Synthetic oil targets
Both the RAF at night and the USAF went on bombing refineries not only within the territory of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Those made of coal not only both aviation and automotive fuels.
Seventy years ago No 15 USAF suffered the heaviest loss in one mission over the region of Hana between the towns of Prerov, Olomouc and Prostejov. Nineteen Libs of H and J variants, two Forts G as well as six escorting fighter planes failed to return to their air bases on the Italian soil on that day. Four twin engined P-38Js and Ls Lightning and two P-51Cs Mustang. From May 12 oil missions had proved to be devastating for mobility of the Wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe´s fighting power. Training of its cadets had to be limited too. Amount of aviation fuel plummeted from 156 per cent in May to 52 ones in June, in July further to 35 per cent, in August to 17 and in September to mere 10 ones. Thanks to round the clock repairs this production reached 20 per cent in October and even 49 in November. That reason for the 15 th USAAF targeted and bombed the Brux within the Protectorate as well as the Blechhammer-South, Blechhammer-North and Odertal synthetic oil refineries in Upper Silesia twelve times in December 1944. The latter is in Poland today. The Privozer syntetic refinery near Ostrava was their second target. This effort brought further plummeting in aviation fuel output. Only 26 percent in December 1944 and mere 10 in January 1945. Amount of automotive one was at 50 per cent.
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