The Best Gun of WWII – Flak 88 in photos

Falcon® Photography / CC BY-SA 2.0
Falcon® Photography / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Flak 88 was a legendary WWII-era anti-air and an anti-tank gun used by Nazi Germany and their allies.

The predecessor of this iconic gun was produced by Krupp during the First World War, designated as 8.8 cm Flak 16, as one of the first specially designed AA cannons, it soon showed results in countering the swarm of newly-developed aircraft which were conquering the skies above Europe. However, the German Empire suffered a crushing defeat, forcing extreme budget cuts on its military.

Anti aircraft gun Flak 88
Anti aircraft gun Flak 88

Despite the Treaty of Versaille forbidding the German military to produce such heavy weapons in the interwar period, the 88 series were constantly improved and developed. The semi-automatic loading system made it easy to use since the shells would be disposed of by levers and the loader would insert the second shell.

But the trick in producing any functional anti-aircraft gun was in achieving high muzzle velocity while firing heavy projectiles high into the air. This was the main trait of every Flak 88 model ― from its introduction in 1917 to the late-WWII versions adapted for heavy tanks and tank destroyers such as the Tiger and Jagdpanther.

88 mm gun eighty-eight 8.8 cm Flak. Photo: Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden / CC BY 2.0
88 mm gun eighty-eight 8.8 cm Flak. Photo: Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden / CC BY 2.0

In 1933, when the Nazis seized power, the 8.8 cm Flak 18 was put into mass production. What followed were improved versions created in 1936, 1937, and ultimately in 1941. The 8.8 cm Flak 41 became the symbol of air defense in Nazi Germany as its powerful 20 lb (9.4-kilogram) shell was capable of knocking down Allied bombers and fighters at an altitude of more than 26,240 ft (8000 m).

Once the Wehrmacht realized the scale of firepower which the 88 caliber had to offer, projects were initiated to produce an anti-tank version called the 8.8 cm PaK 43 and to fit the gun onto tanks. Besides impenetrable armor, the 88 gun designated as the 8.8 cm KwK 36 and later the KwK 43 tank gun was the main advantage which made the Tiger tanks so dreaded by Allied servicemen.

88mm flak AA gun
88mm flak AA gun

Although its primary use was to ward off invading high-altitude bombers by using high-explosive ammo, on the ground the 88 caliber had a devastating effect, once supplied with armor-piercing shells and a variety of anti-tank projectiles.

Its successful service history is perhaps best described in the words of an American historian and WWII veteran. Paul Fussell wrote that American troops knew that the greatest single weapon of the war, the atomic bomb excepted, was the German 88-mm flat-trajectory gun, which brought down thousands of bombers and tens of thousands of soldiers. The Allies had nothing as good.

8.8cm Flak. Photo: Mark Pellegrini / CC BY-SA 2.5
8.8cm Flak. Photo: Mark Pellegrini / CC BY-SA 2.5
Flak 18 88 30
Flak 18 88 30
German Flak 18 88 mm anti aircraft artillery
German Flak 18 88 mm anti aircraft artillery
Flak 8,8 cm Flak Crew Paint Victory Kill Rings
Flak 8,8 cm Flak Crew Paint Victory Kill Rings
Flak 18 88mm gun
Flak 18 88mm gun
Flak 88 gun ready to firing against aircraft
Flak 88 gun ready to firing against aircraft
Flak 88 Regiment 24 Artemowsk Winter 1941
Flak 88 Regiment 24 Artemowsk Winter 1941
Two 88 mm anti-aircraft guns stands ready for action.
Two 88 mm anti-aircraft guns stands ready for action.
German 88 mm Artillery Flak 18
German 88 mm Artillery Flak 18
German anti aircraft gun Flak
German anti aircraft gun Flak
Flak 88 1944 Gobschelwitz Leipzig Germany
Flak 88 1944 Gobschelwitz Leipzig Germany
A burnt out German 88 mm FlaK 36 gun and its SdKfz 8 half track near El Alamein, Egypt.
A burnt out German 88 mm FlaK 36 gun and its SdKfz 8 half track near El Alamein, Egypt.

Flak 18 88 wwii artillery
Flak 18 88 wwii artillery

Nikola Budanovic

Nikola Budanovic is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE