FLAK: Book Review
FLAK: German Anti-Aircraft Defenses, 1914-1945 by Edward Westermann is the definitive study of Germany's ground-based air defenses. This meticulously researched book takes the reader from the early days of air defense and traces the development of ground-based air defense from its vestigial theoretical roots in WW1 through the learning days of the war in Spain and culminates with a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of ground-based versus fighter air defenses.
Westermann masterfully weaves all aspects of the development of the 88 with the other less-well-known and understood defenses used by Germany such as smoke screens, barrage balloons and decoy sites, the high-level of damage to bombers from Flak that increased fighter kills as they pounced on stragglers, the decrease in accuracy from bombers trying to evade Flak, the coordination with night-fighters (the Wild Boars), as well as the development of improved targeting devices such as radar.
Westermann shows that in the early days of the war and indeed into 1942, the Flak arm of the Luftwaffe was taking a heavy toll on Allied bombers. He discusses the evolution of bomber strategy in dealing with the Flak, as well as decisions made by the Luftwaffe that would lead to a decrease in Flak kill averages and a precipitous drop in the effectiveness of all ground-based air defenses from 1943 on due to material shortages, bomber technology, allied countermeasures, and less skilled Flak crews such as women and children replacing trained units.
The book is a dense study filled with graphs and charts that help show the effectiveness of Flak versus fighters (and indeed shows that both were most effective when used in tandem), yet it is an easy read that is very logically laid-out.
For myself this book was an eye-opener. My grandfather was in Flak from 1938-1945. He began as a range-finder (Entfernungsmesser) operator on 88s preparing for sea-lion, and later became a radar operator. This probably saved his life. As more and more Flak men were pulled into line units to fight on the ground in Russia and elsewhere, the skilled radar operators stayed on the Western Front to monitor the daily fleets of aircraft flying to Germany and they provided what little early-warning the Luftwaffe would have until everything collapsed. It gave me a better understanding of my grandfather's service as well as an appreciation for what Westermann terms the world's most advanced air-defense network at the time.
Regards,
Marc
Westermann masterfully weaves all aspects of the development of the 88 with the other less-well-known and understood defenses used by Germany such as smoke screens, barrage balloons and decoy sites, the high-level of damage to bombers from Flak that increased fighter kills as they pounced on stragglers, the decrease in accuracy from bombers trying to evade Flak, the coordination with night-fighters (the Wild Boars), as well as the development of improved targeting devices such as radar.
Westermann shows that in the early days of the war and indeed into 1942, the Flak arm of the Luftwaffe was taking a heavy toll on Allied bombers. He discusses the evolution of bomber strategy in dealing with the Flak, as well as decisions made by the Luftwaffe that would lead to a decrease in Flak kill averages and a precipitous drop in the effectiveness of all ground-based air defenses from 1943 on due to material shortages, bomber technology, allied countermeasures, and less skilled Flak crews such as women and children replacing trained units.
The book is a dense study filled with graphs and charts that help show the effectiveness of Flak versus fighters (and indeed shows that both were most effective when used in tandem), yet it is an easy read that is very logically laid-out.
For myself this book was an eye-opener. My grandfather was in Flak from 1938-1945. He began as a range-finder (Entfernungsmesser) operator on 88s preparing for sea-lion, and later became a radar operator. This probably saved his life. As more and more Flak men were pulled into line units to fight on the ground in Russia and elsewhere, the skilled radar operators stayed on the Western Front to monitor the daily fleets of aircraft flying to Germany and they provided what little early-warning the Luftwaffe would have until everything collapsed. It gave me a better understanding of my grandfather's service as well as an appreciation for what Westermann terms the world's most advanced air-defense network at the time.
Regards,
Marc
And thanks Marc for the info.
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