HN 2: The British and their Works

British soldiers take delivery of the first saloon cars
produced since the end of the war.
The acute coal shortage was not primarily the consequence of
mining problems. An internal Volkswagenwerk report noted
that there were considerable coal supplies available. 63 It was
rather the consequences of the Allied bombing which were
making themselves felt in the form of a delayed reaction, but
thus the more acutely. The badly-damaged transportation
system collapsed. Paralysing the supply of raw materials and
semi-finished products. In the mines there was a shortage of
pit-props, the timber workers had no industrial clothing and the
textile industry lacking the energy needed to produce it. The
number of rail trucks made available monthly in the northern
region fell from 620,000 in October 1946 to some 400,000 in
February 1947. Despite prioritisation of vital goods, the Allies
were largely powerless in the face of the collapse of the transportation
system – with disastrous consequences for the food
supply situation. In the Ruhr, the daily food ration for normal
consumers fell to 750 calories, driving thousands of people on to
the streets in "hunger marches". 64 Thanks to its agricultural
environs, and cultivation on the estates of Mörse and Wolfsburg,
both the Volkswagenwerk and the town were spared the worst
effects of the general malnutrition.
There had been forewarnings of this crisis perceptible in the
company as early as November 1946. On account of the constant
power cuts, the rolling mills could not meet the agreed supply
deadlines. The Ohle ironworks and the Bochum iron and steel
mills announced the postponement of supply dates by three to
four weeks. At Continental rubber works the rationing of the
energy supply led to reductions in production, with the result
that stocks at the Volkswagenwerk would be used up by
December 1946 at the latest. Although the suppliers made
28 29
THE IMPROVED UPSWING