1st Flak Division

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Heavy flak on the Berlin zoo bunker
Flak soldiers of the 1st Flak Division during an exercise on April 16, 1942
Graphic representation of the flak batteries used in Berlin from 1939 to 1945

The 1st Flak Division was a major unit of the German Air Force in World War II . The division was responsible for air defense in the greater Berlin area .

history

As early as the summer of 1938, the planning and establishment of an air defense command for Berlin began, which was then set up under the command of Colonel Braun with effect from August 1, 1938 , who had a fatal accident on August 4, 1938. He was succeeded by the later major general Gerhard Hoffmann , who was in command until June 23, 1940. His successor was Colonel Werner Prellberg until July 5, 1940 . His successor was the later major general Ludwig Schilffarth . Under his command, the Air Defense Command 1 was renamed the 1st Flak Division on September 1, 1941 .

The main task of the 1st Flak Division was the airspace defense of Greater Berlin until the outbreak of war . The division was directly subordinate to Luftgaukommando III and had the following structure:

Their firepower amounted to 60 heavy, 35 medium and light batteries , 17 searchlight batteries as well as 6 air lock balloon batteries and 9 anti-aircraft machine gun companies .

Second World War

With the beginning of the Second World War, Flak Regiment 12 ( Lankwitz ) was responsible for protecting the imperial capital Berlin in the southeast. The newly established Flak Regiment 32, based in Reinickendorf, was intended for the northwest of the city and the Flak Regiment Göring for the protection of Potsdam , in particular the protection of the headquarters of the Air Force High Command stationed there . However, the pre-war strength could not be kept at this high level and fell to 53 heavy, 24 medium and light batteries due to the war. Also, instead of 17 headlight batteries, only 12 were available. By mid-August 1940, in particular because of the supply of Berlin flak forces for the deployment to the western campaign , the number of flak batteries fell again to only 19 heavy and 12 medium and light ones. The number of headlight batteries for the whole of Berlin fell to just eight batteries. The heavy bloodletting of the 1st Flak Division subsequently meant that the area protection for Berlin was no longer guaranteed, especially during night air raids. Protests on the part of the General of the Luftgau Command III went unheard. It was only after the first British air raids, which took place in August 1940, that the forces of the 1st Flak Division were hastily reinforced. As a result, the first so-called Berlin flak towers were built in Berlin , which were equipped with 12.8 cm anti-aircraft twin guns. In December 1940 the 1st Flak Division again had 51 heavy, 23 medium and 26 headlight batteries. Despite this energy supply, apart from the headlight batteries, it did not quite reach its pre-war target strength.

The more and more frequent air strikes of the RAF Bomber Command on Berlin made it necessary to reinforce the flak forces. As of December 31, 1941, the 1st Flak Division in the Berlin area had 75 heavy, 49 medium and light batteries and 24 headlight batteries. As of November 1, 1943, the structure included:

  • Flak Regiment 22 Flakgruppe Süd in Lankwitz
  • Flak Regiment 53 Flakgruppe Nord in Heiligensee
  • Flak Regiment 126 Flakgruppe West in Reinickendorf
  • Flak Regiment 172 Flakgruppe Ost (only until August 25, 1944)
  • Flak searchlight regiment 82

These forces could then be massaged again until January 1944. In the end, 104 heavy, but only 25 medium and light batteries and 20 headlight batteries were available for the air defense of the Reich capital. Despite the immense anti-aircraft defenses that were added, at the end of 1944 Berlin looked like a field of rubble. This was not least due to the fact that the flak batteries were only able to defend primarily important industrial and transport hubs (train stations, etc.). To make matters worse, as a result of the Soviet winter offensive in 1945 , anti-aircraft units were also transferred to the Eastern Front . As a result, the number of heavy batteries fell again from 57 to 44.

At the beginning of February 1945, the 1st Flak Division for ground fighting was placed under the command of Berlin. For this purpose, the Flak Regiment 53 was removed from its previous field of activity and relocated to the Oder front. In the final phase of the Battle of Berlin, the army command planned the formation of 47 anti-aircraft combat groups, mainly from personnel from the 1st anti-aircraft division. Since the division only had 44 heavy batteries, it was practically impossible to equip all anti-aircraft combat groups. To what extent the plans for these anti-aircraft combat groups could be implemented in the chaos of war cannot be conclusively determined. With the surrender of the last anti-aircraft guns, insofar as they could be made mobile in any way, the air defense over Berlin collapsed.

  • The destroyed flak bunker at the Berlin Zoo; last command post of the command staff of the 1st Flak Division

  • The bunker was blown up on September 4, 1947

  • Explosion from the long shot

End of war

In mid-April 1945 the 1st Flak Division was subordinated to the General Command of the 2nd Flak Corps . Until the end of the war, the command post of the command staff was in the flak bunker at the Berlin Zoo , from where their guns could still provide effective fire support for the German units fighting on the ground due to the favorable elevated strategic location. On May 2, 1945, Berlin surrendered under its combat commandant General Helmuth Weidling and with him all the anti-aircraft forces of the 1st Flak Division that were still available, which were subsequently taken prisoner by the Soviets.

Commanders

rank Surname Period
Major general Ludwig Schilffarth July 12, 1941 to January 14, 1943
Major general Max Schaller January 15, 1943 to February 28, 1944
Lieutenant General Erich Kreßmann March 10, 1944 to November 14, 1944
Major general Otto Sydow November 15, 1944 to May 2, 1945

Others

The remains of the bunker, the last command post of the 1st Flak Division, was used as emergency accommodation until January 1947 after the end of the war.

literature

  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 14. The Land Forces. Name associations. The air force. Flying bandages. Flak deployment in the Reich 1943–1945 . Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1980, ISBN 3-7648-1111-0 .
  • Karl-Heinz Hummel: The German flak cartillery 1935–1945. Your major formations and regiments . VDM, Zweibrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-86619-048-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Hummel: The German flak cartillery 1935-1945. Your major formations and regiments. VDM, Zweibrücken 2010, pp. 45–48.
  2. ↑ File: Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2005-0817-516, Berlin, looking after old people in the zoo bunker.jpg