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Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944

"Paths of Glory Impressions of War Written at and Near the Front"


Since I came back out of the war zone I have met persons who questioned
the existence of a 42-centimeter gun, they holding it to be a nightmare
created out of the German imagination with intent to break the
confidence of the enemies of Germany. I did not see a 42-centimeter gun
with my own eyes, and personally I doubt whether the Germans had as many
of them as they claimed to have; but I talked with one entirely reliable
witness, an American consular officer, who saw a 42-centimeter gun as it
was being transported to the front in the opening week of the war, and
with another American, a diplomat of high rank, who interviewed a man
who saw one of these guns, and who in detailing the conversation to me
said the spectator had been literally stunned by the size and length and
the whole terrific contour of the monster.
Finally, I know from personal experience that these guns have been
employed, and employed with a result that goes past adequate
description; but if I hadn't seen the effect of their fire I wouldn't
have believed it were true.


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