World War
Famous World War II German Artillery
The 88mm gun was a famous family of German artillery pieces employed throughout World War II. Originally developed for the anti-aircraft role, it was discovered that they were even far more proficient as anti-tank artillery, in which role the weapon has cemented its fearsome reputation, being able to knock out even heavy tanks at maximum ranges.
The English word “flak” comes from the German “FlaK” for “Flugzeugabwehr-Kanone” or “anti-aircraft cannon.” When its prowess as an anti-tank weapon was discovered, efforts had began to mount 88s onto tank chasses and turrets, resulting in the formidable armaments found on the Tiger series of tanks, among others, where they were known by the designation of “KwK” for “Kampfwagen-Kanone” or “fighting vehicle cannon.” The dedicated anti-tank gun version, handled by artillerymen, was named “PaK,” or “Panzerabwehr-Kanone,” for “anti-tank cannon.”
Its high muzzle velocity and faster rates of fire only added to its mystique. Numerous feats of heroism had been made possible by the 88mm gun, including that of the lone foreign SS volunteer who held off eighty Soviet tanks for hours on end after all the rest of his crew and even the whole battery had been killed in action. Apocryphal tales circulated; one British tankman captured by Rommel’s Afrika Korps is reputed to have accused the Germans of bad sportsmanship in employing such an “unfair” weapon.
In the closing stages of the war, as the battle drew ever closer to the German homeland and its major cities, the 88mm cannons had been to resume their original anti-aircraft roles even though the much more pressing concern was not Allied bombers but Russian tanks because it was deemed a political necessity; the sight of these awesome flak guns would far better inspire civilian morale during the daily round-the-clock bombing raids conducted by American and British airmen than would their deployment in crowded landscapes against well concealed tanks – unlike the vast expanses of Russia or Africa, the natural features of German geography would have undermined the 88’s greatest assets, its range and its punching power.
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