17th Flak Division

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Anti-aircraft artillery troop flag

The 17th Flak Division was a major unit of the German Air Force in World War II .

history

The command staff of the 17th Flak Division was set up on May 1, 1942 in Wiederitzsch ( Saxony ) under the later Major General Karl Veith and, before the set-up was completed, it was moved to southern Russia , where it was subordinate to the I. Flak Corps in the area of Luftflotte 4 has been. At the time of formation, the 17th Flak Division comprised the following forces:

  • Flak Regiment 4 (until July 1943)
  • Flak Regiment 12
  • Flak Regiment 42 (until February 1943)

There, the 17th Flak Division was involved in the fighting in the Stalino area and in the Isjum bridgehead , as a result of which Kharkov was taken in May 1942. Then the 17th Flak Division and its units turned in the course of the 1942 summer offensive with Army Group A in the direction of Rostov and Krasnodar ( Caucasus ). Once again deployed in ground combat, the division was subsequently involved in the formation of the Kuban bridgehead and in the fighting for Novorossiysk . In July 1942, their regiments were deployed on the Dnieper in the Kremenchuk area. At the end of 1943, she was subordinate to Flak Regiment 17 and Flak Regiment 104, which were replaced by Flak Regiment 48 a short time later. In the course of the retreat from the end of 1943, the entire division, together with the 1st Panzer Army, was included in the Kamenez-Podolski battle until mid-April 1944, when the majority of its units and equipment were smashed by the Soviet Army. In April 1944 the division was under the command of the 7, 17, 48, 133 and 153 flak regiments.

The remnants of the 17th Flak Division reached the German lines with the 1st Panzer Army in the course of the Wanderkessel and were immediately withdrawn for refreshment. In June 1944, the divisional headquarters in Cracow was under the command of Luftflotte 6 ( II. Flak Corps ) and consisted of only six operational heavy and nine medium and light batteries .

In the summer of 1944, the 17th Flak Division was again subordinated to the I. Flak Corps. The structure of July 1944 did not last long due to the worsening war situation, so that in December 1944 the division with command post in Kamienna was subordinate to the following regiments: Flak Regiment 17, 35, 99 and 134.

On January 20, 1945, the command post had to be relocated again, this time to Ohlau . There, the division headquarters was given the task of leading the flak forces in the fortress of Breslau . The division was operationally assigned to the 4th Panzer Army until the end of the war . In February 1945, the divisional headquarters with a command post in Neuhof led the flak forces in the Brieg - Geogau area with a total of 44 heavy, 22 medium and one anti-aircraft batteries . The last known structure of the 17th Flak Division comprised the following forces on April 4, 1945 with a command post in Großpostwitz near Bautzen :

  • Flaksturmregiment 1
  • Flaksturmregiment 10
  • Flaksturmregiment 99 (former Flakregiment 99)
  • Flak Regiment 17th
  • Flak Regiment 54
  • 107 Flak Regiment
  • Parachute Flak Regiment 12 - but without associations

As a result of the Soviet advance, the division evaded towards the Sudetenland at the end of April 1945 . The last known command post was Ottendorf on April 25, 1945 . Presumably, the divisional headquarters were captured by the Soviets at the end of the war.

Surrender and end of the war

  • Flaksturmregiment 1: Operation in the Görlitz area , surrender and captivity unknown.
  • Flaksturmregiment 10: Operation area Lower Silesia (Posen?), Capitulation and captivity unknown.
  • Flaksturmregiment 99: Operation room ( Lauban  ?), Surrender and captivity unknown.
  • Flak Regiment 17: Operation in the Görlitz area, surrender and captivity unknown.
  • Flak Regiment 54: Mission area Kamenz - Senftenberg - Ruhland , surrender and captivity unknown,
  • Flak Regiment 107: Retired from 17th Flak Division by April 1945, disbanded on April 28, 1945.

Commanders

rank Surname Period
Lieutenant General Gerhard Hoffmann March 1 to March 31, 1942 ( MdWdGb )
Colonel / Major General Karl Veith May 15, 1942 to March 14, 1944
Colonel Hans Simon March 15 to June 7, 1944
Colonel / Major General Wilhelm Koeppen June 7, 1944 until the end of the war

literature

  • Horst-Adalbert Koch: Flak. The history of the German anti-aircraft cartillery and the deployment of air force helpers. 2nd, completely revised and expanded edition. Podzun, Bad Nauheim 1965.
  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 , p. 74 (as Flak-Div. 17).

Individual evidence

  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. 85-87 .
  2. ^ Karl-Heinz Hummel: The German flak cartillery 1935-1945. Your major formations and regiments . VDM, Zweibrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-86619-048-1 , p. 206, 270, 312, 326, 441 .