The United States Army Air Force Bombing Campaign Against the Leuna Synthetic Fuel Plant in 1944-45 and the German Response
Journal: Journal of Military History and Defence Studies
Year: 2023

The Leuna chemical plant in Eastern Germany was initially developed during the First World War to produce artificial nitrogen for use in explosives. The world’s first production of synthetic fuel from brown coal commenced at Leuna in 1927. From 1933 the Nazi government began to prepare for war and heavily expanded the Leuna complex to ensure that Germany had sufficient resources of fuel, nitrogen and rubber to support short campaigns. The synthetic fuel production technology developed in Leuna w