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Once Joey -> Flak Towers (of the Third Reich) (7/6/2011 4:45:59 AM)
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Two questions... ummm. Are the Germany Flak Tower values represented in Eagle Day (or in the original 'Bombing the Reich')? Also, does anybody know which part of the three cities/towns/neighborhoods the Flak Towers were built?
The "Flak Towers" (of the Third Reich) were massive structures up to 12 stories high built of reinforced concrete whose exterior walls and roofs were up to 10 feet thick. They were designed and built in response to the Allied bombing of Berlin in August 1940.
The main function of the towers was less shooting down Allied Bombers (although that was important), but more to put up such a mass of anti-aircraft fire as to hinder bombing attacks on the area immediately around them. Flak, a word used by both sides, is the abbreviation of the German word “Fliegerabwehrkanone,” which translates as “air defense cannon”.
Three such towers were built in Berlin, three in Vienna, and two in Hamburg (Each tower actually consisted of two towers), the very large gun tower known as the ‘G-Tower’ and a smaller fire-control tower located nearby known as the ‘L Tower’. The fire control tower transmitted the targeting values to the gun tower by wire – that is telephone/telegraph wire – that was buried deep below ground in a concrete tunnel to protect the wires from being severed.
Although both towers in each pair usually contained a multitude of Flak guns from 20mm to 128mm, one tower (always the taller and larger of the two) was commonly known as the gun tower on which four 128mm Flak cannons were placed on the roof. It appears the necessity of a separate radio tower was due to the massive shock waves created by the simultaneous firing of multitudinous 128mm Flak cannon in the gun tower which either interfered with the radio waves themselves used by the radio tower to locate enemy planes or with the ability of personnel to use the radio equipment.
In addition to serving as platforms for anti-aircraft guns, each G Tower had a large bomb shelter for civilians. These shelters were designed to accommodate thousands of civilians, a hospital, workshops of various sorts, and Wehrmacht command posts. Each tower had an independent supply of electricity and water as well as barracks and offices for the Luftwaffe personnel who operated the tower and the guns.
In the Third Reich, all anti-aircraft defense was the responsibility of the Luftwaffe. (Estimates of civilians holed up in a single one of these structures at the end of the war run from 20,000 to 40,000 and it is generally accepted that 20,000 is not an unlikely number). Because these were such massive structures, many of them remain since no one can figure out how to dismantle them without wrecking an entire neighborhood!!
Oh, yeah, two questions... ummm. Are the Germany Flak Tower values represented in Eagle Day (or in the original 'Bombing the Reich')? Also, does anybody know which part of the three cities/towns/neighborhoods the Flak Towers were built?
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