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MERSEBURG:
Blood, Flak & Oil
The 8th Air Force Missions
by Ray Bowden
18 USAAF daylight missions covered.
Listing of losses for
158 heavy bombers.
Archive material from US and German sources
reveal the results,often previously officially described
simply as "unobserved".
Veterans and survivors tell their
stories.
Summary of the three RAF night raids against Leuna.
The
target, the defences and the reasons for the
attacks.
144 pages, 100+ photographs, soft cover
ISBN 978-1-898575-04-7
MERSEBURG and its Leuna synthetic oil plant - was one of the most
feared targets in Germany. The USAAF's 8th Air Force began an 18 mission campaign
against the Nazis most important oil production site in May 1944 as part of the wider Oil Plan.
Initial attacks were successful but as the Germans began to realise the magnitude
of the threat to their vital supply of valuable fuel and specialist oils the defences at Merseburg were
expanded to become the most feared of all - surpassing even Berlin.
Prior to the spring of 1944, few of the 8th's air crews had ever heard of Merseburg and its huge synthetic oil
plant but that soon changed. The remnants of the Luftwaffe bolstered by the newly arrived jet fighters and the enormous
number of flak batteries which blossomed around Merseburg reaped a vicious harvest of US heavies, almost exclusively B17s.
Veterans and survivors from both sides tell their stories, through recollection,
diary notes, reports and official records. Target damage analysis from USAAF and German files and
detailed post war studies reveal the results of the raids. The destruction is revealed and the human cost
- to friend and foe alike.
For further information please contact
Ray Bowden at
USAAF Nose Art Research Project
ray[NO-SPAM]@usaaf-noseart.co.uk
Please remove
[NO-SPAM] from email address
USAAF Nose Art Research Project
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