The next day, Shire was awakened by the sound of artillery.
He knew it without thinking; it was the Germans' "Big Bertha" heavy artillery.
The Germans typically did not fire at night; random bombardments at night had low accuracy, and "Big Bertha" shells weren't cheap.
They would bomb targets guided by balloons after daybreak, aiming to destroy them with the fewest shells.
Shire lived in the officer dormitory at the fortress headquarters, in a single room on the third floor with a private bathroom—a top-tier guest treatment in wartime Antwerp, even General Winter wasn't accommodated better.
After all, Antwerp was Belgium's last "safe ground," with many supports for the King or people unwilling to be enslaved by Germans congregating here. This made Antwerp's accommodation tight and resources scarce, even trenching shovels needed reinforcement from Britain.
