I think that the Schwerste Steilfeuer-Batterien are just listed along the bottom, and potentially do not "line up" with the regiments along the top.
Does anyone have an idea what shoulder straps were worn by Batterie Hauptmann Becker & Batterie Hauptmann Solf?
-- Edited by Tony without Kaiser on Saturday 30th of April 2011 02:53:57 AM
-- Edited by PDA on Tuesday 17th of May 2011 10:09:15 PM
KMK 1 and 2 were equipped with Gamma-Guns, the first M-Gun unit was KMK 3 (Erdmann), seeing action at Liège.
All KMKs were directly subordinated under OHL, and all were only formed on or after mobilisation. Thus, I would expect officers and men to wear the shoulder straps of their peacetime regiments. Many officers seem to have come from APK, at least in the initial batch.
The two 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha belonged to KMK 3 Hauptmann Erdmann and Batterien Hauptmann Becker & Hauptmann Solf had the emplaced 42-cm Gamma-Gerät?
Those are two very different cartridge casings. The 42-cm Gamma-Gerät casing is 78cm in height and straight, the 42cm M-Gerät L/12 casing is necked and only 43cm in height.
Is it safe to assume that the gunners would also have come from the Fußartillerie Prüfungs-Kommission?
-- Edited by PDA on Wednesday 18th of May 2011 12:27:23 PM
2 officers, 5 NCOs and 70 men from APK formed the core of KMK 3 on August 5th, 1914. - One may therefore assume that the initial three KMKs received their core crews from APK - and were augmented with whoever was just available.
Well. Thank you very much for setting me straight. Unfortunately I have been unable to find any good photos of a 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha to display with my cartridge casing on my web site. But I will keep looking. Seems I need an M1910 Fußartillerie Prüfungs-Kommission strap now too (fat chance).
-- Edited by PDA on Wednesday 18th of May 2011 12:28:03 PM
I did manage to find through a close friend who was willing to trade, a correct Vereinfacht shoulder strap for the APK (below) to use on Kaiser's Bunker with the 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha cartrdige casing and original fitted wicker basket.
What I still require, however, is a good clear photo of a 42cm M-Gerät L/12 Dicke Bertha to use with the owners permission (and credit of course) for the reference page on the web site.
And naturally, the endless hunt continues for line drawings of some sort so I can build one. Sadly, this is becoming it seems an impossibility.
It is interesting, that you deem that famous picture of Big Bertha to be the best, because it is a very heavily retouched (=fake) version of another picture, probably one of a series of pictures showing the complete assembly of the M-Gerät. These can be found on Kaisersbunker and in the book: 'Die Dicke Berta und der Krieg'.
The un-retouched picture has a factory building to the right in the background , a shed and the assembly crane to the left, the 'bettung' sits above ground and the spade only slightly in the ground. I have attached a version that I have found on the net - not sure where.
I would be very interested to know who did the retouching and why? and where the original pictures originate from? Where is/was the factory in the very hilly terrain?Â
Cheers, Steen
-- Edited by Steen Winther on Monday 31st of October 2016 10:06:10 PM
