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The 12th Flak Division () was a flak division of the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II. It was active from early 1942 until 1945.
On 21 December 1942, Ernst Buffa replaced Frantz as divisional commander. In 1943/44, it received the 133rd, 125th and 35th Flak Regiments from the neighboring 18th Flak Division and in turn transferred the 34th and 101st Flak Regiments. It saw combat in the Demyansk sector and was at Bryansk,
History
The 12th Flak Division was formed in early 1942 (probably on 1 February 1942) in the central sector of the Eastern Front from the staff of the9th Flak Brigade This is a list of German brigades in World War II. The list aims to include all brigade-level military formations of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during World War II.
Brigades, in German army parlance prior to 1944, generally designated ...
. It took over the former 9th Flak Brigade's air signals detachment, which became Air Signals Detachment 132 under command of the 12th Flak Division. It was the first newly-formed motorized flak division that was deployed in the field to provide additional combat strength on the Eastern Front, in this case to Army Group Center in the aftermath of the Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
(1941/42). In May 1942, it was placed in charge of the air defense of the southern part of the army group, including the 2nd Army and 4th Army, by taking over the 21st, 34th and 101st Flak Regiment from 18th Flak Division
18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.
In mathematics
* Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...
. The initial divisional commander was Gotthard Frantz.
On 21 December 1942, Ernst Buffa replaced Frantz as divisional commander. In 1943/44, it received the 133rd, 125th and 35th Flak Regiments from the neighboring 18th Flak Division and in turn transferred the 34th and 101st Flak Regiments. It saw combat in the Demyansk sector and was at Bryansk, Oryol
Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...
and Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
in early 1943. At the Battle of Kursk, it fought for the 9th Army, as part of Luftflotte 6 Luftflotte 6For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 6) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on May 5, 1943 from Luftwaffenkommando Ost ...
, and reported 383 downed Soviet aircraft. It was supported at Kursk by 10th Flak Brigade. In October 1943, it was placed under the supervision of II Flak Corps A flak corps (german: Flakkorps) was a massed anti-aircraft (AA) artillery formation employed by the '' Luftwaffe'' for anti-aircraft, antitank, and fire support operations in World War II. A ''Flakkorps'' was a flexible organization that was made ...
, along with the 18th Flak Division (at Orsha) and 10th Flak Brigade (at Vitebsk), later also joined by the 23rd Flak Division
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
( Fichter). By the end of the year 1943, it was at Zboriv, still under the supervision of II Flak Corps (still under Luftflotte 6). In 1944, it saw action at Babruysk. After the destruction of Army Group Center, dubbed " Operation ''Bagration''" on the Soviet side, the 12th Flak Division was initially at Baranavichy
Baranavichy ( ; be, Бара́навічы, Belarusian Latin alphabet, Łacinka: , ; russian: Бара́новичи; yi, באַראַנאָוויטש; pl, Baranowicze) is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus, with a population (as of ...
and later at Mława. During ''Bagration'', the flak formations of the II Flak Corps had distinguished themselves in anti-tank warfare
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first devel ...
against Red Army tanks. Werner Prellberg replaced Buffa as divisional commander on 15 April 1944. Prellberg was later promoted to Generalleutnant during his tenure, on 1 August. The former divisional commander Buffa later received the Knight's Cross
Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...
on 5 September 1944.
In 1945, it was at the Vistula estuary at Danzig, under supervision of the 2nd Army. On 10 April 1945, the 12th Flak Division was pulled out of the line for an intended redeployment to Swinemünde to eventually reach Luftgau VIII at Pilsen, but only managed to reach Berlin by war's end. Much of the division was destroyed in the Battle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II.
After the Vistula– ...
until 2 May 1945, though remnants of the division managed to escape westwards, evade encirclement by the Red Army and surrendered to United States Army forces on 9 May.
References