In the months leading to D-day, many high-ranking German officers, like the renowned Erwin Rommel, scoffed at the seemingly preposterous notion of an Allied landing in Europe. The thought, some believed, was mere fantasy.
This was not entirely without reason. The challenges the Allies faced were monumental. Even bolstered by the might and industry of the United States, their task seemed nothing short of Herculean. They would need to mobilize an army of unparalleled proportions, accompanied by a flotilla of amphibious vessels unheard of in scale.
Even if they succeeded in this, a far greater test awaited them. They would be up against the formidable German Atlantic Wall, an impenetrable fortress bristling with artillery and manned by well-prepared and on-guard soldiers.
And should they miraculously gain a foothold on the hallowed sands of France, the logistics of supplying such a vast army and fueling thousands of tanks across the choppy waters of the English Channel was a problem that would require a solution nothing short of divine intervention.
Yet, with this knowledge, the Allies began preparing. They started working towards creating their own miracle, Operation PLUTO. Britain would have to take on the challenge of constructing massive submarine oil lines under the English Channel in a daring and unprecedented effort.
The structure was to be their lifeline, their answer to the supply problem, supporting Operation Overlord. These pipelines were to pump millions of gallons of oil, the black blood that would fuel the Allies’ relentless advance toward the liberation of Europe.
There was, however, a catch. One challenge that made this extraordinary task even more dangerous. The Allies had to lay the pipelines in utmost secrecy, ensuring the Germans remained utterly oblivious to their plans…
source
Some people in the small island nation of Britain continue to drown themselves in nostalgia, are ‘poisoned’ with ‘colonial arrogance’ and ‘dreamy jingoism’.
If we ( America ) had remained neutral, y'all over there on your islands would be speaking German today.
Two things were crucial: Naval fire support, and, Mulberry.
20,000,000 Jerry cans. Thats ~100,000,000 gallons of fuel.
😛😛😛😛😛😛❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Pretty cool.
wonder how many gallons/tons of fuel was pumped in to the water when they had a leak?
How did Russia supply fuel to its front line? Their front was nearly a thousand miles north to south and advancing very rapidly. This is certainly a problem, both in the east and western fronts I have never though of.
Good thing the russians did the heavy lifting or none of this would have worked.
😅 I just watched this after work, and I was trying to figure out from the thumbnail just what this was a CT or MRI cross-section of … after 37 years as a medical professional I guess I tend to filter through that schema.
Do the PLUTO pipelines exist today? Could be again operational?
Did I miss something? Steel pipe wrapped around drums. That just doesn't seem possible even with the diameter of the drums I saw in the video.
Britain really needs something to be proud of in these days.
I wonder how many scrap men got wealthy from the recycling operations!? Cheers
Not much mentioned on the amount of merchant tankers running the gauntlet of the North Atlantic, or its storage prior to D day.
It was my pleasure to talk with several veterans of the war prior to their death. One man in particular was part of the D-Day invasion. He was to go ashore on day one, but they're landing craft, a huge barge, had mechanical problems. He went in on day two. From watching movies, we assume that at the end of the first day the allies just rolled on into France. The beaches were not considered secure until day 12. In the movie the longest day, there is a scene where German pilots strafe the beaches. My friend said the name given to one pilot in particular was Bedcheck Charlie. Upon learning the scope of the invasion, Rommel is quoted, "Give me that army (or with that army like that) and I could be in Berlin in 30 days." God bless them all.
Wow!! Nicely done!! I had never heard of this!!
Very interesting additional information. I didn't realise the pipelines were extended far inland or that there were two types of pipe. Was the second cable like type constructed by THE Siemens Brothers? Wasn't that the original name of the German engineering company?
It is also interesting to know how far in advance all this stuff was being planned, 1942 and they were well under way with fabrication and testing. Amazing really that they had this much confidence that they were going to be in a position to use this stuff many years later.
This war was planned for a long time. Both world wars were. Don't be fooled by history's lies. The rulers plan for hundreds of years in the future.
The logistics in fighting a WW is just staggering let alone holding any territory
Like the Mulberry harbours, the role of PLUTO lives on due to the myth and not the reality – far more goods came in through Cherbourg than Mulberry B. This is not to say that both projects were not important and, as was said, the engineering aspects (I'm a retired Civil Engineer) are impressive.
As for PLUTO no longer existing . . . . about 30 years ago I was involved in a highway and drainage scheme to the south of Epsom in Surrey. We obviously had to be careful not to disturb existing services that fell within our footprint including . . . a fuel transfer pipeline!
A liaison engineer came out to tell us what to expect if we came close to the pipe which was a single 250mm one skirting through the countryside south of London on the way to Heathrow.
What surprised me was that the pipeline took diesel, AVTUR (aviation turbine fuel aka paraffin/kerosene) and AVGAS (aviation gasoline or petrol) one after the other. Because they are of different specific gravities the interface between the different liquids could be sensed and they were diverted to different holding tanks at the airport's fuel farm.
The engineer still referred to the pipeline as PLUTO! There are little orange markers like a roof on a pole on either side of the road where a fuel or gas pipeline crosses it (in the UK at least) These are regularly overflown by helicopters to spot leakages – easily seen as dead foliage. We were told to report it if we damaged the pipeline not so much because of the environmental damage but so that the loss could be recorded so that tax could be claimed back!
A couple of lovely bloopers in the commentary – "lead from church roofs and bells . . . " never knew church bells were made of lead, thought it was bronze they used.
And, I think, Bologna is in Italy? So not much interest to troops invading Normandy! 😄