As a follow-up to our early article "Not Big Bertha," we present this French wartime depiction of the large artillery pieces of the combatants that were known by 1918. One especially notable piece is the 400mm French railroad gun that played a key role in the recapture of the Verdun forts, and the Paris Gun is not shown. It was unveiled in March 1918 during the first Ludendorff Offensive and was probably either not experienced yet or fully understood when this was presented in the Almanach Hachette of 1918. Incidentally, the proverb is roughly translated: "The Good Burgundian does not fear the cannon."
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My Aunt whose mother came from Belgium was named Bertha. She hated her name because the kids called her "Big Bertha". As an adult she changed her name to Betty.
ReplyDeleteRichard VandenBrul