15th Flak Brigade

The 15th Flak Brigade was a brigade-strength combat unit of the Luftwaffe in World War II . The brigade staff was set up on June 8, 1942.

Greater Hanover

Initially set up under the name Flak Brigade XV , the brigade staff took over the operational management of all flak forces stationed in the greater Hanover area with a command post there. Subordinate to him were after the expansion of the operational area to the Braunschweig and Osnabrück area on January 9, 1944, the Flak Regiment 9 as Flakgruppe Osnabrück, the Flak Regiment 25 as Flakgruppe Hannover, the Flak Regiment 65 as Flakgruppe Braunschweig and the Flak Headlight Regiment 56 as a flak headlight group Hanover.

Anti-aircraft regiment	place	heavy batteries	Medium / light batteries	Other batteries
Flak Regiment 9	Osnabrück	6th	4th	1 air lock battery
Anti-aircraft regiment 25	Hanover	18th	9	13 headlight batteries
Flak Regiment 65	Braunschweig	6th	5
Flak Regiment 65	Salzgitter	7th	4th	1 fog company

Relocation to Silesia and conversion

On May 9, 1944, the brigade staff was removed from its previous field of activity and relocated to Silesia with a command post in Ehrenforst . The primary task was the air protection of the Upper Silesian industrial area there as well as the air protection of the factory halls of IG-Farben in Auschwitz . For this purpose, the following flak forces were assumed:

Flak-Regiment 106 as Flakgruppe Oberschlesien-West
Flak-Regiment 107 as Flakgruppe Oberschlesien-Ost
Flak-Regiment 150 as Flakgruppe Breslau
Flak searchlight regiment 84 as the Flak searchlight group Upper Silesia
Flak Group Poznan
Flak group Litzmannstadt

Altogether there were 35 heavy and 1 light batteries in the Hindenburg - Königshütte area . In Odertal another 16 heavy and two medium / light and air barrier 5 batteries. 15 heavy and 1 light batteries were available for Poznan and 4 heavy and 1 light batteries for Auschwitz. Litzmannstadt had 3 heavy batteries and a light train. In September 1944, the brigade staff was reclassified to the divisional staff of the 11th Flak Division .

Realignment

A new brigade staff of the 15th Flak Brigade was set up on December 30, 1944 by converting the regimental staff of Flak Regiment 62 with a command post in Danzig . In the course of the Battle of East Prussia , the brigade's flak forces, which at that time could not be determined more precisely, were in the area of the II. Flak Corps . In February 1945 the brigade fought in Pomerania as part of the 27th Flak Division . The Flaksturm regiments 6 and 21 in the Fiddichow - Pyritz - Arnswalde - Deutsch Krone - Neustettin area with 12 heavy and 9 medium / light batteries were subordinate to you . On April 4, 1945, the brigade staff was on the Oder front in the Freienwalde - Schwedt area . The Flak Regiments 138 and 145, Flaksturm Regiment 6 and, for a short time, Flak Regiments Herzberg and 12 without subordinate units were subordinate to the brigade staff. By April 27, 1945, the 15th Flak Brigade was overrun and smashed by the Red Army .

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Colonel	Werner Anton	June 8, 1942 to November 18, 1942
Colonel	Friedrich Römer	November 1942 to April 30, 1943
Colonel	Alwin Wolz	May 1, 1943 to October 1943
Colonel	Oskaer Kraemer	November 1943 to September 8, 1944
Colonel	Friedrich-Frantz Rittner	December 30, 1944 to April 27, 1945 (after reorganization)

Individual evidence

^ Karl-Heinz Hummel: The German flak cartillery 1935-1945. Your major formations and regiments . VDM, Zweibrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-86619-048-1 , p. 151-153 .

[1] Karl-Heinz Hummel: The German flak cartillery 1935-1945. Your major formations and regiments . VDM, Zweibrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-86619-048-1 , p. 151-153 .