B-17s in Pacific during WW2 hypothetical

I see the Term Flak used for Anti Aircraft Artillery a lot in this Thread.
I'm used to it, for here in Germany it mean's Flug Abwehr Kanone (~Anti
Aircraft Gun) or short Flak. Is there a different Story behind the use in
the english Language, or was the Term adopted ?

On Thu, 10 Nov 2005 04:24:30 +0100, Skyape wrote:

I see the Term Flak used for Anti Aircraft Artillery a lot in this Thread.
I'm used to it, for here in Germany it mean's Flug Abwehr Kanone (~Anti
Aircraft Gun) or short Flak. Is there a different Story behind the use in
the english Language, or was the Term adopted ?

If the English language sees a word in another language it likes, it'll
threaten that language with a knife until the language turns over the word,
its wallet, and maybe its car keys.

Yes, "flak" was adopted from the German. It's not used to describe the gun
but the in-air explosions of the rounds fired by the guns.

--

-Jeff B.
zoomie at fastmail fm

Thanks for all the answers.

"Skyape" wrote in message
...
I see the Term Flak used for Anti Aircraft Artillery a lot in this Thread.
I'm used to it, for here in Germany it mean's Flug Abwehr Kanone (~Anti
Aircraft Gun) or short Flak. Is there a different Story behind the use in
the english Language, or was the Term adopted ?



It was adopted. It seems to have come into use in the RAF in around 1940
The more generic term at that time was Ack Ack but the term Flak Ship
was certainly used by RAF coastal command pilots in that time frame
to describe AA escorts for German coastal convoys.

Keith