Luftwaffe Flak Helferin units?

[helf.kaiser108]

I am looking for any information regarding a Flak Helferin unit or a regular Luftwaffe Flak unit that helferin would be attached to. Can anyone help me? I am looking for specific unit information for my Luftwaffe Flak Helferin impression and I can't seem to locate any in my books or online. Any information, pictures, unit insignia, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance fo your help!

Katie

[Larry D.]

Katie -

From 1943 on, most of the "ortsfeste" (fixed or stationary) Flak-Abteilungen in the larger cities in the Reich had Flak-Helferinnen. If you can get a positive ID on a particular Abteilung by its number, then I can give you some information on that unit. Almost all of the photos showing them fail to identify the unit.

Larry

[helf.kaiser108]

Thank you Larry! I remember seeing a photo of a Helferin a while back that someone posted of their relative and the caption said that she belonged to 1st Flak Division but I have not been able to find anything further than that.

Thank you,
Katie

[Larry D.]

1. Flak-Div. provided Flak defenses for Berlin, Katie. Go to the site below, open those you want to look at and select one of the Abteilung with an "(o)" suffix. Then let me know which one you selected and I will try and provide some additional information.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=ps ... 90&bih=653

Larry

[Larry D.]

Katie, schwere Flak-Abt. 422(o) might be a good choice as I believe it had some Flakwaffenhelferinnen who manned the Kommandogeräte (range-finder and director).

L.

[helf.kaiser108]

I'm sorry, I feel like a pain, but do you happen to have a different link? The one provided sent me to google.

[Larry D.]

Sorry 'bout that. I tested the portability of the link first and it worked from my machine. But apparently it won't work from someone else's computer. O.K., here is what you do. Go to Google and enter the following in the Google SEARCH window:

Berlin site:ww2.dk

What comes up is a listing of some 282 Luftwaffe units, nearly all Flak, that were stationed in Berlin during the 1935-45 period. Click on any one of them and it opens a history of the unit. As I said earlier, look them over and then select one with an "(o)" suffix. The types of units are Flak-Abt. (schwere, leichte, and gemischte), Flakscheinwerfer-Abt. (Flak searchlight battalion) and Luftsperr-Abt. (barrage balloon battalion). All of the searchlight and barrage balloon battalions had Flakwaffenhelferinnen during 1944-45, while only 50% or so of the schwere Flak-Abt. with the "(o)" had them. Usually, none of the leichte Flak-Abt. nor the gem.Flak-Abt. had them.

Let me know which one you select or if you have any questions.

Larry

[helf.kaiser108]

Larry, thank you for the help. When looking through these how do I know that Flakwaffenhelferinnen were used? I tried looking at the schwere Flak-Abt. 422(o) for reference but I haven't a clue, or is a guessing game? I know really late in the war Flak-Helferinnen were used to man the 88 guns, that would be my main interest.

Thank you again, so, so much!

-K

[Larry D.]

Hi Katie,

Finding schwere Flak-Abteilungen und -Batterien that had Flakwaffenhelferinnen assigned is no easy matter, even for someone with a very big library like me. So, early this morning, I turned to my last remaining source that I previously avoided because it takes hours and hours to go through it.

The search ended successfully and here is a list matching names with units. Out of some 20,000 male and female Flak MIA listings appearing in about 2,000 pages of material, this is the best I can do. As you probably know, when things got really dangerous, the male Flak soldiers sought to protect the female Flak soldiers by trying to get them out of harm’s way. Consequently, they suffered far, far fewer casualties on a per capita basis than did the males. Since you are not interested in the Flakscheinwerfer (searchlight) ladies, you are left with schw.Flak-Abt. 306, the two Heimat-Flak options and the Breslau, Hamburg and Altenstadt options. The number in parentheses following each listing is what they looked like on a scale of 1 to 10 (a male prerogative - ).

Each name is followed by date and place of birth, rank and where they were last seen and the date.

Flakscheinw.Abt. 128:
OLDEN, Elisabeth, 11.12.26 in Ostpreußen, rank unk., MIA in Berlin 03.45. (2)
Flakscheinw.Abt. 150:
SUTTKUS, Emma, 15.5.26 in Ostpreußen, rank unk., MIA in Wien 10.44. (6)
Flakscheinw.Abt. 179:
ZAGULA, Gerda, 12.2.23 in Berlin, Flakhelferin, MIA in Kassel 03.45. (6)
Flakscheinw.Abt. 370:
SCHMIED, Marie, 1.11.25 in Czech., Flakhelferin, MIA in Potsdam 03.45. (9)
schw.Flak-Abt. 306:
ESER, Liselotte, 18.9.23 in Ennigloh, Flakhelferin, MIA in Germany 03.45. (1)
Flakscheinw.Abt. 410:
KLOMBERG, Gisela, 11.9.26 in Duisburg, Flakhelferin, MIA in Pasewalk 02.45. (8)
Flakscheinw.Abt. 448:
5 listed.
Flakscheinw.Abt. 470:
2 listed.
Flakscheinw.Abt. 528:
2 listed.
Flakscheinw.Abt. 808:
4 listed.
schw.Heimat-Flak-Battr. 269/VIII (Breslau):
OTTENBREIT, Käthe, 1.7.22 in Bielitz O/S, Flakhelferin, MIA in Breslau 01.45. (7)
le.Heimat-Flak-Battr. 31/XVII (Wiener-Neustadt):
CHOMRAK, Anni, 26.10.29 in Czech., Flakhelferin, MIA 05.45 in Wiener-Neustadt. (unk.)
Flak-Ers.Abt. 36:
1 listed.
Flak-Ers.Abt. 62:
2 listed.
Flak-Ers.Abt. 277:
1 listed.
Flakturm Berlin-Zoo:
KRAFT, Irene, 10.12.26 in Berlin, Arbeitsmaid, MIA 04.45 in Berlin. (6)
Flak Breslau:
LEUSCHNER, Elisabeth, 18.12.28 in Gloschkau/Schl., Flakhelferin, MIA in Breslau 03.45. (5)
Flak Hamburg:
VOIGT, Dora, 24.4.15 in Berlin, Flakhelferin, MIA in Hamburg 1945. (unk.)
Flakartillerieschule IV Altenstadt/Schongau:
OTTO, Elsbeth, 18.2.21 in Zanow/Pom., Flakhelferin, MIA in Altenstadt 04.45. (8)

[Source: Deutschen Roten Kreuz – Suchdienst München], Vermisstenbildlisten des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes, 173 Bde (München, 1960’s)].

Larry

[helf.kaiser108]

Wow, Larry, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you've put into this!! I guess, based on the information above we'll stick with schwere Flak-Abteilung 306 (o) - looks like 3. Flak-Division in Hamburg(?); do you have any further information on this one?

Once again, thank you so much for you help. Leave it to me to pick the most complicated impression out there. :-/

Katie

[Larry D.]

Hi Katie,

Surprisingly, schwere Flak-Abt. 306(o) was not in Hamburg. The bulk of it was in Flensburg until June 1944, initially under Stab Flak-Rgt. 66/Luftgaukdo. XI and then from March 1944 under Stab Flak-Rgt. 66/3. Flak-Div. In June 1944, it moved to Lübeck together with Stab Flak-Rgt. 66/3. Flak-Div. It remained in Lübeck until November 1944 when it moved to Braunschweig-Melverode/5 km S of the city's center, where it came under Stab Flak-Rgt. 65/8. Flak-Brig. As far as is known, it stayed there until the city was taken by U.S. 9th Army on 12 April 1945, except for 3. Battr., which was moved to Hamburg in November 1944. This Abteilung had a total of 8 batteries (1.-8.) from early 1943 to the end of the war. Several of these were detached at times in Hamburg, Osnabrück and Hannover, but the main body was located where I have stated.

The last Kommandeur that I have a note on was Obstlt. Hans-Henning Schreiber (25 Jan 43 - 1 Oct 43). There's no information on who came along after that.

Larry