I found several fair photos from 100 years ago. Really hard to believe. It took 8 men to operate this thing. Not sure how long it took to erect on site. Each emplacement had to be graded and have the rear deck imbedded and leveled.
The front base plate allowed the steel wheels to shift as the rear crank moved the gear to adjust aim on the gun. There were several camouflage patterns used. I chose to try the leaf pattern and used layers of colors with spots of the putty pressed in place between paint colors. This took several weeks to accomplish on each of the section assemblies.
The man sized shells were lifted by a crane from a cart at ground level. The gun needed to be lowered to access the breach and the crane rotated with the shell forward to be slid into the open breach.
Vince B. Jan 2, 2017
