...Railway artillery - Personal Page of GENE SLOVER

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harbor, although it is not very likely that they could have retained
possession of them for any great length of time. At the time of the
inspection of these defenses, the writer observed the Vindictive
still at the entrance to the Ostend harbor. It had been raised and
moved to a position as close as possible to and parallel with the north
side of the entrance.
765. It is significant to note that when it became necessary for the
Germans to evacuate this area in August, September, and October,
1918, the only artillery that they were able to get out was the railway
artillery. From the inhabitants of Ostend it was learned that all of
the batteries in that vicinity had been operated quite continuously
against the allied land forces for some days before the evacuation.
, 766. Just before the area was evacuated all the guns were destroyed
with the exception of the 38-centimeter gun at Leugenboom. One
method seems to have been employed on all of the guns for their
destruction. In most cases they removed the rotating band from one
projectile and rammed it up into the bore of the gun. A second
projectile was then rammed in and the gun fired. When the rear
projectile struck the forward projectile it exploded, and in every
ease except in the Battery Pommem, as noted above, the breech of
the gun was completely blown off and in most cases the carriage
practically wrecked. In some cases the forward projectile likewise
exploded, swelling or tearing off the muzzle of the gun; in other cases
it was simply projected a short distance out of the gun. The guns
and carriages after being wrecked were practically valueless, and no
attempt was made to keep.them in.condition.
GEOGRAPMCAL PLAN OF THE DEFENSE, SCOPE OF SERVICE, ETC.
767. The distribution of the guns of various calibers along the
entire Belgian coast is shown on plate 499. Plate 500 shows somewhat
better the distribution of the batteries 'about Ostend.
768. It is improbable that the Germans installed any considerable
number of guns along this coast until it was definitely decided to
inaugurate their major submarine campaign. It was vital that they
have a convenient base for these submarines as close as possible to
their theater of operations. The harbors at Zeebrugge and Ostend
are neither very large, but both are quite ample for submarines, and
both are connected by large canals with Bruges, where the submarines
could be maintained. The fortifications, hence, centered
about two ports, Ostend and Zeebrugge, with the battery Pommem
some distance out of Ostend and placed primarily for land service.
It will be noted, plate 500, that the smaller guns were all installed
upon the top of the dune that parallels the coast, while the heavy
guns were all placed a kilometer or more back of the dune. Except
for the dune, the land along the coast is quite level-so much so , in
Digitized by Coogle