FLAK!

FLAK
I use the word “flak” in my military write-ups. I should define this word. It is an acronym (fortunately) for the German combination of three words into one. Flieger(aircraft - literally “flyer”) + Abwehr (defense) + Kanone (gun), (cannon) =fliegerabwehrkanone. Flak is the bursting of timed-shells - black-balls of smoke. The shells are fired from the German 88mm multi-purpose guns. The “88” was a remarkable weapon. The Germans used it against flying aircraft. as well as an anti-tank gun.
The gun was radar controlled. It would track our formation and determine our course - or heading. It would also calculate our altitude. So that if the shell didn’t strike a plane, it would burst at our level, and spew shrapnel all over the sky! Invariably, a plane would be hit, one way or another. On some missions, the black bursts of flak were so thick that you felt you could walk on them. The radar would also have to determine where the plane would be, when the 88 shell arrived at altitude. In other words, the shell had to be fired ahead of the plane, so that the shell and the plane arrived at the same spot in the sky - at the same time. While I am trying to simplify the process, I feel that I am complicating it.
We ran into a lot of the 88 batteries, that were mounted on barges, anchored in the harbors. This strategy gave the Germans a lot of flexibility, because the guns could be easily moved. The “88” was used very effectively defending the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti. The guns were firing point- blank at the low-flying B-24’s. The casualties were very high - partly due to the pattern foul ups in the target area. But, this is a another story.