Semide – Position of a 38-cm-SK-L/45 gun “Langer Max”
About 2 kilometers southeast of Semide, a small farming village within the Communauté de communes de l’Argonne Ardennaise, the remains of a German military installation from the First World War can be found.
This is an almost completely preserved emplacement for the German naval gun “Langer Max”, technical designation: 38-cm-SK-L/45. General information on the history, development, and military significance of this legendary weapon, which was also called “La grosse Bertha” or “Le Gros Max” by the French, can be found in the relevant technical article.
General
If, as an ordinary traveler, you hear the term “Champagne,” besides common brand names of the French national drink, the wine-growing slopes of the Marne Valley, and an otherwise seemingly endless agricultural landscape, centuries-old cities such as Troyes or, above all, Reims may also come to mind, which from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the modern era served as the cultural and religious center of France with its cathedral, where French kings were anointed until the 19th century.
Those interested in military history rather associate the term Champagne with the heavy fighting between Germans and French during the First World War, with certain focal points such as Main de Massiges, Kanonenberg, today’s Camp de Suippes, Mont Cornillet, the forts of Brimont and de la Pompelle, or Hill 108 near Berry-au-Bac arousing curiosity and interest in exploration. In addition, there are other interesting positions, two of which are described below.
As the maps above show, German troops were already standing at the gates of the French capital Paris on September 8, 1914, after only one month of war, and, as planned, had advanced far south in the Champagne sector as well, reaching the Marne-Rhine Canal between Vitry-le-François and Bar-le-Duc. Cities like Reims, Épernay, and Châlons-en-Champagne were occupied without a fight. Nothing indicated that the supposedly disintegrating French army would still be capable of serious resistance. As is well known, things turned out differently. When around September 10, 1914, a gap had formed on the right army wing between the 1st and 2nd German Armies, into which French and British units threatened to thrust, the retreat of the German troops, known as the Marne Drama, began. The front re-established itself from September 17, 1914, on a line between Reims and Verdun and stagnated into trench warfare for the following four years. Repeatedly until the end of 1915 and in the following years of the war, the French attempted to break through the German lines by mustering huge contingents of troops and artillery. All these attempts remained unsuccessful until September 1918, but cost the lives of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
Both on the French and on the German side, naval guns originally developed for use on warships were deployed along the entire Western Front. The reason for this was the need arising from trench warfare for long-range artillery that could also combat targets deep behind enemy lines, primarily railway stations and other traffic hubs. In addition to railway guns developed later and deployable in a mobile manner, initially stationary mounted systems were used. Unlike the French, who as early as the beginning of the war were satisfied with smaller calibers in correspondingly simply designed and quickly producible emplacements, from 1915 onward a type of gun also came into land use on the German side, which in 1912 had been intended with a caliber of 38 cm for the newly developed battleships of the Bayern class: the gun designated “Langer Max” with the technical designation 38-cm-SK-L/45. The size and immense weight of 270 tons required massive concrete structures on land. Corresponding emplacements required a construction time of about 6 weeks, with up to 300 soldiers and civilian workers engaged in their construction.
Langer Max – Position near St-Hilaire-le-Petit
In the Champagne sector, one of the first such guns was already ready for action in May 1915. It was a 38-cm-SK-L/45 “Langer Max” in a more modern type of firing platform mounting that allowed a horizontal traverse of 144°. The position was located near the small village of St-Hilaire-le-Petit. Remains of the platform are preserved in the middle of a field, but are barely known, probably because the facility was shielded from prying eyes by surrounding strips of woodland until a few years ago. The primary target of the gun was the city of Châlons-sur-Marne, located about 36 kilometers away, today’s Châlons-en-Champagne.
Between September 28 and October 4, 1915, the “Langer Max” near St-Hilaire-le-Petit fired a total of twelve shells at targets in the Châlons-en-Champagne area. The position was located due to a lack of efficient camouflage by French survey teams and engaged by artillery and also bombing runs. This caused damage to the gun and also to the platform, which initially made further use impossible.
Langer Max Position near Semide
In February 1916, construction of a new position near the village of Semide began. The facility planned south of the village was located a few kilometers further behind the main combat zone and was removed from the influence of French field artillery. The planned emplacement was considerably larger than the one at St-Hilaire-le-Petit and featured several underground ammunition and crew rooms. It could also accommodate an emplacement firing mount, while its design allowed for a larger horizontal traverse angle of about 180°.
Great importance was attached to not repeating the logistical errors that had led to the discovery of the position at St-Hilaire-le-Petit by the French. Strict attention was paid to secrecy. Neither the local population nor military personnel not involved in the construction or operation of the facility were permitted to get anywhere near it. A few kilometers further south, a dummy position was planned in parallel, and dozens of smoke generators were placed in the surrounding area to fog the position if necessary.
One night in mid-May 1916, astonished residents witnessed a huge gun barrel being transported by means of two railroad cars on the railway line running right through the village in the direction of Orfeuil. Nobody suspected that the journey would end just beyond the southern edge of the village. The barrel came from one of the Langer Max positions in the rear area of Verdun, likely the one in the Bois de Warphemont west of Duzey.
A letter from the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Army, Oberst Friedrich Karl von Loßberg, to the Supreme Army Command (Oberste Heeresleitung – O.H.L.) dated May 19, 1916, indicates that the Langer Max position near Semide was ready for action as of May 22, 1916. It was also reported that the position at St-Hilaire-le-Petit had been repaired and was available for the assembly of a gun barrel.
The main target of the gun near Semide was the important railroad triangle near the village of St-Hilaire-au-Temple, located about 35 kilometers to the southwest, as well as the railway lines running east from there, which were used for the supply of French troops in the Argonne, in front of Verdun, and also at St. Mihiel. The gun was only to fire upon request of the O.H.L. and primarily within the framework of a planned offensive operation. However, this did not happen, as the fighting at Verdun demanded significantly more resources than expected. In addition, the British and French began the Battle of the Somme in June 1916, so that by 1916 the German leadership no longer had any option for other major offensive efforts.
In addition, a considerable shortage of ammunition had also occurred with the calibers of the so-called “heaviest flat-trajectory fire“, to which the 38 cm SK L/45 gun belonged. Priority regarding the very limited supply was enjoyed by the mobile field and foot artillery units, since their firepower was needed to repel enemy attacks and also to prepare for own operations in the major battles at Verdun, on the Somme, and elsewhere.
In view of this, the request for the transfer of 75 rounds of high-explosive shells, which could be gathered from the letter of AOK 3 to the O. H. L. of May 19, 1916, was also not granted. Rather, it is documented that remaining ammunition stocks of the gun near St-Hilaire-le-Petit had to be gradually handed over by AOK 3 to other front sectors, for example for use by the 38 cm SK L/45 guns near Hampont on the Lorraine front (Army Detachment Falkenhausen) and near Zillisheim in Alsace (Army Detachment Gaede).
For the positions of the “heaviest flat-trajectory fire” in the area of the 3rd Saxon Army, one of the “special naval detachments” formed for all armies and army groups under the command of Korvettenkapitäns Hans-Walther Schulte was responsible. These consisted in each case of about 60 men of the naval artillery and changing parts of various foot artillery units. The Special Naval Detachment of the 3rd Army (Schulte II), responsible for the “Langer Max” positions near Semide and St-Hilaire-le-Petit, was under the command of Leutnants (second lieutenant) zur See Hunold Nibbe.
For reasons of secrecy, the special naval detachment and the rest of the personnel were not quartered in the village of Semide, but were separated in a camp located outside the village, the so-called “Armeelager Semide”. Even at times when the naval artillerymen were deployed elsewhere, the corresponding camp area was not allowed to be occupied by other units.
Assigned to the positions of St-Hilaire-le-Petit and later also Semide from May 1915 were about 120 infantrymen from the 2. Bataillon des 133. sächsischen Reserve-Infanterie-Regiments (2nd Battalion of the 133rd Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment), which was deployed as part of the 3rd Army in the Champagne sector. A total of about 160 men per gun were required for firing readiness. Due to their special training for the operation and maintenance of the naval guns, despite repeated demands for return by RIR 133, relief only took place in July 1916, specifically in the course of the regiment’s transfer to the Somme. Subsequently, the Schulte Special Naval Detachment was supplemented by members of changing field and foot artillery units.
In August 1916, the 3rd Army received a total of 25 rounds for the 38 cm SK L/45 gun near Semide by order of the O.H.L. It was foreseeable that it would soon be deployed. The shells, caps, and charges were transported from the pyrotechnics plant of the Krupp company in Bottrop via the main supply station of the 3rd Army in Koblenz-Bendorf and the Moselle route to France. On August 12, 1916, they were unloaded at the army railway station in Amagne-Lucquy. Initially, they remained restricted at the disposal of the Obersten Heeresleitung.
In November 1916, the time had come. On November 10, 1916, the Semide gun fired 15 shells at the railway triangle near St-Hilaire-au-Temple on the instructions of the chief of the general staff of the 3rd Army, Martin Freiherr von Oldershausen. According to the French, no significant damage or casualties resulted from this. On November 11 and 15, 1916, the remaining 10 available shells were used to shell the Ste-Menehould area, where there are said to have been several casualties.
As can be seen from the letter of thanks from the commander of the 3rd Army, Generaloberst (general) Karl von Einem, dated November 10, 1916, the deployment of the 38 cm SK L/45 gun against the railway triangle of St-Hilaire-au-Temple was supported by aerial observation on the part of (Feld-)Flieger-Abteilung 53 (FFA 53). At the time, the unit was stationed at the army airfield park of the 3rd Army near Monthois. Its leader was Hauptmann (captain) Rudolf Kleine, later commander of the “England-Geschwader” (Bogohl 3).
Escort for the observers was flown by Jagdstaffel 9 (Jasta 9), operating from its location at the time on the airfield near Leffincourt, about 10 kilometers west of Vouziers. Alongside notorious fighter pilots such as Leutnant Hartmut Baldamus, the squadron leader of Jasta 9 and as such also involved in the missions of the Lange Max near Semide was a young Fliegerleutnant named Kurt Student. In the First World War, he achieved six confirmed victories. Ultimately, however, Kurt Student became known in the Second World War as the commander of the German paratrooper force, specifically through operations such as the landing on Crete in 1941 or the rescue of the Italian dictator Mussolini in 1943.
The three-day deployment with a total of 25 rounds fired remained the only one carried out with the “Langer Max” near Semide. As early as early October 1916, the Crown Prince Army Group had ordered the dismantling of one of the 38 cm SK L/45 firing mounts with the 3. Armee (Third Army) and its transfer to the Marine-Korps (Flandern). An attack by British naval units on the industrial facilities near Kiel was feared, especially Torpedowerk Friedrichsort, which was important for submarine warfare. To strengthen coastal defense, several “Langer Max” positions were to be established near the coast. Initially, it was also intended to use the firing mount installed near St-Hilaire-le-Petit. However, since this position was known to the French and, in the opinion of the officer in charge on site as well as the assembly manager of Krupp AG, dismantling would only be possible in completely zero-visibility weather, such use was initially refrained from.
For the gun at Semide, dismantling finally took place in March 1917, followed thereafter by the firing mount still present in the position near St-Hilaire-le-Petit. On March 19, 1917, the commander of the “Marine-Sonderkommando”, Leutnant zur See Hunold Nibbe, reported that the gun barrel had been rolled away from the position near Semide toward the factory premises of Krupp AG. The dismantling of the position near St-Hilaire-le-Petit and the removal of the firing mount could also be expected within a few days. The “Marine-Sonderkommando Schulte II”, responsible for the positions in the sector of the 3. sächsischen Armee (Third Saxon Army), was merged in April 1917 with that of the 5. preußischen Armee (Fifth Prussian Army) (Marine-Sonderkommando Schulte I) and deployed on the Verdun-Front.
The objective of the Semide gun was a new 38 cm SK L/45 position for the defense of Kiel and the German Bight, consisting of four modern concrete emplacements alongside a number of ammunition and other structures. This was the so-called “Bight Battery” near the small village of Fiefbergen in present-day Schleswig-Holstein. By the end of 1917, three guns were operational there. During registration, the blast pressure reportedly caused damage to surrounding civilian buildings. Information regarding the further use of the position and the whereabouts of the guns is lacking. Following the 1918 armistice, the emplacements were disarmed, blown up, and largely dismantled along with the other structures.
Until 2017, the position near Semide lay open and overgrown in a field in the Mont Fagny district. On the initiative of a local association, extensive clearing, restoration, and fencing were subsequently undertaken. Since then, the site can be officially visited. Various illustrated panels provide detailed information on the history and engineering of the facility. For visitors to the Champagne front sector, the location is definitely worth a visit.
were AI-edited (notice pursuant to Art. 50 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).