This one recently came in to my collection, Flak isn’t my cup of tea, although they were responsible for the large majority of allied air losses, I find their Soldbucher usually rather boring but once in a while there is one that jumps out and this is one of those.
Herbert Krause (°1921) from Hamburg is a gunner with the third battery of Flak Regiment 51, an AAA unit equipped with the famous Flak 18 88mm canons.
They are a mobile unit and during the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union they are attached to the WH, their guns aren’t only used in their classic role as anti-aircraft artillery but also to bust bunkers and when push comes to shove to destroy tanks.
When operation Barbarossa comes to a halt his unit is in the sector of the 18th Army which is on the Leningrad front, not only comes the offensive to a halt, the Red Army counterattacks; on January 3 1942 the 88 that is commanded by Wachtmeister Herbert Krause knocks out three heavy Soviet tanks in quick succession.
For this action he receives the “besondere Anerkennung”, a bravery citation, which was instituted in September 1941; it is a rather rare award only +/- 1.300 times awarded, it was a none wearable award, the recipient got an award document and the citation was also entered in to the Soldbuch.
Wachtmeister Herbert Krause was also nominated for an officers commission, which was granted in May 1942; but the odd thing is that he wasn’t awarded an EKI, this one he will receive in December 1943.
In October 1943 he gets WIA, a splinter in his left hand, a month later he gets shot in the same hand and this means that there comes an end to his service on the Eastern front, he becomes a battery commander of 3/Schw Flakabt 647(o), a stationary heavy flak battery based in Hamburg, he will end the war here as a captain.
The effectiveness of the allied bomber offensive on Germany has for a longtime been put in to question.
Did it break the moral of the German people?
What was the impact on the arms production?
Two questions that can be debated but one thing is a certainty, the allied bomber offensive prevented that lots of capable EM and officers and their 88’s could be used in an antitank role, which would have a devastating effect on the allied offensive operations.
Herbert Krause (°1921) from Hamburg is a gunner with the third battery of Flak Regiment 51, an AAA unit equipped with the famous Flak 18 88mm canons.
They are a mobile unit and during the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union they are attached to the WH, their guns aren’t only used in their classic role as anti-aircraft artillery but also to bust bunkers and when push comes to shove to destroy tanks.
When operation Barbarossa comes to a halt his unit is in the sector of the 18th Army which is on the Leningrad front, not only comes the offensive to a halt, the Red Army counterattacks; on January 3 1942 the 88 that is commanded by Wachtmeister Herbert Krause knocks out three heavy Soviet tanks in quick succession.
For this action he receives the “besondere Anerkennung”, a bravery citation, which was instituted in September 1941; it is a rather rare award only +/- 1.300 times awarded, it was a none wearable award, the recipient got an award document and the citation was also entered in to the Soldbuch.
Wachtmeister Herbert Krause was also nominated for an officers commission, which was granted in May 1942; but the odd thing is that he wasn’t awarded an EKI, this one he will receive in December 1943.
In October 1943 he gets WIA, a splinter in his left hand, a month later he gets shot in the same hand and this means that there comes an end to his service on the Eastern front, he becomes a battery commander of 3/Schw Flakabt 647(o), a stationary heavy flak battery based in Hamburg, he will end the war here as a captain.
The effectiveness of the allied bomber offensive on Germany has for a longtime been put in to question.
Did it break the moral of the German people?
What was the impact on the arms production?
Two questions that can be debated but one thing is a certainty, the allied bomber offensive prevented that lots of capable EM and officers and their 88’s could be used in an antitank role, which would have a devastating effect on the allied offensive operations.
