Takom 1:35 scale Krupp 420mm Big Bertha • Kit No. 2035
The 420mm Big Bertha Artillery gun was created by Imperial Germany to smash the heavy fortifications of their adversaries. After developing two prototypes just before the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, the Germans eventually made twelve 42cm M-Gerät howitzers (the official designation of the Big Bertha) by the end of the war. This weapon combined fire-power and mobility, and was responsible for destroying the Belgian fortresses at Liege, forcing the defenders to surrender. Used behind the lines, the gun could reach targets 9.3km distant. More important early in the war, their use dwindled as a siege weapon in the later years as tactics changed. The Germans named the weapon after Bertha Krupp, the wife of munitions manufacturer Gustav Krupp.