Merry Xmas Eve, Gentlemen

 

…and my apologies if the subject of heavy flak in German divisions has come up before.  There doesn’t seem to be much definitive information readily available, possibly because the wartime allotments were so variable.

 

Apparently there was no integral Flak battalion in early-war German divisions, although this was rectified by (?) mid-late 1943.  Until then, maneuver divisions were – if they were lucky – assigned a Luftwaffe or Heer Flak unit to keep enemy air at bay.  My question is: what size unit?  And, which lucky divisions had this heavy Flak protection …that could be used in the direct fire role against ground targets?

 

Rommel (7^th Pz Div) famously deployed some 88’s against attacking British armor during the May 1940 Arras counter-attack, but this wasn’t the only use of these guns in this campaign.  What other divisions had some 88’s, and how much?  A battalion (normally 12 88’s)?  Or just a battery (likely just 4 guns in 1940)?  I’m guessing that each 1940 Panzer division likely had one or maybe two batteries attached, though if there was a higher-level Flak organization available (a Flak regiment or division, as was the case in North Africa), then the number of batteries directly supporting maneuver divisions would have been higher. 

 

Many thanks in advance,

Bruce

Don't forget the four divisional 10.5cm guns in the heavy artillery battalion. They often played a bigger part against heavy tanks than the 8.8cm guns.

Thanks, Mark – this is great.  And I’m embarrassed to say that I forgot all about Niehorster.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that, in 1940, the heavy batteries were probably still four guns each.

 

I notice that Niehorster included the six SdKfz 8-mounted Flak 18 “bunker buster” vehicles of 1./8, though …listing them in Guderian’s XIX Corps.  Dennis Oliver mentions that this battery generally supported 1. Pz Div in 1940, although I see that they were actually a corps asset. 

 

Good stuff!

Bruce

 

 

 

From: TOandEs@groups.io <TOandEs@groups.io> On Behalf Of MARK BEVIS via groups.io
Sent: Saturday, December 24, 2022 4:09 PM
To: TOandEs@groups.io
Subject: [External] Re: [TOandEs] Attached Heavy Flak units, 1940

 

If you look at the Niehorster OOB at

http://www.niehorster.org/011_germany/40-05-10_army/_okh.html

and follow the links it shows which Luftwaffe flak units were attached to each army/corps - if you average it out, each Panzer Division has a flak battalion, and each motorised and foot division has a flak company. That doesn't include their own Army flak companies and battalions.

See for example

http://www.niehorster.org/011_germany/40-05-10_army/_hgr_a/korps_19.html

 

Unfortunately the pages don't show how many flak guns are in each battalion, only the types.

 

Note, all German flak units were trained and equipped to fight ground targets,  with a supply of AP ammunition to each unit.

 

Mark

 

On Sat, 24 Dec 2022 at 20:48, brucew <brucew@...> wrote:

Merry Xmas Eve, Gentlemen

 

…and my apologies if the subject of heavy flak in German divisions has come up before.  There doesn’t seem to be much definitive information readily available, possibly because the wartime allotments were so variable.

 

Apparently there was no integral Flak battalion in early-war German divisions, although this was rectified by (?) mid-late 1943.  Until then, maneuver divisions were – if they were lucky – assigned a Luftwaffe or Heer Flak unit to keep enemy air at bay.  My question is: what size unit?  And, which lucky divisions had this heavy Flak protection …that could be used in the direct fire role against ground targets?

 

Rommel (7^th Pz Div) famously deployed some 88’s against attacking British armor during the May 1940 Arras counter-attack, but this wasn’t the only use of these guns in this campaign.  What other divisions had some 88’s, and how much?  A battalion (normally 12 88’s)?  Or just a battery (likely just 4 guns in 1940)?  I’m guessing that each 1940 Panzer division likely had one or maybe two batteries attached, though if there was a higher-level Flak organization available (a Flak regiment or division, as was the case in North Africa), then the number of batteries directly supporting maneuver divisions would have been higher. 

 

Many thanks in advance,

Bruce

https://www.ww2.dk/ground/flak/lehrrgt.html.

Paulo