Bombardment of Paris - 1918 and 1944. - revised.
Nov 27, 2023 23:05:51 GMT
Neil and syzygy like this
Post by larryc1 on Nov 27, 2023 23:05:51 GMT
Paris has been bombarded twice (three times counting Zeppelin raids) by the enemy in two world wars. These attacks were designed to break civilian morale; they all failed in this objective.
The first bombardment took place between March and August 1918 and involved a super-gun (Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz) emplaced near Crepy, 122 km to the north-east. The alphabetical markers depict the shell strikes on the first day of the bombardment. March 23, 1918. Twenty two rounds were fired resulting in 11 dead and 21 wounded. The placemarks contain information regarding each hit.
By August 1918 the guns had fired between 320 and 367 211 m/m shells, each weighing 106 kg. The result was 250 killed, 620 wounded. and a good deal of structural damage. The worst incident occurred on 29 of March when a shell collapsed the roof of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church, resulting in the deaths of 91 and the wounding of 68.
Information has been taken from Miller's 1921 map. He indicates that of a total of 350 shells (numbers vary),187 impacted within the city boundaries (red line), the rest (163) fell outside of the city, probably near the white line (marking the shell's flight path) due to a combination of adjustments in the propellant charge and bore wear.
(Additional information from Miller's 1930 book -'The Paris Gun').
The second attack occurred during October, 1944. In this case V2 rockets were launched from the area of Merzig, Saarland, 320 km to the east. Each rocket carried a one tonne warhead and resulted in 22 hits in the Paris area. The toll was 20 deaths and 36 injuries. Information on the V2 strikes is scant. The pathetic performance of the V2 may, in part. be due to its recent deployment. It should be remembered the the V2 program was headed by Walter Dornberger, a WW1 artilleryman.
Bombardment of Paris - 1918 and 1944. - rev....kmz (7.89 KB)
The first bombardment took place between March and August 1918 and involved a super-gun (Kaiser Wilhelm Geschütz) emplaced near Crepy, 122 km to the north-east. The alphabetical markers depict the shell strikes on the first day of the bombardment. March 23, 1918. Twenty two rounds were fired resulting in 11 dead and 21 wounded. The placemarks contain information regarding each hit.
By August 1918 the guns had fired between 320 and 367 211 m/m shells, each weighing 106 kg. The result was 250 killed, 620 wounded. and a good deal of structural damage. The worst incident occurred on 29 of March when a shell collapsed the roof of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais Church, resulting in the deaths of 91 and the wounding of 68.
Information has been taken from Miller's 1921 map. He indicates that of a total of 350 shells (numbers vary),187 impacted within the city boundaries (red line), the rest (163) fell outside of the city, probably near the white line (marking the shell's flight path) due to a combination of adjustments in the propellant charge and bore wear.
(Additional information from Miller's 1930 book -'The Paris Gun').
The second attack occurred during October, 1944. In this case V2 rockets were launched from the area of Merzig, Saarland, 320 km to the east. Each rocket carried a one tonne warhead and resulted in 22 hits in the Paris area. The toll was 20 deaths and 36 injuries. Information on the V2 strikes is scant. The pathetic performance of the V2 may, in part. be due to its recent deployment. It should be remembered the the V2 program was headed by Walter Dornberger, a WW1 artilleryman.
Bombardment of Paris - 1918 and 1944. - rev....kmz (7.89 KB)