Allied Bombers Faced Increase in German 88 Flak to the end of the war

Although German resources were increasingly diminished during the last year of the war, Allied bombers were opposed by an accelerated increase in German 88 flak right up to the end of the war. I suspect this was due to:
a. The high priority placed by the Nazis on the defence of cities and important industrial sites.
b. The advances in the use of radar, the building of flak towers, and mounting flak guns on mobile railroad equipment and barges.
c. Primarily though it was the vast arsenal increasingly made available of 88s (probably the best all around gun in the war) that were brought back by the Wehrmacht retreating from Russia, France, and Italy. These guns that had proved so effective as artillery and anti-tank weapons became deadly anti-aircraft guns when their barrels were pointed upward. The number of guns installed in just about every city and town in Germany depended on their size and importance to the war effort. Merseberg had up to 1000 88s and 105s, Berlin was circled with about 800.
b17sam

 

Not wishing to pick on you sir, but wasn't it supposed to be the other way round? The 88 was designed for the Flak gun role and performed well as an anti-tank gun as a secondary capability.

 

Sam,

Looking at pics on your site i notice what appears to be a wide range of different bombs from planes of the one formation.

I know that a combination of HE and incendiary were carried, but can you elaborate please?

John.

 

Traditionally ground fire has caused the most aircraft losses in every war since airplanes were used. Before the war the Germans thought one enemy aircraft would be shot down for every 88 anti-aircraft shells fired, the real ratio was more like 1 aircraft per 10,000.
Hitler and Goerring always placed great emphasis on the flak battalions, one important reason being they felt it was important that the German people knew they were fighting back against the allied bombers. However i dont know of any instances where allied bombers were forced to turn back due to the flak being too heavy.
Far more American aircraft were lost to groundfire in Vietnam in the 1960's than were lost to enemy aircraft or even SAMs. And even during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, Saddam's people knew they'd lose their anti-aircraft capability in Bagdad, and so just ordered their people to fire all their AK's into the air on a pre-arranged signal (all the lights in Bagdad flicked off then back on).