Flak battery Blauhand
The Blauhand heavy flak battery was a bunkered position of the naval flak in the west of the Jade Bay during World War II .
Location and structure
The Blauhand Flakbatterie was located directly north of Fort Blauhand, which was built during the First World War . To the north of the fort there was a canteen building and a machine bunker with a 2-cm anti-aircraft weapon. The actual battery consisted of four artillery bunkers which were arranged around a centrally located bunkered control station .
Organizational integration
The German Bight Coast Commander was responsible for the coastal defense . The battery belonged as part of the II. Marine Flakbrigade to the Wilhelmshaven section. The anti-aircraft battery belonged to Marine Flak division 222, whose anti-aircraft sub-group command south was at Vareler Hafen.
history
8.8 cm - In Fort Blauhand
In mid-October 1939, a heavy flak battery was commanded from the Baltic Sea area to the Wilhelmshaven section . The battery was initially set up in Fort Blauhand. In order to have a clear field of fire, the trees around the facility were felled. The battery initially consisted of three 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns which, as the 3rd battery of Marine Flak Division 222, were subordinate to the flak group command. The old infantry factory in Fort Blauhand and a barrack initially served as accommodation for the teams. Until their own kitchen was built, the troops were supplied from the large kitchen of the Jachmann barracks. In the spring of 1940 the battery received a fourth gun.
10.5 cm expansion
At the end of 1940, the construction of a bunkered battery began, which was equipped with 10.5 cm anti-aircraft gun. Presumably based on the experience gained during the reconstruction of the infantry works in forts Hohemey , Sillenstede and Hooksiel , the decision was made to build a new battery north of the fort for reasons of cost. The conversion of the battery was probably carried out between spring and late summer 1942. In December 1942 a FuMG 62 Würzburg was installed. On October 6, 1943, a flight reporting device 311 41G (cB) was also put into operation. In the Flakbatterie Blauhand also naval helpers of the Oberschule Varel and the Oberschule Westerstede , Pyrmont and Clausthal were deployed from March 1943.
End of war
The battery intervened in defensive battles in Grabstede , Grabstederfeld, Neuchâtel and Zetel . Shortly before the end of the war, an air force unit with four Flak 40 anti-aircraft guns took up position near the battery, but was no longer used.
post war period
The battery was blown up by the occupying forces in the summer of 1945. In 1952 the demolition of the bunker began. Today only the farm and canteen buildings remain as residential buildings.
literature
- Friedrich August Greve: The air defense in the Wilhelmshaven section 1939-1945. 2nd Navy Flak Brigade. Hermann Lüers, Jever 1999, ISBN 3-9806885-0-X , pp. 168f.
Web links
- Flakbatterie Blauhand at www.luftschutzbunker-wilhelmshaven.de, with photographs.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e f g Friedrich August Greve: The air defense in the Wilhelmshaven section 1939-1945. 2nd Navy Flak Brigade . Hermann Lüers, Jever 1999, ISBN 3-9806885-0-X , p. 168 f .
- ^ Friedrich August Greve: The air defense in the Wilhelmshaven section 1939-1945. 2nd Navy Flak Brigade . Hermann Lüers, Jever 1999, p. 48 .
- ↑ Nordwest-Zeitung: HISTORY ELLENS: Ellens: A look into the past. November 21, 2008, accessed November 5, 2019 .
Coordinates: 53 ° 26 '34.7 " N , 8 ° 0' 48.9" E