Flying on Trinidad Oil: How a British Colony Became a Key Producer of Aviation Fuel, 1933-41

Air is the new domain of war.Britain seeks to control it through technology.One of those technologies is aviation fuel. In 1936, the Shell Oil Corporation in America discovers a process to economically produce the fuel additive called 100-octane. The additive is capable of improving the performance of aviation fuel used in fighter aircraft.Across the Atlantic, Nazi Germany under Hitler begins to expand its borders across Europe. But to do so, Hitler needs fuel, especially high-octane aviation fuel. For Hitler, the air domain provides flexibility for his newest military strategy: blitzkrieg or "lightning war".As war with Germany looms on the horizon, Britain knows that control of the air domain is vital for its defense if it is to combat the long reach of the Third Reich. But much needed supplies of aviation fuel for its fighter aircraft come from outside the Empire and are in danger of being stopped. Britain must now turn to a politically-tensed oil colony within its Empire to supply them in their most desperate hour. That colony is Trinidad.This well-researched book gives a geopolitical perspective on how the British colony of Trinidad became a key producer of aviation fuel for Britain's RAF fighters and a pawn of the British Empire in the high-stakes game known as World War Two.