Flak battery in the church row
The heavy anti-aircraft battery Kirchzeile was a bunkered position of the naval anti-aircraft gun in Wilhelmshaven during the Second World War .
Location and structure
The flak battery was located in the north of Wilhelmshaven, halfway between the city park and Friedenstrasse, in the middle of today's allotment gardens. The facility consisted of four high-level gun bunkers, which were arranged around a central control station . A Würzburg radar was set up south of the battery . The accommodations of the operating teams were on the ground floor of the respective bunker. There were barracks near the allotment gardens, in which there was an office, kitchen, common room and the accommodation of the battery chief, the battery officers and NCOs. Contrary to the other batteries, the construction of a farm building for the battery church row was never implemented.
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 flak battery belonged to the Marine Flak division 212, whose Flakuntergruppenkommando center was on the Fortification Road in Wilhelmshaven.
history
The battery had already been set up as a field position during World War I , but was not used at that time. During the mobilization in August 1939, the battery of Kirchzeile was made ready for action by the naval artillerymen of the 2nd Marine Artillery Division with 8.8 cm guns . The new bunker battery with 10.5 cm guns was built west of the allotment gardens on Neuengrodener Weg. The gun bunkers and the control center were built with elaborate cornice decorations , which was later not implemented with other batteries for reasons of cost.
post war period
The facility was blown up by the Canadians in August 1945 after the war ended. Today the remains of a gun bunker can still be seen on Nelkenweg. The guard building of the former field position from 1914/18 is now used as a garden house.
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 , p. 116f.
Web links
- Flakbatterie Kirchreihe on www.bunker-whv.de, with historical photographs and aerial images and current images.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d 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. 116 f .
- ^ Friedrich August Greve: The air defense in the Wilhelmshaven section 1939-1945. 2nd Navy Flak Brigade . Hermann Lüers, Jever 1999, p. 48 .
Coordinates: 53 ° 32 '20.2 " N , 8 ° 6' 7.5" E