A Flak Corps (, also spelt ) was a massed

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

(AA) artillery formation employed by the ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' for anti-aircraft, antitank, and fire support operations in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A ''Flakkorps'' was a flexible organization that was made up of a varying number of AA

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

brigades A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. ...

, or

divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...

. A total of six flak corps were organized by Germany during the war. The flak corps, while mainly intended to support ground units with concentrated anti-aircraft fire, in many cases provided also antitank support.

History

Flak corps did not exist before

. Until the end of war Germany eventually organized a total of six flak corps, being numbered one through six in Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, VI), plus one short-lived special flak corps. ImageSize = width:580 height:220 PlotArea = width:465 height:160 left:35 bottom:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy # European date format Period = from:01/01/1939 till:08/05/1945 # TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1939 ScaleMinor = grid:blue unit:month increment:3 start:01/09/1939 PlotData= color:red width:15 bar:1FC from:03/10/1939 till:01/03/1941 text:I Flak Corps bar:1FC from:01/04/1941 till:08/05/1945 text:I Flak Corps color:orange width:15 bar:2FC from:03/10/1939 till:01/04/1942 text:II Flak Corps bar:2FC from:01/10/1943 till:08/05/1945 text:II Flak Corps color:yellow width:15 bar:3FC from:22/02/1944 till:20/04/1945 text:III Flak Corps color:green width:15 bar:4FC from:01/06/1944 till:10/06/1944 bar:4FC from:01/09/1944 till:08/05/1945 text:IV Flak Corps color:blue width:15 bar:5FC from:15/11/1944 till:07/05/1945 text:V Flak Corps color:purple width:15 bar:6FC from:10/02/1945 till:04/05/1945 text:VI Flak Corps color:pink width:15 bar:ZBV from:02/04/1945 till:08/05/1945 text:Flak Corps z.b.V.

I Flak Corps

I Flak Corps was formed twice, once in 1939 and once in 1941. The initial formation was assembled in October 1939 in Berlin from the staff of Luftgaukommando III. It was used in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in support of

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

. On 16 August 1940, it consisted of the Flak Regiments 101, 102, and 104, as well as a heavy detachment, an air signals regiment and a resupply staff. On 1 June 1940, I Flak Corps was split into two brigades of two regiments each (after the addition of Flak Regiment 103), with

1st Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level military formations of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II. Brigades, in German army parlance prior to 1944, generally designated for ...

receiving the Flak Regiments 102 and 103, and

2nd Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level Military formation, military formations of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II. Brigades, in German army parlance prior ...

receiving the Flak Regiments 101 and 104. In March 1941, I Flak Corps was used to form the staff "Luftwaffenbefehlshaber Mitte". I Flak Corps was quickly reformed on 1 April 1941 in Berlin, using the staff of 1st Flak Brigade. By 6 June, it was in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, it was used in

Army Group Center Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

with Panzer Group 2 and provided fire support using its Flak Regiments 101 and 104. It was also used by

Army Group South Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Ge ...

. In May 1942, it was repurposed as an administrative leadership unit near

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

and was assigned

9th Flak Division The 9th Flak Division () was a Flak division of the German Luftwaffe in World War II which saw action on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. It is most notable for its role (and destruction) in the Battle of Stalingrad. Another format ...

(at

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

), 10th Flak Division (at

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

15th Flak Division In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated ''15ma'', is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. It has also been referred to as the bisdiapason. The fourth harmonic, ...

(at

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

) and

17th Flak Division 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. 17 was described at MIT as "the least random number", according to the Jargon File. This is supposedly because, in a study where respondents were asked to ...

(at

Stalino Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

). 10th Flak Division was removed near the end of 1942. 9th Flak Division was annihilated in January/February 1943 in the cauldron of Stalingrad. I Flak Corps withdrew via southern Russia and Crimea in 1943 and through northern Ukraine and Galicia in 1944. In November/December 1943, it still contained the 9th, 10th, 15th and 17th Flak Divisions. In October 1944, I Flak Corps was positioned at

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

with

. At the end of the war, it was in Schweidnitz under Army Group Center.

II Flak Corps

II Flak Corps was formed twice, once in 1939 and once in 1943. The initial formation was assembled in October 1939 from elements of the 6th Air Division and was deployed near

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

at the disposal of

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

for the

. In May 1940, it consisted of the Flak Regiments 103, 201, and 202, as well as an air signals regiments and a resupply staff. After the Battle of France, II Flak Corps was earmarked for

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

and prepared at the coast of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

for operations. At this point, it supervised the Flak Regiments 6 ( Ostende), 136 (

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

), 201 (

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

) and 202 (

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

). Flak Regiment 103 had, after the victory over France, already been transferred to I Flak Corps, from where it was assigned to

. After Sea Lion was cancelled, Flak Regiment 136 was withdrawn in October and the entire corps redeployed to Tours on 16 December 1940. It protected the German-occupied Atlantic coast with

6th Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level military formations of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II. Brigades, in German army parlance prior to 1944, generally designated for ...

(at Fontenay le Comte), which in turn oversaw the Flak Regiments 40 and 45. On 3 March 1941, the II Flak Corps staff was recalled to Germany and deployed with Flak Regiment 6 and Flak Regiment General Göring to serve on the Eastern Front. II Flak Corps participated in the fighting around the Vyazma pocket between 2 and 13 October 1941, shooting down 29 Soviet aircraft, destroying or capturing 14 tanks, 17 bunkers, 104 heavy guns, 18 field fortifications, 5 nests of resistance, 94 machine gun positions, one freight train and 579 motorized vehicles. One Soviet cavalry squadron was destroyed, along with seven supply columns. 23 infantry attacks were repelled and 3,842 Soviet PoWs taken by the members of II Flak Corps. In April 1942, the corps staff was dissolved and used for the formation of 18th Flak Division. II Flak Corps was reformed in central Russia in October 1943 from the command of III Luftwaffe Field Corps, headquartered at

Babruysk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina, Berezina River. Bab ...

and tasked with the supervision of 12th Flak Division (at Babruysk, provision of support for 2nd Army and 9th Army), 18th Flak Division (at Orsha, provision of support for 4th Army) and 10th Flak Brigade (at

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, provision of support for

3rd Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group () was formed on 16 November 1940. It was a constituent part of Army Grou ...

). In November/December 1943, the II Flak Corps was part of

Luftflotte 6 Luftflotte 6For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 6) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on May 5, 1943 from Luftwaffenkommando Ost ...

, along with Feldluftgau XXVII and ''Luftwaffenkommando Südost'', the latter hosting the German air force mission to Bulgaria. II Flak Corps itself still contained the 12th and 18th Flak Division, as well as the nascent 23rd Flak Division, which 10th Flak Brigade was being restructured into. During the great Soviet offensive of January 1945, the II Flak Corps oversaw a total of four flak divisions and an autonomous flak brigade (23rd Flak Division in support of 9th Army between Warsaw and Modlin, 12th Flak Division in support of 2nd Army between Modlin and Lomza, 18th Flak Division in support of 4th Army between Lomza and Ebenrode, 27th Flak Division in support of 3rd Panzer Army between

Ebenrode Nesterov (), until 1938 known by its German language, German name (; ) and in 1938-1946 as Ebenrode, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Nesterovsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, locate ...

and

Rusnė Rusnė () is a border town in Šilutė district, Lithuania, located on the Rusnė Island in the Nemunas Delta, 9 km south-west from Šilutė. History Rusnė was first mentioned in historical sources in the 14th century. In 1419 the first c ...

, 15th Flak Brigade in reserves at Danzig). At the end of the war, the II Flak Corps was part of

Army Group Vistula Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similar ...

and oversaw, as of 27 April 1945, the 23rd Flak Division behind 9th Army, the 6th and 15th Flak Brigades as well as the 27th Flak Division behind the 3rd Panzer Army and the 14th Flak Division as well as the 16th Flak Brigade in the Prignitz region with the 12th Army.

III Flak Corps

The III Flak Corps was formed on 22 February 1944 from the staff of the

11th Flak Division The 11th Flak Division () was a flak division of the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was active twice, once from February 1941 until April 1944 and another time from September 1944 until 1945. History On 1 February 1941, a comm ...

to cooperate with

Panzer Group West 5th Panzer Army () was the name of two different German armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tunis in 1943. The army was re-formed in F ...

against an anticipated invasion by the Western Allies. It consisted of the Flak Assault Regiments 1 through 4 (formed from the Flak Regiments 431, 653, 37 and 79) as well as an air force signals detachment. Following the

Allied invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

(6 June 1944), much of the III Flak Corps' fielded flak forces were destroyed in the

Falaise Pocket The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, c ...

in August 1944. In September 1944, the staff of III Flak Corps was headquartered at Cochem and reused to oversee the 1st Flak Brigade, 18th Flak Brigade, 19th Flak Brigade and 20th Flak Brigade in support of

. In February 1945, the corps HQ was at Bonn and oversaw the 1st Flak Brigade (at

Rheydt Rheydt () is a borough of the German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 1918 and then again from 1933 (due to a split from Mönchengladbach arranged by Joseph Goebbels, who was born there) through 1975 it ...

, in support of 15th Army), 2nd Flak Division (at

Altenahr Altenahr () is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative centre for the eponymous collective municipality, to which it belongs. Altenahr is a state-recognised tourist resort and is ra ...

, in support of

5th Panzer Army 5th Panzer Army () was the name of two different German armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tunis in 1943. The army was re-formed in F ...

) and the

19th Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level Military formation, military formations of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II. Brigades, in German army parlance prior ...

(at

Kyllburg Kyllburg () is a town in the Waldeifel region in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Eifel mountains, on the river Kyll, approximately 10 km north-east of Bitburg. Kyllburg was the seat o ...

, in support of 7th Army). III Flak Corps was destroyed in the Ruhr pocket in April 1945.

IV Flak Corps

The IV Flak Corps was formed in Breslau in June 1944 to support

Luftflotte 1 ''Luftflotte'' 1 ("Air Fleet 1") was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on 1 February 1939 from ''Luftwaffengruppenkommando'' 1 in Berlin. This Luftwaffe detachment served in Estonia Estonia, o ...

on the Eastern Front. Its initial deployment remained uncompleted and was aborted shortly after. The deployment of IV Flak Corps was reattempted in September 1944, this time for the Western Front. It was deployed to

Edenkoben Edenkoben () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies approximately halfway between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Edenkoben is one of the towns situated along the German Wine R ...

and served in the sector of

Army Group G Army Group G () fought on the Western Front of World War II and was a component of OB West. History Army Group G was initially deployed as an '' Armeegruppe''-type formation on 28 April 1944, but was later upgraded to ''Heeresgruppe''-type on 1 ...

between the

Meuse river The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upp ...

and the

France–Switzerland border The France–Switzerland border is long. Its current path is mostly the product of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, with the accession of Geneva, Neuchâtel and Valais to the Swiss Confederation, but it has since been modified in detail, the la ...

. It oversaw the

(at Landstuhl, in support of 1st Army) and 13th Flak Division (at Schlettstedt (later: Todtnau/Schwarzwald), in support of 19th Army) and was reinforced in January 1945 by the insertion of 28th Flak Division between the two previous division. Additionally, in March 1945, it received the 21st Flak Division and 26th Flak Division in March 1945.

V Flak Corps

The V Flak Corps was formed under supervision of the "Luftwaffenkommando Südost" staff for the southern sector of the Eastern Front on 15 November 1944 to support the withdrawals of

Army Group E Army Group E () was a German Army Group active during World War II. Army Group E was created on 1 January 1943 from the 12th Army. Units from this Army Group were distributed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean area, including Albania, Greece ...

and

. It initially was placed in charge of the 19th Flak Division in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

(in support of Army Group E), the 20th Flak Division in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

(in support of 6th Army,

3rd Hungarian Army The Hungarian Third Army () was a field army in the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II. Commanders * Lieutenant General Elemér Gorondy-Novák from 1 March 1940 to 1 November 1941 * Lieutenant General Zoltán Decleva from ...

and Army Group Fretter-Pico) and the

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

(in support of Army Group Wöhler, 8th Army,

1st Hungarian Army The Hungarian First Army was a field army of the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II. Commanders * Lieutenant-General Vilmos Nagy - March 1, 1940 – February 1, 1941 * Lieutenant-General István Schweitzer - February 1, ...

). Initially deployed east of Budapest, V Flak Corps was pushed to Bratislava by December 1944. After redeployment to Wiener Neustadt, V Flak Corps was also placed in charge of the air defenses of Wehrkreis XVII, including

24th Flak Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

in Vienna and 7th Flak Brigade in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. On 2 April 1945, the corps was at

Sankt Pölten Sankt Pölten (; Central Bavarian: ''St. Pödn''), mostly abbreviated to the official name St. Pölten, is the capital and largest city of the States of Austria, State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria, with 55,538 inhabitants as of 1 Januar ...

and on 13 April at

Traun Traun () is an Austrian municipality located on the north bank of the Traun (river), river Traun and borders Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, to the east. The name ''Traun'' is derived from the Celtic word for river (). Traun is the fifth la ...

. On 7 May 1945, the corps goes into captivity at

Admont Admont () is a town in the Austrian state of Styria. It is historically most notable for Admont Abbey, a monastery founded in 1074. Gesäuse National Park, in which Admont lies, is an area of outstanding beauty. The town is situated in the midd ...

VI Flak Corps

The VI Corps was formed on 10 February 1945 in the north of the Western Front, the sector of

Army Group H Army Group H () was a German army group during World War II, active between November 1944 and May 1945. It was deployed mainly in the German-occupied Netherlands. The staff was known as Supreme Commander North West () from 7 April. The army grou ...

, from the dissolved

16th Flak Division 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. It is the fourth power of two. In English speech, the numbers 16 and 60 are sometimes confused, as they sound similar. Mathematics 16 is the ninth composite number, and a sq ...

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Dutch Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ) is a city and Municipalities in the Netherlands, municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the IJssel, Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the Provinces of the Netherland ...

. It initially oversaw 9th Flak Brigade (at Huis ter Heide in support of 25th Army) and

18th Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level Military formation, military formations of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II. Brigades, in German army parlance prior ...

(at Winkel in

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

in support of

1st Parachute Army The 1st Parachute Army () was a combined forces between airborne forces (Fallschirmjäger), armoured, and mechanized infantry unit of German Army, formed in September, 1944, comprising 30,000 men. History Its first commander was Colonel Gene ...

) as well as

4th Flak Division The 4th Flak Division () was a Flak division of the ''Luftwaffe'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. History On 1 July 1938, the "Air Defense Command Essen" () staff was formed, later redesignated "Air Defense Command Düsseldorf" (). On 1 Au ...

(at

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

). During the withdrawal of the German forces in Northwest Germany from the Rhine towards the Elbe, VI Flak Corps additionally was placed in charge of 3rd Flak Division (at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) and

8th Flak Division The 8th Flak Division () was a Flak division of the ''Luftwaffe'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. History In May 1940, the "Air Defense Command Denmark" () staff was formed in Denmark in World War II, German-occupied Denmark, which had been ...

(at

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Flak Corps z.b.V.

The Flak Corps z.b.V. was formed on 2 April 1945 from the Luftgau-Kommando VI staff, initially formed on 12 October 1937. Luftgau VI was dissolved in early April 1945 after it had passed the

to VI Flak Corps and 7th Flak Division to III Flak Corps. Its staff was used to form a reserve staff for a flak corps.

Organization

Flak corps were large organizations of pre-existing AA units (regiments, brigades, and divisions) rather than being formed as new units from scratch. In 1943 Allied intelligence noted:

''The Flak Corps is a wartime organization, and constitutes an operational reserve of the commander in chief of the German Air Force. It combines great mobility with heavy fire power. It can be employed in conjunction with spearheads composed of armored and motorized forces, and with nonmotorized troops in forcing river crossings and attacking fortified positions. It can also be deployed as highly mobile artillery to support tank attacks.''

Flak corps did not include the majority of the Germany's flak force. Even considering only the ''Luftwaffe's'' flak units dedicated to direct support of ''Wehrmacht'' ground troops, most of them were not subordinated to flak corps. Flak corps were either partially motorized or fully motorized, depending on the degree of motorization of their subordinate units.

Assessment

Although the AA guns of all nations in World War II could be used against ground targets, Germany in particular used AA guns in multiple roles. The need for command and control of these assets led to the organization of larger units, culminating with the organization of flak corps. Although the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

also organized large air defense units, they were typically not used against ground targets. The flak corps above all provided additional antitank support for the German ground forces. In some cases, such as at Cagny in Normandy, these units achieved significant success against attacking Allied armored vehicles. The use of flak corps as ground warfare assets was complicated because they were part of the air force (''

'')

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

even when supporting ground forces (either '' Heer'' or ''

Waffen SS The (; ) was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both German-occupied Europe and unoccupied lands. ...

''). Given the expense of producing AA guns – in relation to the cost of antitank guns of the same capabilities – it is questionable if their use as antitank weapons was economical. As an organizational form, massed AA-gun formations represented a dead-end as large-caliber AA guns were phased out of military service in the 1950s and replaced by

surface to air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

s.Werrell, p. 74

Footnotes

References

Zetterling on III Flak Corps
* ttp://www.ww2.dk/ The Luftwaffe, 1933-1945br>Luftwaffe airborne and field units By Martin Windrow
*Tessin, Georg, ''Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939 - 1945'', Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1979. {{ISBN, 3-7648-1170-6. *Werrell, Kenneth P. ''Archie to SAM'', Maxwell AFB: Air University Press, 2005. Accessible on-lin
here
Artillery units and formations of Germany Military units and formations of the Luftwaffe Air defence corps