The “Gros Max” at Hampont

Starting point on the D28, near Hédival Farm, situated 2 km from Puttigny. Parking is available at the side of the stretch of road leading to the farm.

The area around the Gros Max site is dangerous and finding your way there is not always easy. Follow the instructions in this guide carefully; a GPS or the Visorando app is recommended.

(S/E) With your back to the farm, take the path directly opposite and follow it for about 1 km. At the Fork in the road, take the path on your left, at the edge of the forest.

(1) After 300 m, directly opposite a railway sleeper lying in a field, take the path on the right which leads into the forest. Keep heading south-east for about 300 m.

(2) This is the tricky bit of the route. The cannon is situated about 300 m away, almost in a straight line ahead of you, still heading south-east. At a fork in the road, take the path on your right.

(3) 30 metres further on, stay on the path to your left. Follow the track for about a hundred metres.

(4) This is where Gros Max is located.
Return to the starting point via the same route, in the opposite direction (S/E).

- The route, which is very short through the forest, is not shown on the IGN map. Please follow the path and signposts carefully.

- The area around the site is dangerous. Do not leave children unattended.

Watch the video here.

Big Max

• From 1915 to 1917, the 400 inhabitants of the village of Hampont lived alongside 180 German sailors. A presence that may seem incongruous 500 kilometres from the sea, but which is explained by the installation of an impressive piece of artillery: the ‘Big Max’. At the start of the 20th century, the major maritime powers embarked on an arms race. To catch up with Britain, Germany decided to produce 38-cm guns for its battleships. The first guns rolled off the Krupp production lines just as war broke out. The German army then required long-range guns. These guns were to be positioned along the front line to bombard French towns. Nancy was one of these targets. It was decided to install a gun at Hampont, 30 km away. First, a concrete caisson (400 m³) had to be built, and the construction work took five months. 1,000 men dug out tunnels, laid railway tracks and constructed all the structures necessary for the operation of ‘Max’. The first shells were fired at Nancy on 1 January 1916, causing widespread shock.
• The naval gunners fired 150 of these enormous shells, causing significant material damage and killing 28 people. But the French located the gun and bombarded it in turn, silencing it for good in early 1917. A 260-tonne behemoth requiring extensive logistical support, ‘Big Max’ was only used for eighteen days, but its psychological impact was significant. Trapped within its concrete casemate, it proved to be highly vulnerable. The war demonstrated that long-range artillery has a strategic role to play… provided it is mobile.