German POWs From Rommel's Army Saw the Oil Fields of Texas. They Had Lost Africa for Lack of Fuel.

In the autumn of 1942, Rommel's army in North Africa was running on its last days of fuel. Months later, men of the Afrika Korps were prisoners in Texas, riding past the oil wells and storage tanks of the biggest oil-producing state in America. One of them, Hugo Wannemacher, held at Camp Hearne, later recalled what that sight told him: “no way that Germany's going to take the U.S.” This is the story of the fuel that decided the desert war, the oil that Texas pumped in 1943, and what the German record says about where Germany's own fuel really came from. Chapters: 0:00 A prisoner sees Texas oil 0:40 Rommel's fuel runs out 1:36 Fuel on the docks at Benghazi 2:28 Surrender, and a train to Mexia 3:33 The ride to Camp Hearne 4:19 What Wannemacher remembered 5:16 587 million barrels and the Big Inch 6:32 Nine words 7:21 Potatoes, coal and the real record Sources: Michael R. Waters, Lone Star Stalag: German Prisoners of War at Camp Hearne (Texas A&M University Press, 2004) Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers, via German History in Documents and Images https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi... Martin Gilbert, Churchill and Intelligence, Finest Hour 151 https://winstonchurchill.org/publicat... Arnold P. Krammer, German POWs in Texas (Humanities Texas) https://www.humanitiestexas.org/sites... https://texascooppower.com/former-ger... https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/conten... Railroad Commission of Texas, historical crude oil production https://www.rrc.texas.gov/oil-and-gas... https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/ra... Hitler's confidential memorandum on autarky, August 1936 https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi... BIOS Final Report 1697 https://www.fischer-tropsch.org/prima... Some scenes include AI reconstructions, labelled on screen. Books on German POWs in America (affiliate links, we may earn a small commission): Lone Star Stalag (Camp Hearne, Texas), Michael R. Waters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1585445452?... Nazi Prisoners of War in America, Arnold Krammer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1493049526?... Men in German Uniform, Antonio Thompson: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1572337281?... The Barbed-Wire College, Ron Robin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691037000?... Listen to history audiobooks with an Audible free trial: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NB86OYE?...