Flak corps

A flak corps (German: Flakkorps) was a massed anti-aircraft (AA) artillery formation employed by the Luftwaffe for anti-aircraft, antitank, and fire support operations in World War II. A Flakkorps was a flexible organization that was made up of a varying number of AA regiments, brigades, or divisions. It was roughly equivalent in strength to a brigade or a division. A total of six flak corps were organized by Germany during the war. The flak corps, while mainly intended to support ground units with concentrated anti-aircraft fire, in many cases provided also antitank support.

Flak corps did not exist before World War II. Until the end of war Germany eventually organized a total of six flak corps, being numbered I - VI, plus one short-lived special flak corps.

Flak corps I and II were formed on 3 October 1939. They grouped mobile AA battalions (previously existing) to overwhelmingly concentrate the firepower at points of decision on the battlefield. The original two flak corps were used in the Battle of France in 1940, and later inactivated. They were reorganized for the German invasion of Russia and fought for the remainder of the war on the Eastern Front. The I Flak Corps was destroyed at Stalingrad and later formed again.

The III Flak Corps was formed in February 1944 and fought on the Western Front. In total, III Flak Corps entered combat in Normandy with 27 heavy batteries, 26 light batteries and some 12,000 men. During the fighting in Normandy in 1944, the III Flak Corps was motorized although not all authorized vehicles were present. It was eventually destroyed in the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945.

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