Figure 1.--Germany began the War with the world's most powerful airforce and from the onset began bombing cities. but eventually as their cities began to be built had to build the world's most massive anti-aircraft effort. And much of it was carried out by Hitler Youth (HJ) boys. A wide range of anti-aircraft guns were developed during the War. Here a FLAK unit is being inspected by two ranking officers and we think a decorated pilot. Notice the iconic 88-mm gun in the background. The officers are participating in an unexplained ceremony. There were three groups of gun crews, Luftwaffe soldiers and two groups of HJ boys. You only see one of the two groups of HJ boys in this image. Notice how well drilled the boys are. You can tell this by the way they are holding their hands so stiffly. Thy look to be bout 13-14 years old. They were called HJ-Flakhelferen. That means Hitler Youth FLAK helpers. They were much more than helpers. They actually formed gun crews. Put your cursor on the image to see the ceremony.

German Flak units were a part of the Luftwaffe. Luftwaffe field divisions had a mixed flak Battalion (Abteilung). Mixed means artillery of different calibers. It was composed of a heavy Battery (three 20 mm cannons and four 88 mm guns along with twenty-seven 20 mm Anti-Aircraft guns. There was a headquarters staff and signals support troops. The basic operational formation of the Luftwaffe was a Luftflotte. Each Luftflotte had a Flak Korps which consisted of two or more Flakbrigaden or Flakdivionen depending on where the Luftflotte was deployed. Luftflotte 5 based in Oslo had only limited needs for air defense. Luftflotte 7 Zentral (remaned Reich in 1944) responsible for home air defense was assigned the bulk of the FLAK divisions. The first FLAK Division was formed in Berlin (July 1, 1938). It was first named the Air Defense Command (Luftverteidigungskommando), but susequently named the 1st. FLAK Division. The Luftwaffe deployed 29 Flak divisions (Flak-Divisionen) grouped in to 7 Korps at peak strength. Each division normally was constututed with five FLAK Regiments (Flak-Regimenter). The regiments were composed of battalions which were designated "light" (leichte), "mixed" (gemischte) or "heavy" (schwere) depending on the size of guns with which they were equipped. A FLAK division also consisted of , one searchlight regiment, three motorized flak transport battalions (Flak-Abteilungen), one Air Signals battalion (Flak-Abteilungen), and supply troops. The number of transport battalions varied depending on the location and need for transport of the divisions. Division deployed around cities needed less transport than those in remote areas. FLAK gunners were at first Luftwaffe ground personnel. This was the situation whn the War began. As the War progressed, the demand for manpower outstripped the available miliitary age coharts of the Reich. The Luftwaffe answer was to assign Hitler Youth boys to man the FLAK batteries. The boys were not just used as helpers and runners. HJ boys constituted whole gun crews. At first this was just done in Luffflotte 7 Zentral because this was where HJ boys were available. The HJ boy crews were not deployed in combat areas outseid the Erich. For the most part these were boys still living at home at were often teenagers below millitary age. Of course by 1944, advancing Soviet and Allied armies had brought the War to the borders of the Reich. Initially the boys only supplemented the adult Luftwaffee FLAK gunners. Eventually virtually all the regular Luftwaffe gunners were replaced by the HJ boys. We notice both uniformd and non-uniformd boys. The uniformed boys wore their HJ uniforms.

Created: 1:22 AM 1/26/2017
Last updated: 1:22 AM 1/26/2017