After the battle at Halfaya Pass a member of Rommel's staff overheard a captured British tank driver under interrogation expressing his indignation: "In my opinion," said the Englishman, with an unfriendly glance at a near-by 88, "...it is unfair to use 'flak' against our tanks."
A German artilleryman who was sitting on his haunches near by, listening to the interpretation, interjected excitedly, "Ja, and I think it most unfair of you to attack with tanks whose armour nothing but an 88 will penetrate."

Development

Prototype of FlaK 18 was in development (as early as 1928) by Krupp of Essen in cooperation with Swedish firm Bofors, but entered production after Hitler's rise to power in 1933/34. It was mounted on a pivoted cruciform carriage, which was carried by two single axle trailers, which allowed it to be quickly mounted/dismounted. The FlaK 18 had a single piece barrel. The next model FlaK 36 was basically a FlaK 18 with multi-section barrel and a new type of transport trailer system. FlaK 36 was followed by Flak 37, which was again an improved FlaK 36 with revised fire control data transmission system, which made the gun more suited for static rather than mobile use. FlaK 36 and FlaK 37 differ from each other by the carriages. FlaK 18 was transported using a lighter trailer (Sonderanhänger 201) and was lighter in transport than the later models, which used the Sonderanhänger 202 of 1200kg. All three models were interchangeable and often Flak 18 barrels were mounted on FlaK 36/37 carriages. The nomenclature as a "PaK" variant was used when the 'original form '88' had elements for anti-aircraft tracking removed... some PaK variants kept the 'fusing' circuits for setting firing height and also the Folgezeigeempfänger (for anti-aircraft fire from a central director) removed from the left side of the gun. Various protection shield forms were employed to give some small arms and 'splinter' protection for the men manning the weapon.

Factory Line Drawings

"88" Variant Specifications

Projectile "Ammo" Specifications

Bibliography

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