Flak battery Hohemey

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

Location and structure

Photo of the two overgrown heaps of rubble of the 12.8 cm gun emplacements.

The Hohemey anti-aircraft battery was located in Fort Hohemey , which was built during the First World War . The battery initially consisted of two gun bunkers and the infantry plant with two gun positions, which were arranged around a central bunkered control station . The 12.8-cm battery was installed outside the fort in the southwest, further to the southwest was the location of the Würzburg radar . To the north of the facility was a bunker with a 2 cm Flak 30 stand. To the south of the fort were barracks.

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 flak battery belonged to the Marine Flak division 252, whose Flakuntergruppenkommando West was in Heidmühle .

history

8.8 cm

Even before the outbreak of World War II, Fort Hohemey had an anti-aircraft battery. This was modified after the outbreak of war and put into operation on October 24, 1939 with three 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns . In March 1940, work began on converting the fort into a bunkered heavy flak battery. For this purpose, the infantry factory and the ammunition bunker of the fort were converted. To camouflage the infantry block the fort was one with roof tiles thatched pitched roof . The bunkers were clinkered and fitted with dummy windows for camouflage. The 8.8 cm guns were camouflaged with nets in the form of a hip roof . In the spring of 1941 the construction of the gun beds and the control center as well as the installation of four 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns were completed. On June 13, 1941, the battery received a radar of the type FuMG 62 Würzburg. Hohemey was a training center for naval artillerymen.

Launch

On the morning of August 12, 1940, the battery hit an English Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber hard. Due to his hopeless situation, the pilot had the German fighter planes guide him to Jever airfield . Five crew members were captured, two of them were taken to the Wilhelmshaven naval hospital.

10.5 cm - first expansion

In November 1942, an assembly column replaced the battery's 8.8 cm guns with 10.5 cm guns . The work was completed on November 11, the ceiling shields were retrofitted on November 29, 1942.

12.8 cm - second expansion

In November 1943, preparations began to convert the battery to 12.8 cm guns . Hohemey was the last of the four batteries converted in the Wilhelmshaven section. Due to the largest of the new guns, new gun beds had to be built. Because of the wintry weather, the conversion could not be completed until the beginning of March 1944. The battery was ready for action on March 30th. Most of the staff from the Hohemey battery had been assigned to the Raederschleuse flak battery in January / February 1944 . As of January 29th, Oblt. MA Dr. Großklaus and his staff from the Siebetshaus flak battery opened the Hohemey battery.

post war period

The gun bunkers were blown up by the occupying forces in the summer of 1945. Today there is a farm on the site. Two gun beds that were blown up and covered with earth are clearly visible today.

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. 170f.

Web links

  • Flakbatterie Hohemey on www.luftschutzbunker-wilhelmshaven.de, with historical and contemporary 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. 170 f .
  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 ° 28 ′ 14.4 "  N , 7 ° 57 ′ 12"  E