The 2nd Flak Division () was an anti-aircraft division unit of the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was initially deployed as a stationary formation in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

for the defense of the German homeland's air space, but became a mobile division in January 1942 and was deployed to the Eastern Front. Eventually, it was shuffled to the Western Front, where it was destroyed in 1945.

History

On 1 July 1938, the "Air Defense Command Leipzig" () staff was assembled in

. The staff's name received its number on 1 August 1939 and became "2nd Air Defense Command Leipzig" (). On 1 September 1941, the name of the formation was changed to 2nd Flak Division (). The initial head of the air defense staff was Walter Feyerabend, who commanded the staff and subsequent divisions in three tenures between July 1938 and 3 February 1942, with interruptions by Heinrich Burchard (in command from 10 April 1940 until 1 July 1941) and Oskar Bertram (in command from 1 September 1941 until 12 January 1942).In January 1942, the 2nd Flak Division was replaced in its stationary defensive task by 14th Flak Division, which had been newly created for just this purpose. The 2nd Flak Division was turned into a mobile division for service in the field. It was sent to the Eastern Front, where it was assigned to support

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

. It contained the Flak Regiments 41 (at Luga, air support for the

army group rear area Army Group Rear Area Command (, abbreviated as ) was an area of military jurisdiction behind each of the three Wehrmacht army groups from 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, through 1944 when the pre-war territor ...

), 151 (at Medved, support for 16th Army) and 164 (in support of 18th Army), as well as an air signals company and a divisional supply staff. On 3 February 1942, Feyerabend's third and final tenure as divisional commander ended, and he was replaced by

Heino von Rantzau Heino von Rantzau (8 March 1894 – 2 November 1946) was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Heino von Rantzau was captured by American troops in ...

.In September 1942, the newly inserted 6th Flak Division was deployed to the front. The 2nd Flak Division was subsequently restrained to the army group's rear area. Von Rantzau was replaced by Alfons Luczny on 1 October 1943. The withdrawal to the

Narva river The Narva, formerly also Narwa or Narova, flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer intermediate lake, Lake Peipus, all togeth ...

had resulted in numerous damaged formations; the 2nd Flak Division was bolstered with scattered survivors of the heavily battered 9th Luftwaffe Field Division and 10th Luftwaffe Field Division. In February 1944, the 2nd Flak Division was deployed from Luga to Pskov and subsequently to Dorpat. In 1944, the 2nd Flak Division supported the 18th Army with its flak guns, including on ground level against enemy tanks. By 15 June 1944, the division was part of "Coastal Defense Command East" under Army Detachment Narwa. In September 1944, the 2nd Flak Division was sent to the Western Front, where it was reformed with three Assault Flak Regiments and used in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

. On 8 January 1945, the division had a strength of 18 heavy flak batteries and 17 light or medium flak batteries, with the 2 cm Flak counted as light, the 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37 and 5 cm FlaK 41 counted as medium, and the 8.8 cm Flak 18/36/37/41 as well as any other larger calibers counted as heavy flak. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 2nd Flak Division was involved in numerous

friendly fire incidents Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

. After the Western Allies had beaten back the German counteroffensive, the 2nd Flak Division was in the Eifel mountain range and found itself, in February 1945, in the city of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. In March, the division participated in the Battle of Cologne. Eventually, the 2nd Flak Division was annihilated in the Ruhr pocket in April 1945. The final divisional commander of the war had been a colonel-rank officer named Fritz Laicher, who had held this post since 15 November 1944.

Noteworthy individuals

The 2nd Flak Division was commanded by the following persons: * Walter Feyerabend (July 1938 – 10 April 1940, 1 July – 31 August 1941, 12 January – 3 February 1942) * Heinrich Burchard (10 April 1940 – 1 July 1941) * Oskar Bertram (1 September 1941 – 12 January 1942) *

(3 February 1942 – 1 October 1943) * Alfons Luczny (1 October 1943 – 15 November 1944) * Fritz Laicher (after 15 November 1944)

References

{{Flak divisions of the Wehrmacht Flak divisions Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945