25.—The big german gun of Leugenboom at Couckelaere near Moere.

Not having succeeded, in spite of their brutal effort and the use of asphyxiating gas, which till then had never been made use of, to pierce the front at Steenstraat, in April 1915, the Germans who had foreseen every thing, began to bombard Dunkirk, this permitted to their press to hide the check, to cry out loudly “Victory, our artillery is bombarding Dunkirk”.

A marine gun of 380 mm. installed in a public house called “In het Predikboom” (kilometer 12^th, road Dixmude-Poelcappelle) had just started, to execute its first shot. That was on the 26^th of April 1915.

A powerful counter-battery action was soon organized and proved a success. Twice the gun was disabled, the first time for a period of forty two days and the second time for forty eight. The 9^th of August 1915 registered its last shot.

Nevertheless the counter-battery maintained its firing in order to prevent the Germans rebuilding the place and arming it.

In October 1916, an extraordinary activity was shown at the former emplacement of Predikboom. Numerous and deliberate firings were executed by the counter-batteries; and one might well ask if this German activity was not a new dodge. Another place, in fact was being built at Leugenboom (3200 meters to the North of Couckelaere).

The emplacement of Leugenboom was noted for the first time the 7^th of May 1917 by Captain Jaumotte while making one of his aerial reconnoitrings. He took a photograph of it, which clearly showed the advanced state of the works, the switch line, grafted on a point to a normal gauge, thus forming the junction at Eerneghem, to the state railway line Ostend-Thourout.

Without a doubt the firing on Dunkirk was going to begin again.

The Belgian artillery staff, started at once a plan of action against that urgent threat. The said staff obtained of the 36^th French army corps, which was operating on the Belgian front the aid of two guns of A. L. V. F. (artillerie lourde sur voie ferrée, i. e. Heavy railway battery) two magnificent naval guns of 305 (12 inch.).

These two pieces will be the soul of the counter-battery, they will be upheld in their action by a special group of numerous heavy batteries which will make opposition on all german batteries opening fire on the two heavy guns.

The plan was prepared, but to realise it, important and preliminary works had to be executed, which took five days after Captain Jaumotte’s reconnoitring.

These works consisted thus: first of all, the building of firing emplacements for the heavy artillery; establishing many telephone connections, needed since the creation of the special group, connections which had to perform not only the centralisation of the command, but also a perfect understanding between the director of the firing, the batteries and the observation-posts and the cross registering section, as well as the creation of antennas to receive the messages of aerial observations.

The railway battalion, pushed on after three days of splendid and extraordinary efforts, the works sufficiently far to render the point of Eggewaertscappelle capable of bearing the firing of the heavy guns. The group of telegraphists and telephonists accomplished at the same time, grand and important works of liaison, which altogether constituted the tool of the firing director.

A firing program was elaborated, a program which led the action on Leugenboom and on the Tirpitz battery (see site n^o 4) at the same time. The firing on the Tirpitz was assured by two heavy guns of 305 in position on the point of Coxyde-Bains.

The 13^th of May, the two heavy guns of 305 were brought to the place of firing which had been chosen—the switch-point of Eggewaertscappelle—and a nice clear day was waited to open action. That beautiful day was longed for right up to the 20^th of May 1917.

The execution of the genuine program was preceded by an independant firing directed on the German observation-post installed in the belfry of Eessen, with a 240 (10 inch.) gun in position at the East of Burg Molen, upheld by the special group. The tower was partially demolished.

About 11 o’clock, the heavy guns of 305 of Eggewaertscappelle fired their first shot on Leugenboom, while the gun of Burg Molen continued its demolishing and blinding work on the enemy’s observation-post. A little while after the guns of Coxyde-Bains entered in action in their turn against Tirpitz battery. The observation of these firings were both terrestrial and aerial.

The firing program was continued the following days when the weather was favourable for observation.

On the 25^th of May, an aerial photograph of Leugenboom position was taken. It did not disclose the least damage to the concrete block, but its clearness sufficiently noted the gun carriage not yet armed, in the centre of the honeycomb which formed the platform.

In order to parry, as might be the case, to a more accurate enemy counter-battery, the railway battalion built or layed out sucessively several sites for heavy artillery firing. It is so, that two sites on the switch point of Eggewaertscappelle, a third at the station of Moerhoek and a fourth on the point of Isenberghe, served as reserve, and were occupied in turns.

The Leugenboom heavy gun entered in action the 27^th of June 1917. Between 5 and 10 o’clock, it bombarded Malo-on-sea and Dunkirk. This first action made numerous victims. The shells were of 380 mm.

One shell, amongst others, the first, it is thought, fell on the Casino of Malo, where the general staff of the XV^th British army corps was established: it made twenty four victims, eleven dead and thirteen wounded.

In July 1917, there were several bombardments to be noted on different objectives: Furnes, Dunkirk, Coxyde, Forthem and Alveringhem.

The bombardments of Dunkirk, threatening to become very frequent, alarmed the authorities, and it was decided from the 19^th of July 1917 to create two direct telephone lines at different courses which would join Dunkirk to the Pervyse railway station observation-post, which was particularly well situated.

The starting shots of Leugenboom, heard at the railway station at Pervyse, were in that way instantly communicated to Dunkirk, where the reception posts gave the alert to the town by powerful horns and other alarm engines, thus permitting the population to take refuge in the concrete shelters specially built for that purpose.

In spite of the well studied counter-battery, the Leugenboom gun still continued firing. The lulls, which lasted often long time, gave the hope that a positive result had been obtained. Then after a lapse of one and sometimes two months, the rage of the Germans revived and Dunkirk was again subjected to further attacks.

In 1918, bombardments were very frequent. At certain times, they became even daily, but Dunkirk was not always the objective. In May and notably in June, the firing of Leugenboom was directed on Klein-Leysele and the 27^th of September 1918 on Bergues.

The offensive of Flanders, at last lights up. But the enraged Germans will hold on till the last minute.

It is only on the 16^th of October at 20 minutes to three that the heavy cannon of Leugenboom is for ever silenced. In its last spasms of agony it dealt terrible blows to the localities situated behind the front of attack.

At last on the 17^th of October the monster of Leugenboom belongs to us. Our troops neared it, and, passing by it, threw a slightly haughtly look, but certainly encouraged by their grand trophy. Pressed by our soldiers, the Germans had hastily attempted to put their cannon out of action. It was loaded and levelled horizontally, and so it remains to the present day. In that position they hoped that the projectile would touch the concrete mass before being entirely shot out of the tube, and that its bursting would blow up the flight. But their anticipations were not realised; the projectile, instead of being stopped by the mass of concrete, passed through it, making a breach and burst about 800 meters further.

It was a Krupp marine gun of 380 mm. (15 inch), type 1914, n^o 154, of a total length of 17 m. 13 placed on a gun carriage, formed by two formidable tanks, tap rooted in the centre of a concrete pit. This pit has a special shape because, of the conditions the constructors imposed themselves to give it a field of fire of 157°, the axis of which passes by Dunkirk.

The total weight of the piece is 77630 kilos.

The breech has an outer diameter of one meter, the manœuvre is electrical but there exists handles for hand manœuvring. The artillery men were entirely protected by a cabin joined to the gun carriage, built in strong sheet of iron of a thickness of about 50 mm.

The cannon fired a projectile of 750 kilogrammes.

The two heavy guns of Predikboom and Leugenboom subjected Dunkirk to thirty two bombardments, the four hundred and eleven 15 inches shells of which killed one hundred and fourteen persons and wounded one hundred and eighty five.

Couckelaere.—Heavy 15 inch gun at Leugenboom.

Caeskerke.—Arched communication trench and light railway line (1916).