  the 88&nbsp;mm gun (commonly called the eighty-eight) was a german anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from world war ii. it was widely used by germany throughout the war, and was one of the most recognized german weapons of that conflict. development of the original model led to a wide variety of guns. the name applies to a series of related guns, the first one officially called the 8.8&nbsp;cm flak 18, the improved 8.8&nbsp;cm flak 36, and later the 8.8&nbsp;cm flak 37. flak is a contraction of german flugzeugabwehrkanone{{cite book|title=die deutsche sprache als spiegel deutscher kultur|year=1923|publisher=f
88_mm_artillery Anti-aircraft_guns_of_Germany Krupp Rheinmetall World_War_II_anti-aircraft_guns World_War_II_anti-tank_guns_of_Germany