page_title: Operation Hush
section_title: Batterie Pommern
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Hush / Prelude / German defensive preparations / Batterie Pommern
caption_attribution_description: English: 38 cm SK L/45 with armored gun shield of Batterie Pommern, Occupied Flanders, WW I. This gun was located at Clevenstraat 2 in Koekelare (Belgium). You can still see the remains and the Lange Max Museum about this gun.
context_page_description: Operation Hush was a British plan to make amphibious landings on the Belgian coast in 1917 during the First World War, supported by an attack from Nieuwpoort and the Yser bridgehead, positions which were a legacy of the Battle of the Yser in 1914. Several plans were considered in 1915 and 1916, then shelved due to operations elsewhere. Operation Hush was intended to begin when the Third Battle of Ypres, the main offensive at Ypres had advanced to Roulers, Koekelare and Thourout, linked by advances by the French and Belgian armies in between.
  Unternehmen Strandfest was a German spoiling attack, conducted on 10 July by Marine-Korps-Flandern, in anticipation of an Allied coastal operation. The Germans used mustard gas for the first time, supported by a mass of heavy artillery, captured part of the bridgehead over the Yser and annihilated two British infantry battalions. After several postponements, Operation Hush was cancelled on 14 October 1917, as the advance at Ypres did not meet the objectives required to begin the attack.
  In April 1918, the Dover Patrol raided Zeebrugge to sink block ships in the canal entrance to trap U-Boats, which closed the canal for a short time.
context_section_description: In June 1917 Krupp completed the construction of  Batterie Pommern at Koekelare with Lange Max, the biggest gun of the world, an adaptation of its 38 cm type. The gun played an important part in the German defence of Flanders and was used to bombard Dunkirk 31 mi (50 km) distant, to stop the unloading of supplies and was sometimes used for diversionary operations. The gun fired its first shot at Dunkirk on 27 June; during the Third Battle of Ypres the gun was also used to shell Ypres.
caption: 38 cm Lange Max at Koekelare (Leugenboom) the largest gun in the world in 1917.
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