The German 88 mm Flak gun was one of the most famous and feared weapons of the Second World War. Known by its various types as the 8.8 cm Flak 18, 36 or 37, it was designed as an anti-aircraft gun (“Flak” is a contraction of Flugabwehrkanone, meaning “antiaircraft gun”); but it also performed effectively against ground targets – as one Australian infantryman said, it was “anti-everything”. It was so effective that Allied soldiers tended to attribute any German artillery fire to 88 guns, even when other guns were actually responsible. To those who fought in North Africa, the “88” was justifiably and inextricably linked with the success and mystique of Rommel and the Afrika Korps.