Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II
ing another difficulty—a shortage of ammunition—that in early
1944 forced the Germans to restrict their firing. Another ammunition
shortage occurred in November 1944 and was attributed
to the bombing of German chemical plants and transportation.
One consequence of this shortage was that some
German shells were filled with inert materials. By the end of
the war, flak units could deliver only one-half of their firepower
potential because of these shortages. Another indication of the
decline of efficiency of German flak was the increasing number
of shells required to down an Allied aircraft. In the first 20
months of the war, it took 2,800 heavy flak rounds per kill,
whereas in 1944, 16,000 flak rounds of 88 mm/model 36-37
or 3,000 rounds of 128 mm caliber rounds were required. 72
Nevertheless, German flak was effective in World War II and
grew increasingly potent as the war continued (fig. 26). Through
1944 German gunners inflicted about one-third of Allied aircraft
losses and two-thirds of the damage; and after that, they
inflicted about two-thirds of the losses and almost all of the
damage. To be precise, not only did German flak become more
effective through the course of the war but proportionally
more important as German aircraft were swept from the skies.
In June 1944, for example, the Germans deployed 10,900
heavy and 22,200 light guns in the west. The AAF lost 18,418
aircraft in combat against Germany in World War II (fig. 27). The
American Airmen credited AAA with downing 7,821 of these
and enemy aircraft with 6,800. 73
In addition to downing and damaging Allied aircraft, flak also
degraded bombing accuracy. A 1941 British report estimated
that one-third of bombing accuracy degradation was attributed
to flak. A postwar study of Eighth Air Force bombing errors between
May 1944 and February 1945 credits almost 40 percent
of these errors to enemy guns. An additional 22 percent of the
error was attributed to the increased altitude required to counter
flak. The Mediterranean air forces put the same message across
in another way: with little or no flak opposition, fighters required
30 bombs to hit a bridge, but against intense flak, it took 150
bombs per hit. Medium bombers not encountering flak destroyed
21 percent of the bridges attacked and completely
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