War - Ww1 - The Paris Gun Poem by Paul Warren

The Germans had built up their forces after the Russian collapse
To finally build up the forces on the Western Front on the European maps
In what became known as the Kaiser's Offensive they attacked in March 1918
For they figured they had only a short time before the Americans in force were seen
At that time Lloyd George the British Prime Minister held back reinforcements
To stop Haig wasting troops on another Passchendaele not to be spent

They carved out of a hill in the Coucy Forest about 120 miles from Paris city
A fifth-teen inch naval type gun on cemented railway tracks to be used without pity
So at 7.18 am on 21 March 1918 it was brought into action in the offensive
When a shell was launched at Paris with the explosion not at all pensive
And the French looked up to see where it had come from in the sky
And thought it was from a Zeppelin or an aircraft flying very high

Other theories by French including German agents firing outside of Paris you see
Not knowing the Germans had fired an object up into the stratosphere unknown to be
So the French endured this bombardment during this war until the end
At 15 minute intervals it brought destruction to the city being hard to defend
With 320 to 367 shells fired without reply from the Allies, even from planes in the sky
Wounding 620 people in the Parisian capital whilst 250 others were to die.

The end of this story was not that the gun was found and bombed by the Allies
But when it looked like the Germans would loose they chopped it up so a legend dies.

© Paul Warren Poetry