Would the fuel shortage of Nazi Germany in 1942 have been less severe if the Nazi’s had not wasted so much fuel in the Battle of Britain? How much was the amount of fuel Germany used in the Battle of Britain? And would it have made a difference if they had that amount of oil available for Fall Blau?
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Good question and I’m not sure where the answer lies. I suspect we would have to consider how the oil is being refined. How many gallons of gas vs how many gallons of aviation fuel per barrel or per ton.
The other question would be did the fuel shortages hit the Luftwaffe as bad as the army and what would have been a better balance.
I would also add if you didn’t attack Britain, what would an unmanaged Britain have been able to accomplish. I suspect a much stronger presence in the Mediterranean and how would that impact the war.
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One has to remember that fuel does have a shelf life, regular gasoline 3-6 months and diesel up to a year. After that they start to degrade. So there is a maximum what Germany could have saved.
Also fuel used in Battle of Britain was aviation fuel, so saving that up would have affected mostly Luftwaffe. Of course we could then argue, how much oil would have been saved if not made to aviation fuel but a gasoline for tanks, but then comes down the factory capacity to manufacture it.
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A quick calculation:
If you wage an air war for 65 days with 600 bombers and 600 fighters each day
You wil burn app 717.000 barrels of fuel
In 1940 Germany used 208.000 barrels per days, which means that the airwar mentioned would take 0,96% of the 1940 all year consumption.
I guess that would not had made a difference in Babarossa
Source
https://defense.info/re-thinking-strategy/2018/10/oil-and-war/
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