So you think you know Flak? ...

[Mark Allen M]

I thought I knew Flak until I looked at a few of these photos. Source: 457th BG Association Zemper Collection. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/zemper/intro.html






























































... and you think you know fighters? Never seen a photo of this many German fighters coming in for the kill. Terrifying stuff.

[SaxMan]

Some great shots of the formations making their "break" after dropping bombs. The pictures that had the heaviest flak were the ones where the planes are on their bomb runs. The picture of the fighters. Wow. I wonder if there are some allied types mixing up in that picture? Maybe I'm imagining things, but it sure looks like a pair of Thunderbolts just to the left of the shadow of the prop blade.

I just can't imagine what that must have been like to experience.

[p51]

Great shots, thanks for posting them.
A 91st BG B-17 co-pilot gave me two pieces of flak he pulled out of his plane after a mission, one of which hit the seat he was sitting in (a stolen Brit manhole cover protected him) and has skin from his plan flash melted and fused to one side. I never appreciated what flak could do until I held those pieces in my hand, it really brings it home what these great guys put up with.

[Pat Carry]

Wow! Its a wonder how any planes made it thru those fields of Flak.

[Mark Allen M]

A few photos from the other side ...


Wilhelmsburg Flak Tower c 1943


Hamburg (Wilhelmsburg), Germany: West and north façade of Flak tower


Hamburg (Wilhelmsburg), Germany today

http://greencompanyeffect.com/worldahoy ... al-warming

and if you find flak towers interesting, there's a whole separate world of fascination with these towers out there. Here's a few links that are interesting indeed.

http://www.kuriositas.com/2012/04/flak- ... waffe.html

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/flak-towers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flak_tower

[Mark Allen M]

Flakbunker-Heiligengeistfeld-Hamburg turned into an apartment building.


Vienna flak tower

[Chris Brame]

What happened to the tail on 43-37828? Looks like another plane clipped him, rather than flak.

[TAdan]

Great photo series Mark, thanks for digging that up.

Really terrifying Flak and fighter pictures.

[RAMC181]

Off topic, but one thing I hadn't noticed before with the 457th BG is that they didn't apply squadron codes or individual aircraft codes on the fuselages of their aircraft, but I see the individual aircraft codes on the tails.

I thought maybe the censors had removed the fuselage codes, but after looking carefully I don't think this is the case. This system was so common in the 8th AF and the 1st Division that I'm kind of stunned. This photo series is taken late in the war (late model B-17Gs) so maybe they stopped applying them by then. Does anybody know if other groups in the 8th AF ETO didn't use them? I'll ask my friend Bill Siler who flew in 457th as a navigator about what he knows. He's 97!

The 457th didn't use their assigned squadron code letters, but instead had colour-coded prop domes.

748th Bomb Sqn: Red
749th Bomb Sqn: Blue
750th Bomb Sqn: White
751st Bomb Sqn: Yellow

Not so good when looking at period black-and-white photos...

[Misterg97]

Taken with an 8mm camera ... part of the clip shows the flak .. I might have posted this before .. not sure.

[VintageAviationNews]

A great photo gallery, thanks for posting these Mark!

[armyjunk2]

I went looking at Flak Towers a couple years ago, this is my favorite. 12 stories or so high. Adaptive reuse as a Children's playground, a Aquarium and a rock climbing wall now. "The Flak Towers", by Michael Foedrowitz is about the best English book on the subject. No I did not climb that wall