]]> 4.4 out of 5 stars (10) Total Ratings 10, $32.54 New. It caused a shortage of not only food but rubber, metal, clothing and more. To put things in perspective, coal supplied 90% of Germany’s energy, while oil only accounted for 5%. Synthetic fuel plants were located along the North Sea, in the Ruhr Valley, and in southern parts of Europe. It is a major producer of bituminous coal and brown coal (lignite), the principal fields of the latter being west of Cologne, east of Halle, south and southwest of Leipzig, and in Lower Lusatia in Brandenburg. The Gasoline Shortages That Crippled German Offensive. (Courtesy Germany Archives, Photograph 146-2007-0056), Royal Air Force (RAF) flew mostly Handley Page Halifax strategic bombers for its 200 missions during which it dropped 93,691 tons of bombs. Attacks against the German transportation system also affected the oil industry, since railroads and roadways were required to move the refined products to the airfields, naval bases, and ground forces that depended on them. Like the crude-oil production facilities at Ploesti, the synthetic-fuel facilities were well protected by German fighters and antiaircraft guns, and Allied airmen dreaded the missions against them. The most significant problem of the Allied bombing campaign was the lack of accuracy of the bombs actually hitting their specific targets—about 15 percent of the bombs dropped directly struck their discrete targets. They had inadequate oil reserves for gasoline and aviation fuel production. Plus, their synthetic gasoline production was never quite adequate. To help produce the glycerin needed by the military, housewives also collected kitchen waste fats. In particular, the Allied operations staff began using aerial photographs to monitor the German reconstruction efforts and then would launch a new attack against a specific plant as it was nearing full production capability. In January, 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. This article originally appeared on the Warfare History Network. But Germany led the world in the production of synthetic fuels, which accounted for close to 40 percent of all its fuels. As armies became more mechanized, the need for secure sources of fuel and lubricants became the sine qua non for military operations. This article originally appeared on the Warfare History Network. Mil-Tec German WWII Style 3piece Mess Kit 100 Aluminum Hygienic Premium Quality. The Allied bombers had trouble hitting the oil fields and refinery - like other bombing raids in WWII, the majority of the bombs failed to hit their targets. Over time, despite herculean efforts by the Germans to return these complexes back to full production after each attack, German POL production steadily declined throughout the rest of the war. During World War II, the war caused a shortage of many items that people used on a daily basis. The campaigns against oil and transportation were perhaps the most effective of the Allied bombing efforts. However, the surrender of the remnants of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad in January 1943 ended this offensive. Germany saw synthetic petroleum as a way to use its existing organic coal to decrease reliance on foreign imports, while at the same time fill the growing need for fuel. By December 1944, Albert Speer, the German Minister for Armaments and War Production, viewed the systematic attacks on Germany’s oil industry and the resulting fuel shortages as “catastrophic.”  After searching for a truly strategic target system whose destruction would strategically adversely affect the outcome of the current war from 1940 forward, the Allied air leaders found that target system in Germany’s oil industry. The destruction of the German synthetic fuel plants was a major mission for Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force bombers throughout the spring and summer of 1944. German Synthetic Oil Production. During the Nazi invasion of Poland which started World War II, Germany had the 15 million barrels (i.e. //-->