The first shells to cross the channel
The first British Heavy to be ready for action was the 14" gun 'Winnie'. She was handed over to the Royal Marines on 7th August 1940. It was only five days after this, at eleven o'clock on the morning of August 12th that a German shell landed on Edgar Crescent, near St Radigunds Gasworks Dover. Destroying four houses. It was the first Shell to fall on British soil, fired from another country. Winnie did not respond, her crews carried on with their training and drills.
Ten days later the German guns opened fire again, this time on a convoy of ships sailing the channel. The convoy commander thought he was being bombed, until he realised there was just one plane in the sky: A German spotter plane. It was time to call Winnie into action; a British spotter plane was sent up to identify the target,: The German C3 Battery. At 2:00pm Lieutenant-Colonel H.D. Fellows, C.O. of the Royal Marine Siege Regiment, fired the first of a three shell salvo to cross the Channel. They travelled 38,240 yards and landed 300 yards from their target. Not bad for a first attempt. Unfortunately this persuaded the Germans to fire the remainder of their 100 shell bombardment on the town. A tactic that was to be repeated throughout the war.
