Note: If you arrived at this page as a result of a URL given in Stephen Ambrose's recently released historical book of 15th Air Force flyers, "Wild Blue", welcome. Please be sure to look at the rest of the 456th site for an extensive accounting in word and photos of the contributions and sacrifices made by the courageous airmen of the 456th. 8/26/01
FLAK is the abbreviation of the German word Fliegerabwehrkanone and in English means anti-aircraft cannon (artillery).
Late in 1944 the US Army Air Force fighter planes controlled the skies over Europe. The remaining German fighter planes were engaged before the bombers appeared in their target areas, so that threat was neutralized. However, their anti-aircraft (Flak) batteries were still intact and as the German ground forces retreated from the Russian Armies, they withdrew their guns and used them to strengthen their defenses closer to home.
On 19 Nov 1944 and 11 Dec 1944, I was assigned targets in the Vienna area. Our intelligence had lost track of the number of anti-aircraft guns guarding the city. They said that they had lost count after the number had reached five hundred, so they said there was 500 plus. I flew over the city on those dates and I knew they were right in their assumption. At times the barrage was so intense that t he daylight disappeared and it was as if someone had cut out the sun. I had written that in one of my stories and I don't believe some of those who read it believed me. Years later I read a book which confirmed my observations and I will tack it on here to back up my statement:
As we approached the target, the flak intensity was the worst I'd seen, except for the frightening scenario to the north, at Vienna. It didn't seem possible that anyone could experience anything worse than what was happening to us, yet the flak pall over Vienna looked infinitely more dreadful. I couldn't take my eyes from the dense smoke, lying as a dark layer of stratus cloud. Twice the cloud lit up from the orange blossoms of exploding bombers. I felt sorrow for the crews that had drawn targets in that area.From Page 45 of the book "THE WAR OF THE COTTONTAILS", by William R Cubbins.
The German Flak was aimed visually and by radar. I n the thirty or so miles to the target we used electronic jamming and dispensed chaff. The chaff looked like the old time X-mas tree tinsel. We used those items to fool their radar, but if it was a clear day they used visual sighting and that negated ou r counter measures.
After a shell burst it didn't dissipate readily, but left the irregular black smoke shape suspended in the sky. At times you watched as the gunners corrected their aiming error and you knew the next one would hit you, but it never came. We had nowhere to hide and the ground was 26,000 feet below, so you couldn't dig in. The fact that we had ten 500 pound bombs and over 2000 gallons of 100 octane gas on board was not comforting. If the barrage burst close you could see the fire a s the shells exploded and through it all the plane shuddered as it took hits. Some sounded like we were being pelted with rocks and others sounded as if we had been hit by a truck.
Sometimes we made it back to our base and other times we didn't. We did manage to land at places which were in friendly hands. One time behind our lines and one time with the Partisans in Yugoslavia.
On 4 Jan 1945, our target was a highway bridge in the Verona area. The area was saturated with Flak batteries, but the course was plotted to reduce our exposure to them. We took hits over the target and the pilot was hit. The fragment struck his Flak vest, but he was not injured. In his confusion he turned our plane off course into an area of heavy Flak. As I looked down I could see the Flak batteries fire and because we were the only ones there, I knew it was meant for us. We had only seconds to respond, so I gave a hard right correction and a rapid assessment, and the pilot responded. The Flak burst off to our left. I picked up more firings, issued instructions and we avoided being hit. I don't know how long our cat and mouse game lasted, but we finally made it to a fighter base behind our lines to assess damage.
On 19 Feb 1945, I was flying as a navigator and our target was the port of Pola, Yugoslavia. Our group formed and we headed north up the Adriatic Sea. As we headed north Pola appeared off to our right. The lead groups were already approaching the target from the north. We watched as they went over the target and saw the Flak burst around them. It was uncanny, because it would soon be our turn in the baptism of fire. Our turn came and we ran the gauntlet of fire without incident.
On 27 Feb 1945, our target was a large railroad bridge at Augsburg, Ger many. The Flak was heavy, intense, and accurate. They were using the very heavy 120mm Flak and not the usual 88mm. The white smoke was our indicator and we knew the killing radius was about twice that of the 88mm. A bomber in the flight in front of us took a hit in the waist and the bomber broke in two. The front spiraled to the ground and the tail seemed to maintain level flight. In fact, the lead pilot had to swing our flight off course to avoid a collision with it. (Read more about Mission 207 here).
Heavy clouds over the target and a bomb drop by radar through them meant that our counter measures would neutralize the radar controlled Flak. And that was evident when we saw the barrages of Flak burst off to a side and at a different altitude where the planes weren't.
I was lucky to run the gauntlet 25 times and return without a scratch. In a little over 14 months of combat our Group lost 101 B-24 Bombers and 533 airmen from the Group paid the supreme sacrifice.
RWR - 25 Jan 1995 - Rev 5 April 1995.
The above photo of a B-24 falling away from a direct flak hit does not come from the 456th Bomb Group archives, but does present the chilling reality of the results of effective anti-aircraft fire. The unlucky crew of this ship likely never made it out.
For many more stories from Bob Reichard, click on this link: Reichard.
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