Flak battery Dangast

The heavy flak battery Dangast was a bunkered position of the naval flak in the southwest of the Jade Bay during World War II .

The Dangast battery was located at the site of today's car park behind the campsite.

Location and structure

The battery was on the eastern outskirts of Dangast. The bunker system had all the necessary facilities. It was heated and equipped with a toilet, shower room, storage and equipment room and accommodation for 90 soldiers. The accommodations were positioned right next to the gun beds and the control center, so that combat readiness could be established very quickly. There was also a large common room, a separate office for the battery chief as well as a canteen and accommodation for the NCOs. A remote machine bunker with a 2 cm flak weapon housed the emergency power generator and the command unit.

Organizational integration

Position of the flak batteries in the Wilhelmshaven section

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 field position

In 1938, the Dangast flak battery was initially implemented as a simple field position. At the end of August 1939, four 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns were reported ready for action and the battery was manned by reservists . The condition of the facility was poor, especially the accommodations were inadequate, so it was decided to build a new modern bunkered battery.

10.5 cm - first expansion

According to the plans of the fortress building authority Wilhelmshaven, an anti-aircraft battery was built as an earth position with an underground bunker system in just four months from March to June 1940. More than two thirds of the earthworks and concreting work were carried out by the soldiers under the supervision of experts. In early June 1940 four 10.5 cm anti-aircraft guns were mounted. A few days later, the battery was connected to the plan fire network of the flak group command of the fortress Wilhelmshaven and reported ready for action. On June 21, 1940, the first combat activity of the Dangast battery began. A mobile radio measuring device 62 Würzburg operated by the Luftwaffe was used until the end of 1940 . This was replaced in the spring of 1941 by a new, permanently installed Würzburg on the dike near the machine bunker. In May 1941 the ceiling shields for the guns were installed. In September 1942, the Würzburg radar was exchanged for a modified version with a fine bearing, index C.

12.8 cm - second expansion

Due to the ongoing air raids on Wilhelmshaven, the Hohemey , Geniusbank , Eckwarderhörne and Dangst batteries were to be converted to more powerful guns. At the beginning of April 1943, the conversion of the battery to the heavy anti-aircraft gun " Flak 40 " with a caliber of 12.8 cm began. The anti-aircraft guns used here were the first used by the naval flak "Flak 40 M" in the German Bight . Since the new gun required considerably larger beds, a new building was necessary. Directly next to the 10.5 cm guns, the new beds were erected in a four and a half month construction period. The first new gun arrived on September 6th. At the beginning of June 1943 a FuMG 62 Würzburg with index D and a command device 41 L were delivered. At the same time, the old 10.5 cm guns were dismantled and their bedding camouflaged with nets. From then on, they served as a passage and for storing empty cartridge cases. At the end of September 1943 the battery was ready for use again. The battery remained unchanged until the end of the war and represented the most modern level of air defense .

End of war

In the last days of the war, the Dangast battery attacked earth targets in the Grabstede and Neuchâtel area and attacked advancing Polish and Canadian tank units.

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. 153-167.

Web links

• Flakbatterie Dangast on www.luftschutzbunker-wilhelmshaven.de, with photographs.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e f} 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. 153-167 .
2. ^ Friedrich August Greve: The air defense in the Wilhelmshaven section 1939-1945. 2nd Navy Flak Brigade . Hermann Lüers, Jever 1999, p. 48 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 26 '58.6 "  N , 8 ° 7' 41.2"  E