Oberleutnant Hermann Aldinger¹⁰ was an exceptional officer who had fought in the Spanish civil war where he commanded 1.Flak battery. This arrived at Seville on 31 August 1936. He was the first to use the 88/56 Flak 18 gun operationally, and for the clear purpose of determining its uses in battle conditions. Known unofficially as “Batterie Aldinger”, the guns were used at Seville to defend the Tablada airfield. In November 1936 the battery had its baptism of fire with three Potez aircraft of the Republican air force near Getafe¹¹. It is also certain that in December 1936 the battery fought on the Madrid front along the La Coruña highway. Its fire was so accurate that it forced Republican aircraft to bomb from 4,000 metres. When the Legion Condor flak unit was formed on 7 November 1936, Batterie Aldinger formed the 8th Battery of said unit¹².

Resulting from his experience in Spain, Aldinger was the best choice to provide fast and effective support to reduce the expected Belgian pressure on the SA Koch bridgeheads. Its three batteries would move along the east bank of the Meuse towards Maastricht protecting the SA Koch operation with its artillery fire.

To coordinate the work of the paratroopers with the Aldinger flak group, several exercises were carried out, principally for communications between both groups. For this purpose maps were prepared showing numbered aiming points for Aldinger’s guns. Every assault group would notify Koch’s command post by radio as to which aiming point should be bombarded. Accuracy in identifying the target was very important and therefore each assault group had an artillery spotter. Aldinger’s battery 1/6 would work together with the Stahl and Beton groups while battery 3/64 would support the Eisen group at Kanne.