Further showcasing the disparity in mobility, the Axis built scarcely more than 10 percent of the number of trucks and jeeps that the Allies built during the war, with the Germans accounting for less than 39 percent of the Axis total. Likewise, the Axis powers produced a mere 6.3 percent of the total fuel oil produced by the Allies during the war. Of course, maximizing the percentage of German forces that were mechanized (i.e. track-driven) would have been an even more important contributory factor to help the Germans win the war, though this might have been significantly hampered by fuel shortages, which increasingly immobilized their tanks, tank destroyers, assault guns, and other heavier armored vehicles later in the war. This was particularly the case following the Soviet conquest of Romania and the all-important Ploesti oil fields in late August which provided most of Germany’s oil during the duration of the war.

The next installment of this series will focus on what Germany could have done differently to knock Britain out of the war and ensure U.S. neutrality.

David T. Pyne, Esq. is a former U.S. Army combat arms and H.Q. staff officer with an MA in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. He currently serves as a Vice President of the Association of the United States Army’s Utah Chapter and as Utah Director of the EMP Caucus on National and Homeland Security. He can be reached at [email protected]

Image: Wikipedia.