Night fighters need fuel. Night fighter pilots need training. It was the
USAAF
that largely deprived the GAF of fuel.


The destruction of the oil plants was a joint effort prosecuted by
both the USAAF and the RAF


In the crucial period it was largely pursued by the Americans. Look at what
the leader of the RAF said:

"But for the favorable air situation created by the Americans, said
Portal, "it
is possible that the night blitzing of cities, would have by now have
been too
costly to sustain upon a heavy scale.' Here was a remarkable
admission from
the British Air Chief of Staff--that it was only the success of
American air
policy which had spared Britain from visible and humiliating defeat.
Not
surprisingly, Harris totally rejected Portal's criticism of the area
campaign.
He now asserted flatly that he had no faith in selective bombing, 'and
none
whatever in the this present oil policy'.

--"Bomber Command" P. 380-384 by Max Hastings

Harris, for his part, sloughed off bombing oil targets as much as he dared,
although all the key players except him saw it as the most important target
class by far.

He continued to send German cities to his "bonfires" and detracted, perhaps
decisively, from Bomber Command's considerable potential to help the war
effort.

Returning to the main point, the review of "A Long Way to Bombs Away" that
appeared in the WSJ did a disservice to the memory of U.S. fliers and U.S. air
power in Europe during WWII.

Walt