Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - All Gauge Page

58 COMPANY OFFICER'S HANDBOOK
Germans call antiaircraft guns Flak, an abbreviation of Flug(zeug)-
abwehrkanone. Antiaircraft guns are especially important to ground
troops because, as dual-purpose or multi-purpose weapons, they
may be used not only against aircraft but. also against ground
targets, especially tanks.
German tactical doctrine stresses the importance of mobility in
artillery, especially for those weapons used against tanks. The recent
trend has been to provide dual-purpose guns of small and
medium calibers with self-propelled mounts. The 20-mm gun is also
found in a four-barreled mount (Flakvierling), which is often on a
half-track. German antiaircraft guns exist in various calibers (20-
mm, 37-mm, 40-mm, 50-mm, 75-mm, 88-mm, 105-mm, 128-mm, and
150-mm). Of these the 20-mm (fig. 43) (frequently on a selfpropelled
mount) is the principal light dual-purpose gun, and the
88-mm (fig. 44) the principal heavy dual-purpose gun of ground
troops, although the other calibers up to 105-mm are sometimes
encountered.
Both the 20-mm and the 88-mm will be encountered in the
motorized Army antiaircraft battalion (Heeresflakartillerieabteilung
(not) ) and the antiaircraft battalion (Flakbatallon) of the
artillery regiment of the panzer, panzer-grenadier, and Waffen-SS
divisions.
The antiaircraft' machine-gun battalion (Fla-Bataillon) has 20-
mm or 37-mm guns in addition to machine guns, and the antiaircraft
company of the antitank battalion of some divisions is
equipped with g0-mm guns. (For the principal characteristics of
icommon antiaircraft guns, see fig. 45, p.r60.)
25. OBSTACLES, LAND MINES, AND BOOBY TRAPS
a. General
The Germans use obstacles (Sperrenj as important weapons and
tactical aids. The term Sperren, as they use it, includes everything
that can make the advance of opposing troops more difficult and
more dangerous, such as ditches, tank traps, wirefdemolitions,
mines and booby traps, or some or all of these in combination.
Sperren are protected by fire from weapons whenever possible.