Arnold - 锡制玩具 - Mortar Cannon "Big Bertha" - 1910-1920 - 德国

Arnold ? - Mortar Cannon "Big Bertha" - Germany 1914

Rare Big Bertha Mortar Cannon in a tin toy version. Made by tin litho. and marked with "Krupp" and "Kaliber 42". The Mortar can shoot the cork stopper several meters if you pull back the firing mechanism.
I seen it attributed to Arnold on one occasion, but I’m not sure about that.

Big Bertha (often called "Dicke Berta" in German) was one of the most feared and famous super-guns of World War I. It was a gigantic 42 cm siege mortar (a type of short, heavy cannon) developed in strict secrecy before the war by the German arms manufacturer Krupp AG. The gun's official military designation was *42 cm kurze Marinekanone 14 L/12*. It was one of the largest pieces of artillery ever deployed in the field. Weight: Approximately 42.6 tonnes when fully assembled.

The gun was designed specifically to smash the lines of state-of-the-art concrete fortifications that France and Belgium had built along their borders. When World War I broke out in August 1914, "Big Bertha" made its dramatic debut. The Belgian fort at Liège—considered impregnable by experts—was reduced to ruins in just a few days by this German super-artillery.
The name "Big Bertha" was an unofficial nickname given by German soldiers. It referred to Bertha Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, who at the time was the sole heiress to the mighty Krupp arms empire.

There is a reel foto from 1916 of the Mortar and one from the film "The great Dictator" with Charlie Chaplin.

The Mortar was found with a yellow slip of paper - see photo - indicating ownership by a Swedish boy, "Ove Offerman in 1914."

The Mortar is in very good condition and are working very well.

See photos for the general condition of the toy. They are a part of the description.