Original German WWII Luftwaffe Flak Photograph Group – 126 Photos Total Original Items

Original Group. One-of-a-Kind. This is a tremendous lot of WWII photographs taken by a Luftwaffe Flak gunner in the field during the war. There are 126 original photographs in the lot, containing a myriad of scenes from firing flak guns in the snow, soldiers skiing, a Panzer tank in a field, a house burning down, soldiers marching, along with a ton of humorous shots.

The photos all measure roughly 2¼ x 1¼”. The majority of them are bending as these always do over time. There are so many fantastic shots in this group, throughout many different environments. There are a great deal of photos taken in a cold environment with soldiers wearing winter gear and often smoking. There are soldiers eating from their mess kits, mounting their flak guns, changing tires, looking through binoculars, driving. There’s too much to mention!

This is a fantastic look into the everyday life of a Luftwaffe Flak gunner. There are hours worth of research in these photographs waiting to be uncovered. A fantastic set of Luftwaffe photographs, ready for further research and display.

The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany’s military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

During the interwar period, the German armed forces secretly trained pilots – in violation of the Treaty – at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the NSDAP (in power from 1933) and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe’s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through the announcement of German rearmament and conscription on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing-ground for new tactics and aircraft. Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out in 1939.