The Big Guns Artillery 1914-1918

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As the armies of 1914 became bogged down in the trenches they were to occupy for the next four years, the Generals turned increasingly to the artillery in an attempt to break the deadlock. The infantry charge, in the face of concentrated rifle and machine-gun fire, had become no more than mass suicide, so vast quantities of shells were fired in the hope of destroying the enemy defenses. But the heavier the bombardment became, the more the ground was churned up, the deeper the trenches were dug and the stalemate was only increased. This book presents the part played by the big gun in the First World War - a war in which the steady rumble of bombardment was uninterrupted for years and up to 2,000,000 shells were hurled at a single front in one week. The text deals with various aspects of the use of artillery in the First World War, and action photographs along with detailed colored drawings by John Batchelor show a comprehensive cross section of the guns used by the major powers - from the 1746 vintage Cohorn mortar to the incredible Big Bertha.