Customer Reviews

Flak: German Anti-Aircraft Defenses, 1914-1945 (Modern War Studies)

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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 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.

Good scholarly review of the subject. Goes into the politics, economics, and effectiveness of the German flak defences. The author's case for the effectiveness of the flak arm is very persuasive. Would have been nice to have had more personal recollections of ex-flak gunners.

Flak played an integral part of Germany's air defenses during World War I and II. This well-researched and well-written volume looks at the development of the antiaircraft artillery, its organization, employment and manning. No other book I have ever come across has done as good a job as this one in discussing the antiaircraft artillery of the Luftwaffe and the German Army. The production of the excellent "88," the wartime development of radar and other aspects are presented in this volume.

Westermann is a professor at the School for Air & Space Studies in Montgomery, Alabama, and is another of the Showalter-style of disciples. This book is very specialized, and thus not for the average WWII buff. However, if you have any interest in the subject this is great military history, touching upon social, economic & political aspects of air defense as well as standard military history stuff. It necessarily has some discussion of fighter defense as well as flak, and that discussion is well-handled and interesting enough to make me think the author should have gone on to write a companion book on the air/fighter defense aspect.

Some people can think it is a book for History, Politics and War aficionados - it is. But it is not exclusively. If you are an Executive, Planner or Strategist, involving people administration, fifficult goals and (limited) resources, you will enjoy and learn a lot with this book.

The text is easy and at same time comprehensive. The pictures extremely well selected. It is the result of expertise and dedication from author and editor.

Very detailed summary of the history of German Flak during WW1 and 2. Highly recommended. Factual, 99% unbiased. A wealth of footnotes.