WWI KRUPP 420mm "BIG BERTHA" SUPER HEAVY SIEGE HOWITZER

Description

Big Bertha (German: Dicke Bertha)—literal translation "Fat (or heavy) Bertha"—is the name of a type of super-heavy howitzer developed by the armaments manufacturer Krupp in Germany on the eve of World War I. Its official designation was the L/12, i.e., the barrel was 12 calibre in length, 42-cm (16.5 inch) Type M-Gerät 14 (M-Equipment 1914) Kurze Marine-Kanone ("short naval gun", a name intended to camouflage the weapon’s real purpose). The howitzer was mainly designed by Krupp’s Director of design, Professor Fritz Rausenberger, and his predecessor, Director Max Dreger (1852–1929). Many sources say that Bertha is a reference to Bertha Krupp, heiress and owner of the Krupp industrial empire. Not all accept this connection. During the war, the Germans gave numerous other nicknames to the M-Device. ("Dicke", meaning fat or big in German, is apparently not a reference to the physical aspect of Mrs. Krupp). The name "Big Bertha" subsequently came to be applied generically by the Allies to any very large German gun, such as the railway-mounted battleship guns known as "Langer Max" and the ultra-long range "Paris Gun". Strictly speaking, Dicke Bertha, or Big Bertha, is only applicable to the 42-cm M-Gerät howitzer. (Scale : 1/35e)