23rd Flak Division

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The 23rd Flak Division was a major unit of the German Air Force in World War II .

history

First as a division headquarters 22 Luftwaffe Field Division on 1 October 1943, the command of Colonel Hans-Wilhelm Fichter set up, the now renamed 23 anti-aircraft division was under from 7 December 1943 the XXVII-Luftgaukommando field in the rear army area of the eastern front with Command post south of Minsk . There she had become familiar with the management of the anti-aircraft units in the area of Air Fleet 6 . As of January 1, 1944, the 23rd Flak Division was under the following regiments:

• Anti-aircraft regiment 31 Minsk area,
• AA Regiment 101 room Molodetschno and the
• Flak Regiment 125 in the Pinsk - Kovel - Brest area .

As is usual with the Luftwaffe anti-aircraft divisions, the 23rd Flak Division and the regiments under its control were subject to constant fluctuation. On March 1, 1944, the 125 Flak Regiment had already been removed from the division. The 23rd Flak Regiment took its place . In June 1944 the division was involved in fighting with Soviet units east of Warsaw . She was active in the 9th Army and had a strength of:

• 22 heavy batteries ,
• 16 heavy home and alarm flak batteries,
• 14 medium and light batteries as well as over
• 4 headlight batteries.

On July 1, 1944, the 101 flak regiment left the division's command area, as a result of which the 80 flak regiment was placed under the division command. On August 20, 1944, the previous commander, Fichter, left the division. He was succeeded the following day by Lieutenant General Walter Kathmann , who, however, gave up command again on October 21, 1944. In November 1944, Colonel Oskar Vorbrugg became the new commander, who was in charge of the division until January 30, 1945. By this time, the regiments of the 23rd Flak Division had suffered heavy losses. Individual units of the division were still fighting in the Poznan fortress on January 20 . Against this background, there was a final change in leadership. So on January 30, 1945 Major General Kurt Andersen took over the leadership of the 23rd Flak Division. In the meantime, as part of the sales movement, the division's forces had been transferred to the Schwerin area. Their command post was in Willigsee at the end of January 1945 . From there, the divisional headquarters led the flak forces in the Neusalz - Zehden area , whose forces increased to 50 heavy batteries by the beginning of February 1945, albeit with only 10 medium and light batteries and a single air barrier battery. The 23rd Flak Division was still under the 9th Army at this point. In February the command post of the command staff was relocated again, this time to Bad Saarow . As of the last known status of April 16, 1945, the division had the following structure:

• Flak Regiment 7 to the west of the fortress Frankfurt (Oder)
• Flak Regiment 23 area south of Eberswalde
• AA Regiment 34 room Strausberg - Werneuchen
• Flak Regiment 35 room east of the fortress Frankfurt (Oder)
• Flak Regiment 53 to the west of Zehden
• AA Regiment 140 room Beeskow - Müllrose ,
• Flak regiment 182 west of Küstrin
• light flak division 85 Münchberg room

With the collapse of the Oder front and the defeat of the 9th Army, the last chapter of the 23rd Flak Division was opened. Their remnants got together with those of the 9th Army as a result of further fighting with the Red Army in the pocket of Halbe and were almost completely smashed there. In the last days of the war, the command post was Döberitz . When the management staff of the division was taken prisoner and if at all is not clear.

End of the war and whereabouts of their regiments

• Flak Regiment 7: unknown, probably broken up,
• Flak Regiment 23: unknown,
• Flak Regiment 34: unknown,
• Flak Regiment 35: unknown,
• Flak Regiment 53: smashed,
• Flak Regiment 140: smashed in the Halbe pocket,
• Flak Regiment 182: relocated to Ludwigslust before the end of the war , there in May became an American prisoner of war,
• light Flaka division 85: unknown.

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. 100 f .
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. 200, 225, 243, 269, 358, 377 .