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The Oil Campaign 1944–45: Draining the Wehrmacht's lifeblood
A new illustrated history of one of the key air campaigns of late World War II – the American effort to cripple Germany's oil production, and grind its armed forces to a halt.
With retreating German forces losing their oilfields on the Eastern Front, Germany was reliant on its own facilities, particularly for producing synthetic oil from coal. However, these were within range of the increasingly mighty Allied air forces. In 1944 the head of the US Strategic Air Forces, General Carl Spaatz was intent on a new campaign that aimed to cripple the German war machine by depriving it of fuel.
The USAAF's Oil Campaign built up momentum during the summer of 1944 and targeted these refineries and plants with its daylight heavy bombers. Decrypted German communications made it clear that the Oil Campaign was having an effect against the Wehrmacht. Fuel shortages in the autumn of 1944 forced the Luftwaffe to ground most of its combat units except for fighters involved in the defense of the Reich. Fuel shortages also forced the Kriegsmarine to place most of its warships in harbor except for the U-boats and greatly hampered German army campaigns such as the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944–45.
This fascinating book packed with key photos and illustrations examines the controversies and debates over the focus of the US bombing campaign in the final year of the war, and the impact it had on the war effort overall.
With retreating German forces losing their oilfields on the Eastern Front, Germany was reliant on its own facilities, particularly for producing synthetic oil from coal. However, these were within range of the increasingly mighty Allied air forces. In 1944 the head of the US Strategic Air Forces, General Carl Spaatz was intent on a new campaign that aimed to cripple the German war machine by depriving it of fuel.
The USAAF's Oil Campaign built up momentum during the summer of 1944 and targeted these refineries and plants with its daylight heavy bombers. Decrypted German communications made it clear that the Oil Campaign was having an effect against the Wehrmacht. Fuel shortages in the autumn of 1944 forced the Luftwaffe to ground most of its combat units except for fighters involved in the defense of the Reich. Fuel shortages also forced the Kriegsmarine to place most of its warships in harbor except for the U-boats and greatly hampered German army campaigns such as the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944–45.
This fascinating book packed with key photos and illustrations examines the controversies and debates over the focus of the US bombing campaign in the final year of the war, and the impact it had on the war effort overall.
94 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2022
About the author
Steven J. Zaloga
381 books77 followersSteven Zaloga is an author and defense analyst known worldwide for his articles and publications on military technology. He has written over a hundred books on military technology and military history, including “Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in World War II”, one of the most highly regarded histories of the Sherman Tank. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He was a special correspondent for Jane’s Intelligence Review and is on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/producer for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series Firepower. He holds a BA in history from Union College and an MA in history from Columbia University.
Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.
Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 24, 2023
Typical Osprey Campaign book. Well written, good coverage of the campaign and the relevant other areas of the war impacting the campaign. For example, the discussion of Marshall Harris and his opposition to the oil campaign and the great difficulty Churchill and his close staff had in getting “Bomber” Harris to follow orders. Because of Ultra breakthroughs, intelligence indicated how well the oil campaign was working and Harris still worked against the idea. Now that’s just crazy, but the book explains it all.
The coverage of nearly every major mission was amazing, and the Nazi response to the Allies efforts was an interesting read. The numerous statistics were not overwhelming and nailed down extremely important points that help one understand the course of the war.
Really good book.
The coverage of nearly every major mission was amazing, and the Nazi response to the Allies efforts was an interesting read. The numerous statistics were not overwhelming and nailed down extremely important points that help one understand the course of the war.
Really good book.
August 31, 2024
Great account of an important strategic bombing campaign
This is a complete story of a big move from the allies, even thought that was now seek at the start, the bombing campaign was instrumental in the defeat, first. Of the luftwaffe and second the German army, this place the allied bombers as te unsung heroes of the last battles of WW2 over the European theater, the book was very well detailed and with good statistics, to ensure a reader with a mental photograph of the last moments of the German forces, truly recommended.
This is a complete story of a big move from the allies, even thought that was now seek at the start, the bombing campaign was instrumental in the defeat, first. Of the luftwaffe and second the German army, this place the allied bombers as te unsung heroes of the last battles of WW2 over the European theater, the book was very well detailed and with good statistics, to ensure a reader with a mental photograph of the last moments of the German forces, truly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews