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2o6 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
various dimensions were still lying about. One queer-looking
fragment of a 42-cm. shell was so heavy that I had to exert
myself to as much as shift it. But then one of these " coal-
boxes " weighs when whole hundreds of kilos. A little splinter
which I took away with me showed that the metal had been
expanded to about one-fourth of its original thickness.
Everything regarding the giant mortars is kept secret.
But this much I was told, that their range is enormous. The
vertex of the trajectory is several kilometres above ground.
The ranging is done with great precision, but of course one
must be prepared for not hitting the target with the first shot
or two. " Misses " are, however, very rare. The most ex-
haustive calculations and observations are made before the
shots are fired. Observers are posted at suitable points as
near the objective as possible ; they are in communication
with the gunners and report the point of impact. When a
42-cm. shell comes pounding down from a height of several
kilometres, there is nothing built by human hands which can
resist it.
In fort No. i we saw a good instance of the effect of these
gigantic projectiles. One shot had struck the annular armour
round the cupola of the largest armoured turret, had passed
through the half-metre of metal as if it had been butter and
had then continued through a bed of concrete five metres
thick. This shell was also provided with a Ziinder mit Ver-
zögerung} If the fuse is set for retarded ignition the explosion
only takes place a couple of seconds after the impact. If one
cannot make sure that the projectile has first penetrated the
material to be destroyed, its effect, at least on armoured
concrete, would not be very disastrous.
The engineers from Krupp’s were now busy repairing the
forts both at Namur and Liege, and a large number of men
were engaged in this work. By repairing the occupied fort-
resses the Germans are strengthening their strategical position
and can release considerable forces for the actual fighting line.
The effect of the heavy artillery on the defending garrison
will be realised when it is stated that at one fort seventy per
cent of the complement were killed, whilst the remaining
thirty per cent were severely injured. As we all know, the
brave Commander of Liege, General Leman, was wounded in
^ Fuse timed for retarded ignition.
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