Figure 1.--Here you can see a small caliber AA gun. You can see the barrel sticking out behind the Luttwaffe gunners and that large curved part is a brace that would fit over the shoulder and under the armpit. We do not know where it was kocatred, but we would assume it was at an aurfield in the Reich. The large black thing looks like either where the spent shells eject from the gun but right at the gunner or it is part of the recoil system. Notice the boy with a soccer ball under his arm sitting on the roof of a gun emplacement. We are guessing that the gunner often kicked the bll around with him. We believe this is part of the denese system of an airfield in the Reich. This would explain why kids are often seen in images like this. The boy may be related to one of the gunners or a supervising officer. German airfields were not often attacked until relatively late in the War. Image courtesy of the Military History of the 20th Century.

Germany did not at the onset of the War have extenive anti-aircraft defenses. The Germans were relying primarily on the Luftwaffe fighters and the temerity of the Allies. The Poles did not have a strategic bombing force. Thr Allies in the West did, but hesitated yo nue it, fearing that the Luftwaffe would bomb their cities. And the success of the Western Offenxe put German cities out of range of British bombers until a new generation of bombers coukd be brought on line and the Americans were brought into the war with their long-range bombers. German cities were at first lightly defended with anti-aircraft artillery, but there were gun in place and Germany had perhaps the finest anti-aircraft gun of the war--the famed 88mm gun. It would take some time, however, to build this artillery in large numbers and install banks of these guns around important cities. Anti-aircraft or FLAK guns were initilly manned by Luftwaffe men and became an important part oif Germn air defenses. All Luftwaffe units had anti-aircraft components. Early anti-aircraft instalations were manned by Luftwaffe men. As the War progressed, greater and greater demands were placed on the Luftwaffe, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union and the launching of the Allied Strategic Bombing Campign. Luftwaffe men continued to man gun emplcenments around air bases. The much lrger anti-aircraft component around cities, however, was gradually taken over from the Luftwaffe by the Hitler Youth and oher group. The Luftwaffe oversaw the anti-aircraft defenses, but fewer and fewer trained Luftwaffe men manned the Flak guns. The use of less skilled Flak crews would be a factor in the declinnking kill rates, especially after 1942. [Westermann]

Sources

Westermann, Edward B. Flak: German Anti-Aircraft Defenses, 1914-1945 Modern War Studies. This is the definitive study of the Germn FLAK defenses.

Created: 9:46 AM 4/30/2012
Last updated: 9:46 AM 4/30/2012