A bunker that still houses an old German WWII anti-aircraft gun in good condition

@ElentirENG ES 9·23·2022 · 23:05 0

Today there are abandoned fortifications in many countries. There aren't many among them that retain their artillery pieces, but there are exceptions.

The interior of two well-preserved Third Reich batteries on a British island
Maisy: the German Normandy battery that was mysteriously buried by the US

One such exception is on the island of Mljet, in Croatia. In the west of the island there is a military position that was built by the Yugoslav Army after the Second World War, in order to defend the Adriatic coast from possible attacks during the years of the Cold War.

A veteran of the US Airborne Forces recently paid a visit there and had the opportunity to explore that fortification. Inside it he found a German World War II anti-aircraft gun in relatively good condition. It is, specifically, a FlaK-36 or a FlaK-37, caliber 88 mm. The video has been published this afternoon on the channel Tattooed Traveler:

You can see some screenshots of the video below. At the beginning an old magazine appears in which there are still remains of artillery pods.

The entrance to the fortification is very spectacular, with an access excavated in the rocks of the mountain.

At the end of some ascending stairs comes the surprise: a tunnel with the old German FlaK inside.

The barrel is not sealed (as is often the case in old abandoned artillery batteries), and parts of the barrel casing still remain.

As you can see in the video, the barrel mechanisms still work: it is possible to raise the tube and rotate it.

An image of the barrel lock. Some parts are missing, but it's much more complete than other guns I've seen in abandoned batteries.

In this image we can see the position of the cannon. At the end of the tunnel is a ledge where the FlaK would be deployed to open fire, using the tunnel for cover the rest of the time.