Big Bertha

Any of four large German howitzer guns that were mounted on railway wagons during World War I.

Although the name is commonly applied to many large-calibre German guns it refers only to one, the 42 cm Krupp howitzer L/14, used to reduce the fortress of Liège and other strongpoints 1914. The guns were scrapped after the Battle of Verdun 1916, since by then they were out-ranged by most Allied heavy artillery. The guns were named after the wife of the manufacturer, Gustav Krupp.