Osprey's Raid series has been one of their more interesting offerings and I have to say that in terms of subjects covering the last 100 years, I was at least aware of the subject. This one was quite unknown to me and while not exactly something that was planned in response to some sort of emergency, was fascinating in its audacity.

In 1942 one of the major goals of the German army was the capture of Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus Mountains. Of course, these were not drilled at high altitudes or anything, but the wells were in the foothills and not in the wide open as are the fields on Alaska's North Shore or in the Saudi desert.

The trick was to secure these fields before the Soviets blew them to smithereens, thus making them unusable for a considerable amount of time. To this end, it was decided to use a group of men called the Brandenbergers. These were Germany's special forces and often called upon for special operations. This one was to be an operation like no other. In order to help secure the oil fields these men (and we are talking about quite a few), had to get to the fields without the Soviets finding out about it and then keep the roads and bridges open until the German army could arrive to secure them. They also had to remove all the demolition charges and stop the Soviets from destroying them. Not an easy task as the oil fields were more than just a few acres in area.

The plan was for the Brandenbergers to recruit men who were fluent in Russian, and train them to act like NKVD troops. It was hoped that a battalion of these men would be enough to infiltrate the Soviets, disrupt or destroy communications,  disable munitions set to destroy bridges and roads, infiltrate the oil fields, and then use the authority and the fear of the NKVD to secure the wells and equipment, disabling the charges set to destroy them.

Without giving away the story, I can tell you that they were quite convincing and the way they were able to dupe Soviet brass for a considerable time is truly amazing.

The author tells a story that is more than just the Brandenbergers, but also the entire campaign into the Western Caucuses as well as the results of their actions. I can tell you that the meddling of the 'corporal in Berlin' was a huge hindrance to the success of the operation. Then there was the realization that there were no refineries in the area and no one has really thought on how the oil was going to be transported to places where it could be refined.

The operation is a real page turner and thanks to some superlative period photos and some great artwork and maps, we see exactly how events unfolded. This one has a larger than normal afterward regarding the entire campaign as well. It all makes for a great read about an event about which apparently little has been written. A book I can quite easily recommend to you.

December 2014

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