World War 2 In Review

2 cm Flak 30, Flak 38 and Flakvierling 38: German Anti-aircraft Guns

2 cm anti-aircraft gun with Hitler Youth (Flakhelfer) on the Flaktower Berlin-Gesundbrunnen (Humboldthain), 1943.

The Flak 30 (Flugzeugabwehrkanone 30) and improved Flak 38 were 20 mm anti-aircraft guns used by various German forces throughout World War II. It was not only the primary German light anti-aircraft gun but by far the most numerously produced German artillery piece throughout the war. It was produced in a variety of models, notably the Flakvierling 38 which combined four Flak 38 autocannons onto a single carriage.

Development

The Germans fielded the unrelated early 2 cm Flak 28 just after World War I, but the Treaty of Versailles outlawed these weapons and they were sold to Switzerland.

The original Flak 30 design was developed from the Solothurn ST-5 as a project for the Kriegsmarine, which produced the 20 mm C/30. The gun fired the "Long Solothurn", a 20 × 138 mm belted cartridge that had been developed for the ST-5 and was one of the more powerful 20 mm rounds.

The C/30, featuring a barrel length of 65 calibers, had a fire rate of about 120 rounds per minute. It proved to have feeding problems and would often jam, which was offset to some degree by its undersized 20 round-magazine which tended to make reloading a frequent necessity. Nevertheless, the C/30 became the primary shipborne light AA weapon and equipped a large variety of German ships. The MG C/30L variant was also used experimentally as an aircraft weapon, notably on the Heinkel He 112, where its high power allowed it to penetrate armored cars and the light tanks of the era during the Spanish Civil War.

Rheinmetall then started an adaptation of the C/30 for Army use, producing the 2 cm Flak 30. Generally similar to the C/30, the main areas of development were the mount, which was fairly compact.

Set-up could be accomplished by dropping the gun off its two-wheeled trailer, "Sonderanhänger 51" (trailer 51) and leveling the gun using hand cranks. The result was a triangular base that permitted fire in all directions.

But the main problem with the design remained unsolved. The rate of fire of 120 RPM (rounds per minute) was not particularly fast for a weapon of this caliber. Rheinmetall responded with the 2 cm Flak 38, which was otherwise similar but increased the rate of fire by 220 RPM and slightly lowered overall weight to 420 kg. The Flak 38 was accepted as the standard Army gun in 1939, and by the Kriegsmarine as the C/38.

In order to provide airborne and mountain troops with an AA capability, Mauser was contracted to produce a lighter version of the Flak 38, which they introduced as the 2 cm Gebirgsflak 38 (2 cm GebFlak 38). It featured a dramatically simplified mount using a tripod that raised the entire gun off the ground, with the additional benefit of allowing the weapon to be set up on an uneven surface. These changes reduced the overall weight of the gun to 276.0 kg. Production started in 1941 and it entered service in 1942.

Ammunition

A range of 20x138B ammunition was manufactured for 2 cm Flak weapons, the more commonly used types are listed on the following table. Other types included practice rounds (marked Übung or Üb. in German notation) and a number of different AP types including a high-velocity PzGr 40 round with a tungsten carbide core in an aluminum body.

German designation	US Abbreviation	Projectile weight [g]	Bursting charge	Muzzle velocity [m/s]	Description
Sprenggranatpatrone L'spur mit Zerleger	HEF-T	115	6,2 - 6,4 g HE (PETN + wax)	888 m/s	Nose fuzed tracer round, self-destruct after 5.5 - 6.5 seconds (2000m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Sprenggranatpatrone L'spur W mit Zerleger	HEF-T	120	6,2 - 6,4 g HE (PETN + wax)	?	Boat-tailed HE-Frag. nose fuzed tracer round with heat transfer. Self-destruct after 5.5 - 6.5 seconds (2000m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Sprenggranatpatrone 39 Erd	HEF	132	11 g HE (PETN + wax)	995 m/s	HE-Frag. round with nose fuze, no tracer. Exclusively against ground targets.
Brandsprenggranatpatrone L'spur (Flak) mit Zerleger	HEI-T	120-122	2,4 g HE (PETN) + 4.1 g (Aluminum)	900 m/s	Nose fuze, tracer, with self-destruct after 5.5 - 6.5 seconds (2000m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Brandsprenggranatpatrone ohne L'spur (Flak) mit Zerleger	HEI	117-120	22 g total 20 g HE Hexogen 5 (RDX) + (Zinc) powder + wax	900 m/s	Boat-tailed nose fuzed HEI round, no tracer, self-destruct after 5.5 - 8 seconds flight (2000-2800m range). Lack of tracer and high density of incendiary allows heavy filling load.
Bransprenggranatpatrone L'spur W mit Zerleger	HEFI-T	119-120	6,6 - 6,8 g HE (PETN) + (Aluminum) + wax	900 m/s	Boat-tailed nose fuzed HE-Frag. incendiary tracer round with heat transfer. Self-destruct after at 2000m range due to tracer burn-through.
Brandsprenggranatpatrone vk. L'spur mit Zerleger	HEI-T	116	19 g HE Hexogen 5 (RDX) + (Aluminum) or (Zinc) powder + wax	?	Boat-tailed nose fuzed HEI tracer round. Self-destruct after 6 second (2200-2400m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Brandsprenggranatpatrone vk. L'spur W mit Zerleger	HEI-T	116	19 g HE Hexogen 5 (RDX) + (Aluminum) or (Zinc) powder + wax	?	Boat-tailed nose fuzed HEI tracer round with heat transfer. Self-destruct after 5.5 second (2000m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Brandsprenggranatpatrone mit Zerleger?	HEI	100	? g HE ? + ? g incendiary (WP)	1050 m/s	Nose fuze, no tracer, with self-destruct?
Brandsprenggranatpatrone L'spur mit Zerleger?	HEI-T	100	? g HE ? + ? g incendiary (WP)	1050 m/s	Nose fuze, tracer, with self-destruct? after ? second (?m range) due to tracer burn-through.
Minengeschosspatrone X L'spur mit Zerleger	HEI-T (M)	109	24,5 - 25 g HE HA 41 (RDX + (Aluminum) powder + wax)	950	Boat-tailed nose fuzed HE Mine-shell tracer round, self-destruct.
Panzergranatpatrone L'spur mit Zerleger	AP-T	146-148	2,4 g (PETN) + ? g (WP)	830 m/s	Base-fuzed tracer round, with self-destruct due to tracer burn-through after 4.5 second flight (1800m range).
Panzergranatpatrone L'spur mit Zerleger	AP-T	159	2,5 g (PETN) + ? g (WP)	?	Boat-tailed base-fuzed tracer round, with self-destruct after 2 second flight (1000m range).
Panzergranatpatrone 39	AP	148	w/o filling	780 m/s	No fuze, no tracer or self-destruct function.
Panzergranatpatrone 40 L'spur	APIHC-T APICR-T HVAPI-T	100-101	Light metal shell, special steel core	1050 m/s	Tungsten carbide core. Tracer round, with no fuze or self-destruct function. Tracer burn-through after 0,9 - 1.5 second flight (600m range). Penetrating effect with incendiary effect due to melting of light metal tip.
Panzerbrandgranatpatrone (Phosphor) L'spur ohne Zerleger	API-T	148	3,0 g incendiary (WP)	780 m/s	Tracer round, with no fuze or self-destruct function. Tracer burn-through after 1,8 second flight (1000m range).
Panzergranatpatrone L'spur ohne Zerleger	AP-T	143	w/o filling	800 m/s	Tracer round, with no fuze or self-destruct function. Tracer burn-through after 1,8 second flight (1000m range).
Panzersprenggranatpatrone L'spur ohne Zerleger	APHE-T	121	3,6 g HE (PETN)	900 m/s	Base-fuzed tracer round, no self-destruct.
Panzersprenggranatpatrone L'spur mit Zerleger (Kriegsmarine)(Luftwaffe)	APHE-T	121	3,6 g HE (PETN)	900 m/s	Base-fuzed tracer round, self-destruct after 2 second flight (1000m range) or 4.3 - 4.6 seconds flight (1800m range) due to tracer burn-through.

2 cm Flakvierling 38

Even as the Flak 30 was entering service, the Luftwaffe and Heer (army) branches of the Wehrmacht had doubts about its effectiveness, given the ever-increasing speeds of low-altitude fighter-bombers and attack aircraft. The Army in particular felt the proper solution was the introduction of the 37 mm caliber weapons they had been developing since the 1920s, which had a rate of fire about the same as the Flak 38 but fired a round with almost eight times the weight. This not only made the rounds deadlier on impact, but their higher energy and ballistic coefficient allowed them to travel much longer distances, allowing the gun to engage targets at longer ranges. This meant it could keep enemy aircraft under fire over longer time spans.

The 20 mm weapons had always had weak development perspectives, often being reconfigured or redesigned just enough to allow the weapons to find a use. Indeed, it came as a surprise when Rheinmetall introduced the 2 cm Flakvierling 38, which improved the weapon just enough to make it competitive again. The term Vierling literally translates to "quadruplet" and refers to the four 20 mm autocannon constituting the design.

The Flakvierling weapon consisted of quad-mounted 2 cm Flak 38 AA guns with collapsing seats, folding handles, and ammunition racks. The mount had a triangular base with a jack at each leg for leveling the gun. The tracker traversed and elevated the mount manually using two handwheels. When raised, the weapon measured 307 cm (10 feet 1 inch) high.

Each of the four guns had a separate magazine that held only 20 rounds. This meant that a maximum combined rate of fire of 1,400 rounds per minute was reduced practically to 800 rounds per minute for combat use – which would still require that an emptied magazine be replaced every six seconds, on each of the four guns. This is the attainable rate of fire; the sustained rate of fire is significantly lower due to heat buildup and barrel erosion. Automatic weapons are typically limited to roughly 100 rounds per minute per barrel to give time for the heat to dissipate, although this can be exceeded for short periods if the firing window is brief.

The gun was fired by two pedals — each of which fired two diametrically opposite barrels — in either semi-automatic or automatic mode. The effective vertical range was 2,200 meters. It was also used just as effectively against ground targets as it was against low-flying aircraft.

Mounting Versatility

The Flakvierling four-autocannon anti-aircraft ordnance system, when not mounted into any self-propelled mount, was normally transported Sd. Ah. 52 trailer, and could be towed behind a variety of half-tracks or trucks, such as the Opel Blitz and the armored Sd.Kfz. 251 and unarmored Sd.Kfz. 7/1 and Sd.Kfz. 11 artillery-towing half-track vehicles. Its versatility concerning the vehicles it could be mounted to included its use even on tank hulls to produce fully armored mobile anti-aircraft vehicles, such as the Panzer IV-based low-production Wirbelwind and original Möbelwagen prototype-design, anti-aircraft tanks. In Kriegsmarine use, it was fitted to U-boats, Siebel ferries and ships to provide short-range anti-aircraft defense, and was also employed in fixed installations around ports, harbors and other strategic naval targets. The Flakvierling was also a common fixture on trains, even on Hitler's own command train, where pairs of them were mounted on either end of a "camelback" flatbed car and then covered to make it look like a boxcar, sometimes with a pair of such twin-Flakvierling mount cars for defense, one near each end of Hitler's Führersonderzug train.

Users

Germany

Lithuania: 150 Flak 30 (named 20 mm lėktuvinis automatinis pabūklas, LAP) bought in 1939.

Finland: 50 Flak 30 (named 20 Itk/30 BSW) delivered from Germany in 1939. 113 Flak 38 (named 20 ItK/38 BSW) guns bought during the Continuation War.

Greece: 108 total in service.

Romania: 300 ordered in September 1940, the delivery beginning in May 1941, known as Gustloff guns (after one of their manufacturers).

Denmark: 69 in service from 1945 to 1955 in The Royal Danish Navy, where it was known as 20 mm Mk M/39 LvSa, mounted on minesweepers of the SØLØVE class and motor torpedo boats of the GLENTEN class.

Sweden: 56 Flak 30 bought in 1939, designated 20 mm lvakan m/39 in Swedish service.

Netherlands: 30 Flak 30 guns were bought and sent over for the Dutch East Indies army in 1938.

Portugal: unknown number of Flak 30/38 guns (named Metralhadora Pesada AA 20mm m/943) bought in 1943 and used by the Portuguese Army during the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1975).

Specifications

Type: Anti-aircraft gun

Place of origin: Nazi Germany

In service: March 1940–1945

Used by: Nazi Germany

Wars: World War II

Designer: Mauser

Designed: 1940

Manufacturer:

Mauser

Rheinmetall

Ostmarkwerk

Produced: 1940–1945

Number built: 3,768

Mass: 1,509 kg (3,327 lbs) with trailer

Length: 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)

Barrel length: 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in) L/65

Width: 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

Height: 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in)

Crew: 8

Shell: 20×138mmB

Caliber: 2,0cm (.78 in)

Action: Recoil operation

Breech: Rotating bolt

Carriage: Sd.Ah 52 (Special Trailer 52)

Elevation: - 10° - +100°

Traverse: 360°

Rate of fire:

1,800 rpm (Cyclic)

800 rpm (Practical)

Muzzle velocity: 900 m/s (2,953 ft/s)

Effective firing range: 2,200 m (2,406 yds) (anti-aircraft)

Maximum firing range: 5,783 m (5,230 yds) (ground range)

Feed system: 4x 20 round box magazines

Bibliography

Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979

Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. 2nd corrected edition. Mechanicsville, PA: Stackpole Books, 1997

Flugabwehrkanone 30.

Flugabwehrkanone 38.

2cm Gebirgsflak 38.

2cm Flakvierling 38.

Flak 38.

Flak 30 on the Eastern Front December 1941.

Flak 38, December 21, 1942.

Members of the Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland train with a 2,0cm Flakvierling 38, November 5, 1943.

The rear-location wheelhouse of this Siebel ferry features a Flakvierling quadmount AA battery to defend it in 1943 Yugoslavia.

Partisans of the Prešeren Brigade learn to use a 2 cm Flak.

2 cm Flak 30 on standard chassis for heavy passenger cars (Einheitsfahrgestell für schweren Personenkraftwagen), October 6, 1943.

2 cm Flak 30 on Sonderanhänger 51

Despatch Rider

A motorcycle despatch rider delivers a message to the signals office of 1st Border Regiment at Orchies, 13 October 1939. Imperial War Museum O129.

A despatch rider (or dispatch) is a military messenger, mounted on horse or motorcycle (and occasionally in Egypt during World War I, on camels).

In the UK 'despatch rider' is also a term used for a motorcycle courier.

Despatch riders were used by armed forces to deliver urgent orders and messages between headquarters and military units. They had a vital role at a time when telecommunications were limited and insecure. They were also used to deliver carrier pigeons.

During World War II despatch riders were often referred to as Don Rs (from phonetic spelling for D in "DR") in Commonwealth forces. In World War II, Royal Corps of Signals soldiers carried out the role and the Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team was formed from their number. They were also used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, where they maintained contact with land bases and some of the riders were members of the Women's Royal Naval Service. In the UK, Bletchley Park initially received transmissions from the listening stations (Y-stations) by despatch rider, but this was later switched to teleprinter transmission.

The British military often used Triumph, Norton, BSA, Matchless and Ariel for despatch riders, and although radio communications were much more advanced during World War II than World War I - huge numbers were produced (e.g. over 75,000 Norton 16H models).

Memoirs of Riders

W. H. L. Watson. Adventures of a Motorcycle Despatch Rider During the First World War.

Raymond Mitchell Commando Despatch Rider.

Albert Simpkin - edited by David Venner. "Despatch Rider on the Western Front 1915–1918: The Diary of Sergeant Albert Simpkin MM".

British women dispatch riders. South African girls who went to England to join the "First Aid Nursing Yeomanry" learn stunt riding to give them balance and confidence in handling their machines. They are members of a dispatch riding section.

An Indian Dispatch Rider making up time on a good stretch of road in Cyprus, 3 March 1942.

A little girl holding an umbrella watches a despatch rider attempt to clear the carburetor of his motorcycle in torrential rain, 4 October 1943. Imperial War Museum NA7526.

ATS motorcycle despatch rider in Northern Ireland, 26 September 1941. Imperial War Museum H14291.

A motorcycle despatch rider putting on his gas mask during a 50-mile motorcycle trial in Cyprus, 3 March 1942. Imperial War Museum E9025.

Motorcycle despatch riders wearing gas masks during a section of a 50-mile motorcycle trial in Cyprus, 3 March 1942. Imperial War Museum E9027.

A Canadian motorcycle despatch rider on a Norton 16H seeks directions in a Normandy village. Imperial War Museum HU 69102.

Canadian motorcycle despatch rider surrounded by young children at a brigade HQ, March 1943. Imperial War Museum H28023.

A French civilian greets British troops in La Brèche d'Hermanville, 6 June 1944. The three CMP (Corps of Military Police) despatch riders are from No. 5 or 6 Beach Group (note formation sign of a red anchor on a pale blue background), attached to 3rd Division. Imperial War Museum B5028.

Force Publique dispatch rider, Belgian Congo, circa 1942.

Royal Corps of Signals motorcycle despatch riders arrive at the mobile headquarters of an armored division, 30 August 1941. The vehicle is an AEC 4x4 Armoured Command Vehicle (ACV) Type 1. Imperial War Museum H13261.

Driver A Beagle, an RASC despatch rider, working on his Matchless G3 motorcycle, 19 March 1944. Imperial War Museum NA 13092.

Soldiers of the unit to which Captain Ardizzone was attached are seen traveling along a road by the side of a canal. On the right is a French angler who is intent on his sport and pays no attention to the passing troops, whereas the Frenchwoman on the left with her children is ready to exchange a joke with the British soldiers. Leading away to the distance is a road with a low house to the left and a canal running beside it. In the right middle distance there stands a substantial house surrounded by a park and trees. Moving away from the viewer along the road is a column of British Army transport followed by a motorcycle despatch rider. In the back of the rearmost vehicle a soldier leers at a woman standing near the low house. She has two small children in hand, and she smiles back at the soldier. To the right of the column, sitting on the canal bank a man, wearing an overcoat and bowler hat, sits fishing. 1940. Imperial War Museum ART LD 129.

A motorcycle despatch rider hands a message to an officer of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment on the Isernia front, 20 November 1943. Imperial War Museum NA8903.

A motorcycle despatch rider checks his route with a Canadian military policeman, 30 January-3 February 1944. Imperial War Museum NA11744.

A motorcycle despatch rider watches as the message he has brought to 8th Indian Division HQ is handed to the GOC, Major General D Russell, by his ADC, Captain D A Sconce, 30 January-3 February 1944. Imperial War Museum NA 11749.

Royal Signals despatch riders wash and shave in slit trenches at 69th Brigade HQ, 50th Division, 13 June 1944. Imperial War Museum B5436.

A motorcycle despatch rider passes a knocked-out Sherman tank and behind, a German Panther at Fontenay-le-Pesnel, 27 June 1944. Imperial War Museum B6043.

Sgt J Lloyd (right) and L/Cpl Jones, two motorcycle despatch riders of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers have a 'brew' before the attack on Evrecy, 16 July 1944. Imperial War Museum B7567.

The despatch rider letter service counter in the Corps Signal Office at 12 Corps HQ, 19 August 1944. Imperial War Museum B9397.

Corporal P W Collings, a Royal Corps of Signals motorcycle despatch rider with 11th Armoured Division, being briefed by Major E W Townsend, 23 October 1944. Imperial War Museum B11181.

Corporal P W Collings, a Royal Corps of Signals motorcycle despatch rider with 11th Armoured Division, delivers a message to a Cromwell tank commander, 23 October 1944. Imperial War Museum B11190.

A despatch rider pushes his motorcycle along a flooded road in Holland, past an artillery tractor which has got stuck in a ditch, 8 November 1944. Imperial War Museum B11816.

A military policeman on traffic duty waves a motorcycle despatch rider through the traffic in Holland, 11 December 1944. Imperial War Museum B12737.

A small boy helps a motorcycle despatch rider negotiate a muddy road in Holland, 11 December 1944. Imperial War Museum B12745.

A motorcycle despatch rider greets Madame Scarlette, an Englishwoman who runs the Hotel des Fleurs in the village of Les Andelys (place Saint-Sauveur), 31 August 1944. Imperial War Museum B9868.

Motorcycle despatch riders pass messages to a headquarters Scout Car Mk IB during an exercise to test airfield defences in the South of England, 22 July 1941. Imperial War Museum H11826.

An ATS policewoman inspects a motorcycle despatch rider's identity card at No.7 ATS Training Centre at Stoughton near Guildford, 24 September 1941. Imperial War Museum H14169.

Royal Army Service Corps despatch riders or 'Don Rs' button up their protective coats, Southend, 6 January 1943. Imperial War Museum H26531.

Royal Corps of Signals motorcycle despatch riders transport carrier pigeons in baskets strapped to their backs, Southern Command, 15 August 1940. Imperial War Museum H3048.

Snow-covered motorcycle despatch riders attached to 2nd Corps Headquarters at Newmarket, 7 January 1941. Imperial War Museum H6469.

A British despatch rider on a motorbike pulled up beside a canvas topped army truck. The driver leans out of his cab window, listening to the despatch rider who is pointing ahead. Imperial War Museum Art.IWM ART LD 1960.

Wren (Women's Royal Naval Service) dispatch riders receiving instruction for their next journey. Some of the Wren riders are well known competition riders. Imperial War Museum A2832.

Two ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) trainee motorcycle despatch riders and a Royal Army Service Corps instructor at York, 23 May 1941. Imperial War Museum H9941.