Fliers' Menace: Flak

Note: This exhibit has temporarily been removed from display.

Although the Luftwaffe was broken, German antiaircraft fire, or flak, took an ever-increasing toll on USAAF airmen. Since fighter-bomber pilots worked at low level, flak was particularly dangerous -- if their aircraft took a mortal hit, they were too low to bail out.

Flak is short for Fliegerabwehrkanone (or literally "flier defense cannon"), and it came in many sizes up to the 128mm guns found in large cities. Two of the most effective types of flak were the 20mm light antiaircraft gun and the famous 88mm dual-purpose gun.

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