Oil campaign of World War II

"Oil campaign" redirects here. For other conflicts and campaigns centering around access to oil, see Oil war.

Oil campaign
Part of the strategic bombing during World War II

The Sandman, a B-24 Liberator, emerges from smoke over the Astra Română refinery, Ploiești,[1] during Operation Tidal Wave (1 August 1943)[2]
Date15 May 1940 – 26 April 1945
Location
European theatre of World War II
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Hungary
Commanders and leaders
 Carl Krauch
Ion Antonescu
Paul Pleiger
Strength
United States 8th Air Force
United States 15th Air Force
United Kingdom RAF Bomber Command		 See Defence of the Reich
Casualties and losses
US: 5,400 aircraft lost[a]

The Allied oil campaign of World War II[4]: 11  was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the RAF and the USAAF against facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication (POL) products. It formed part of the immense Allied strategic bombing effort during the war. The targets in Germany and in Axis-controlled Europe[5] included refineries, synthetic-fuel factories, storage depots and other POL-infrastructure.

Before the war, Britain had identified Germany's reliance on oil and oil products for its war machine, and the strategic bombing started with RAF attacks on Germany in 1940. After the US entered the war (December 1941), it carried out daytime "precision bombing" attacks – such as Operation Tidal Wave against refineries in Romania in 1943.[6] The last major strategic raid of the European theater of the war targeted a refinery in Norway in April 1945.

During the war the effort expended against POL targets varied, with relative priority moving between the other objectives within the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive such as to defeating the German V-weapon attacks, the destruction of the German air force, or to attacking transport links in preparation for the invasion of western Europe in 1944.

  1. ^ Duga, James; Stewart, Carroll (9 April 2002). Ploesti. Brassey's. ISBN 978-1-57488-510-1. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  2. ^ Stout, Jay A (November 2003). Fortress Ploiesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil Supply. p. 318. Archived from the original on 22 June 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Miller was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cox, Sebastian (31 March 1998). The Strategic Air War Against Germany, 1939–1945. Psychology Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7146-4722-7. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  5. ^ Western Axis Subcommittee (c. 1943). "Estimated Refinery Output in Axis Europe – 1943" (PDF). Enemy Oil Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  6. ^ Video: American Bombers Smash Axis Oil Fields In Romania Etc. (1943). Universal Newsreel. 1943. Retrieved 21 February 2012.


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