Hitler conscripts secondary school children as “anti-aircraft helpers”

Mounting war deaths amongst front-line soldiers in 1942 led Hitler to withdraw more than 100,000 soldiers from anti-aircraft duties in Germany and post them to the front. After 11 February 1943, these withdrawn soldiers were replaced by schoolboys over the age of 15. Whole classes were tasked with working for the intelligence service, operating searchlights and firing anti-aircraft guns. Towards the end of the war, apprentices and schoolgirls were also drafted into the anti-aircraft units.

Six pupils from a grammar school in Berlin-Zehlendorf were the first casualties of this new service, all killed in March 1943. As direct hits on anti-aircraft positions were frequent, we can assume that many schoolchildren died whilst serving on the home front.