*There were, in fact, far more flak guns than Klint knew about. On First Schweinfurt, August 17, 1943, the Germans had sixty-six 8.8 cm flak guns in eleven, six-gun, single batteries defending the City. By October 14, 1943 the Germans had increased the defenses to the equivalent of 22 single batteries of 8.8 cm guns—broken down into four single batteries, four double batteries, and three triple Grossbatterien—for a total of 126 8.8 cm flak guns. In addition, there were two, four-gun batteries of the larger caliber and even more dangerous 10.5 cm flak guns. Thus, there were 134 rather than 56 flak guns defending Schweinfurt on Black Thursday. According to a German historian, at this time Schweinfurt was “the best defended town in Western Europe” in relation to its size. Friedhelm Golücke, Schweinfurt und die strategische Luftkrieg 1943. Schöningh, Paderborn, 1980, p. 173.

Manning these batteries were approximately 250 regular Luftwaffe personnel and another 1500 schoolboys, fifteen to seventeen years old, euphemistically called Luftwaffenhelfer or Flakhelfer (“Flak Helpers”). Five hundred of the Luftwaffenhelfer served the 8.8 cm guns directly while the remaining 1000 worked their associated radar, optical tracking, and battery control switchboard equipment.