21st Flak Division

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The 21st Flak Division was a major combat unit of the German Air Force in World War II .

The command staff of the 21st Flak Division was set up in March 1943 under the command of the Luftgaukommando XII / XIII ( Darmstadt ). Its first commander was Lieutenant General Kurt Steudemann with a command post in Darmstadt. The main task of the new command staff was the management of all flak forces in the Frankfurt am Main area, in particular industrial protection and the Saarbrücken - Trier - Luxembourg - Lorraine - Koblenz area . At the beginning of November 1943 the division was structured as follows:

• Flak Regiment 29 as Flak Group Frankfurt / Main,
• Flak Regiment 49 as Flakgruppe Mannheim
• Flak Regiment 169 as Flakgruppe Saarbrücken as well as the
• Flak Regiment 189 as Flakgruppe Mainz-Wiesbaden.

In addition, the 21st Flak Division was subordinate to:

• Flak searchlight regiment 70 ,
• Flak searchlight regiment 109 and that
• Flak Headlight Regiment 139

In total, the division had 67 heavy and 33 medium and light batteries . There were also 45 headlight batteries, 4 air lock batteries and two fog companies. By taking on additional tasks, the division staff was increased in March 1944 and relocated to Wiesbaden . In June 1944 there was a first change in the division level, as the previous commander Steudemann resigned on June 6, 1944. His successor on this day was Ernst Buffa , who directed the division's fortunes until December 1, 1944. Until September 1944, the 21st Flak Division was subject to various subordinate command levels. This fluctuation also affected the associations subordinate to it, so that the structure of the division changed several times. At this point in time it was broken down as follows:

• Flak Regiment 29 as Flak Group Frankfurt / Main,
• Flak Regiment 49 as Flakgruppe Mannheim
• Flak Regiment 179 as Flakgruppe Schweinfurt and that
• Flak Regiment 189 as Flakgruppe Mainz.

In addition, you were still subject to:

• Flak searchlight regiment 109 and that
• Flak searchlight regiment 119 .

As is usual with the Heimatschutz Flak Divisions, the firepower of the 21st Flak Division was massaged again enormously by the end of December 1944. At that time it consisted of 156 heavy and 54 medium and light batteries. In addition, the division had 29 headlight and 4 air lock batteries as well as 6 fog companies. Against this background, on December 1, 1944, Buffa's successor and new division commander, Colonel Ernst Gröpler , who held this position until the end of the war. Due to the development of the western situation from February 1945, the 21st Flak Division was subordinated to the IV Flak Corps for ground combat. Embroiled in heavy fighting in retreat, the command post of the divisional headquarters was initially in Darmstadt until mid-March and then in the Augsburg area ( Bavaria ). There their associations were still involved in fighting in the Günzburg - Neustadt area . At the end of the war, the division staff was taken prisoner by the Allies near Kreuth . The following should be mentioned about the fate of their subordinate associations:

• Flak Regiment 29 (stationary): smashed at the beginning of April 1945,
• Flak Regiment 49 (stationary): April 1945 Allied captivity (without regimental staff),
• Flak Regiment 179: April 1945 Allied captivity,
• Flak Regiment 189: Involved in battles in the northern area of Augsburg until April 26, 1945 , then at the end of the war at Tegernsee in Allied captivity.

There are no documents about the last months of the war for the flak headlight regiment 109, the flak headlight regiment 119 was in Frankfurt Main until the end and was probably taken prisoner when the American troops moved in in March 1945.

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. 95-98 .
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. 236, 265, 373, 379, 423, 425 .