I Need Help Locating A Feldpostnumber Of A Flak Regiment! (31096)

[OddRomanian]

I've recently acquired a copy of a 1940 Mein Kampf. It's linked to a Flak Battery in one of the FuehrerHeadquarters. It has the felpostnumber stamp with the number 31096 and when I researched about It I found out that It matches up. (Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) Flak-Batterie Fuhrerhauptquartier. Now, the only problem is that I don't know in which one of the headquarters It was located. I know the book was gifted in december 1940 so It should be in one of the Headquarters that had been built by then and had flak batteries by then. So, could someone help me to locate the Flak Battery with feldpostnumber 31096, please?

[BlackCat1982]

I’d think it could only be Wolfsschlucht 1 or Wolfsschlucht 2 given the date of 1940.

[OddRomanian]

I see. Thanks! I have a few doubts. Did Wolfsschlucht I have a flak battery by December? And when was Wolfsschlucht II built? All the information I could find It says It was built in 1942

[Witt]

Hello,

This is a tricky enquiry because of the type of subject in question. If you scan through a couple hundred pages, you will find a little bit of information that is not definitive but acceptable.
At this point is shows there were only four locations that were fully complete and in existence early in the war and these were Tannenburg, Waldwiese, Felsennest, and Adlerhorst. Provisionally desginated FHQu at Askania Nord (Rastenburg) later becoming Wolfschanze, Askania Mitte (Tomaszów, and Askania Süd (Keosno) began in the final months of 1940.
If I followed the convention correctly, it appears that the feldpost numbering 31096 was in a couple locations in 1940. It does not say which FHQu they were at when an entry was made August through September 1939. The feldpost comes up in some relation to the Reserve-Flakabteilung 604 which was at Felsennest from June to July 1940. This unit was then located at Wolfschanze during Operation Barbarossa. A Führer-Flakabteilung and the Flak Regiment “Hermann Göring” were also mentioned for later years structurally with this feldpost and others.

Here is a map of every Führerhauptquartiere constructed throughout the war.

[OddRomanian]

I see. Thank you! So It couldn't be Wolfsschlucht I like the other person said? So between Tannenberg, Waldwiese, Felsennest and Adlerhorst the most likely one to be is Felsennest? Are there any other possibilities for 1940? If you know any of them in December 1940 It would also be useful information. Thank you.

[Witt]

It could have possibly been Wolfsschlucht as Blackcat said although not likely to have been Wolfsschlucht 2. Wolfssclucht 2 was very briefly occupied by men of the Organisation Todt in June 1940. They left when France surrendered and construction at this location did not pick up again until the summer of 1942. This location was known as W2 on the map and was built simultaneously with W3.
Construction on the first Wolfsschlucht began by the OT on 25 May 1940. Men from Reserve-Festungs-FlakAbt. 604 and kompanien 2 and 3 of the Führer-Begleitbataillons arrived from Felsennest two days later. Wolfsschlucht was thus manned by three batterien of 10.5cm flak, one batterie of 3.7cm flak, and two batterien of 2cm flak; manpower was 26 offiziere, 185 unteroffiziere and 750 men. Hitler ordered the Führerhauptquartier to be moved from Wolfsschlucht to Tannenberg in mid June. A Wachkommando of VI. Armeekorps and the Organisation Todt occupied this location after this point.

Construction of Askania Süd occured between October 1940 and October 1941. Construction of Askania Mitte did not start until December 1940. No mention of manpower or any batteries at either location. These locations were much smaller and complementary to the main quarter at Wolfsschanze (Askania Nord).

There is too much information about Adlerhorst and Felsennest to read through and interpret. Adlerhorst was being worked on by the OT September 1939-August 1940. It was still not ready for the invasion of France as was planned. Building on Felsennest began in October 1939 and was designated as the command post by Hitler instead of Adlerhorst for the attack on France. A substantial setup of anti-aircraft batteries was available at both locations.


I think they were very mobile during the 1940 year. At an unspecified Führerhauptquartier in 1939. Preparing for operations in the west, I think they began at Adlerhorst and possibly moved to Felsennest mid-year, then Wolfsschlucht, then Tannenberg, and ended the year at Wolfsschanze. Adlerhorst or Felsennest may be omitted from this order. You have to look at if the unit under this feldpost continued to follow wherever the Führerhauptquartiere was or was actually absorbed into Reserve-Flakabteilung 604 after the January 1940 close of the feldpost. The order of battle for this abteilung follows as I./Flak Regiment 604 (summer 1941), Führer-Flakabteilung (1942), and Führer-Flakregiment (1945). Also to note where the Flak Regiment “Hermann Göring” falls into this series.

[OddRomanian]

So, in a summary. The Flak Battery associated with felpostnumber 31096 were located at adlerhorst, moved to felsennest mid year, then wolfsschlucht, Tannenberg and Wolfschanze or It could have been absorbed by the Reserve-Flakbteilung 604, right? I have two more questions. If they were absorbed, where would they had been located? And secondly, If they weren't absorbed It's impossible that they would've stayed at one HQ without moving? Sorry for asking so many questions

[Witt]

Yes, that is my best guess from what I was able to interpret from the texts about the Führerhauptquartiere. I would be surprised if it was all correct. You’ll have to make some conclusions with all of this information as to it being semi-valid at least until any further, definitive information is discovered. I followed some other avenues into these other units.

Reserve-Flak-Abteilung 604 was formed in Hamburg with five batterien in October 1939. It was reformed in June 1941. It could have become the 1. Batterie of this abteilung because this batterie was formed from some unit referred to as “Batterie F1” that operated 10.5cm flak guns. It then became gemischte Flak-Abteilung 604 (o) and almost immediately changed again to the I./Flak-Regiment 604 (gem. mot.). During its existence from June 1941 to December 1942 its main duty was to protect Wolfschanze. It was in December 1942 that this was renamed as the Führer-Flak-Abteilung. So to answer your first question, if they truly were absorbed into this unit, they were supposedly always stationed at Wolfsschanze if Hitler was there. They were sent to fight on the Eastern Front if Hitler was not there. There was such a period between December 1942 and March 1943 when they were fighting far west of Stalingrad, on the Siverskyi Donets River and not far from the border with Ukraine. The 2. Batterie of Führer-Flak-Abteilung was fighting for a while at Millerowo, for example.

I found where this Hermann Göring Flak Regiment comes into play. The March 1941 order of battle for the Führer-Begleit-Bataillon (FBB) shows IV. Führer-Flak-Abteilung/Flak-Regiment Hermann Göring led by a Hauptmann Gasda.

The structure of the Reserve-Flak-Abteilung 604 was associated with multiple feldpost numbers that belonged to Eisenbahn-Flak-Zuge Fuhrerhauptquartier, Flak-Batterie Fuhrerhauptquartier, Stab Reserve-Flak-Abteilung 604, 61638, 62626, and 63672. The first three all existed from mobilization-1.1.1940. The other three feldposts did not show any unit entries before 1944. The entries available for 1944 and onwards all belonged to the Hermann Göring/Führer-Flak units I mentioned above. These could have been in reference to the other point made as to the reworking of this unit in 1944.

Regards, Ben

[OddRomanian]

Alright, thank you! What was the name of the Flak Battery associated with 31096 again? Sorry

[Witt]

Feldpost 31096 is the Flak-Batterie Führerhauptquartier. I have not seen the unit ever mentioned by name but once by its feldpost where it was written, “Einsatz, Gliederung und Ausstattung der Res-FlakAbt 604 nach KTB-FHQu Nr. 3, Eintrag 1. Juni und 18. Juli 1940. - Die Führer-Flakabteilung wurde 1944 kurzzeitig als IV. Abteilung an das FlakRgt Hermann Göring angegliedert. Wieder selbständig, entstand daraus das Führer-Flakregiment. Feldpost- Nr. 28904, 31096, 33160, 61638, 62626 und 63672.” This is the only time that the feldpost is mentioned. The first feldpost, 28904, was for Eisenbahn-Flak-Zuge Führerhauptquartier.

I once again looked into the Führer-Begleit-Bataillon (FBB). This unit guarded the Führerhauptquartiere and the rail lines, and provided Hitler security escort during trips outside of Germany. It turns out they were also sent to the Eastern Front quite a few times just as I found the Führer-Flak-Abteilung had done. A Eisenbahn-Flakzug (2cm vierlinge) comes up in the August 1939 battle order. Then IV. Führer-Flak-Abteilung/Flak-Regiment Hermann Göring is found in the March 1941 battle order. This could suggest Flak-Batterie Führerhauptquartier (31096) became apart of the FBB, as it was written its men and the men of Eisenbahn-Flak-Zuge Führerhauptquartier were in IV. Führer-Flak-Abteilung/Flak-Regiment Hermann Göring in later years.

I found this thread that you should look into. It does not offer any information on Flak-Batterie Führerhauptquartier movements in 1940 like you have sought, but should be further, definitive information about what happened to the unit in later years.

1. Batterie Fuhrer-Flak-Regiment - Einheiten der Waffen-SS - Forum der Wehrmacht