This report was written primarily for
the use of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey
in the preparation of further reports of a
more comprehensive nature. Any conclusions
or opinions expressed in this report must be
considered as limited to the specific target
covered and as subject to further interpretation
in the light of further studies conducted by the Survey.

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CONFIDENTIAL

UNITED STATES STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEY

MUNITIONS DIVISION

MOTOR VEHICLES AND TANKS BRANCH

PLANT REPORT NO 11

BUSSING NAG

(BUSSING NATIONAL AUTO GESELLSCHAFT

VEREINIGTE NUTZKRAFTWAGEN GmbH)

(Bussing National Auto Company

United Truck Corporation)

BRUNSWICK, GERMANY

Dates of Plant Survey:

Date of Publication:

6 Oct 1945

COPY NO: 33

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CONFIDENTIAL

MOTOR VEHICLES AND TANKS BRANCH

PLANT REPORT NO 11

BUSSING NAG

BRUNSWICK, GERMANY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Photo 1 - 4.5 Ton truck chassis.

Photo 2 – Omnibus.

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Photo 3 - 4.5 Ton diesel powered truck.

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1 SUMMARY

1. General

a. This plant report illustrates how a well planned dispersal program may reduce almost to vanishing point the effects of air attack on production. Sixty-two per cent of all the machines and machine tools used by the firm were dispersed. As a result of all raids, total building destruction was only 15 per cent, and machine tool destruction never exceeded two per cent. Production was barely hindered and was at no time completely interrupted.

b. The works of Bussing Nag were located at Brunswick, seven miles northeast of the main railway station.

c. The plot area was nearly square and occupied 16.3 acres (708,952 sq ft.) The built-up area occupied 471,464 sq ft, and the total floor area of the 22 buildings composing the plant was 830,910 sq ft.

d. The labor force increased about 34 per cent during the war years, from 4,356 in 1939 to 5,827 in 1945. Labor on night shift never exceeded ten per cent of the total labor force.

e. Before the war (1939), Bussing NAG was the second largest producer in Germany of four and one half to six ton heavy trucks.

2. History of Attacks

a. Table 1 on the following page gives history of the attacks on this plant.

3. Damage

a. Damage figures during the period covering all raids were as follows:

Floor area:

Totally destroyed 122,726 sq ft	(15 per cent.)
	49,740 sq ft destroyed by HE;
	51,558 sq ft by IB;
	21,428 sq ft by mixed HE and IB
Partially destroyed	(22 per cent)
Superficially damaged	(12 per cent approxo)

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b. Machine and machine tool destruction as a result of all raids was negligible, never exceeding two per cent. Heavy damage to machines and machine tools never exceeded three per cent and slight damage did not exceed 10 per cent. The factory's dispersal program was a main factor in preventing main damage. Before and after the raids, 62 per cent of the machines and machine tools were dispersed.

4. Check on Intelligence

a. Intelligence reports were accurate as to the volume of production achieved in this plant.

b. Intelligence badly underestimated the number of employees.

c. The assessment of the amount of damage sustained was exaggerated.

II THE PLANT AND ITS FUNCTIONS IN ENEMY ECONOMY

1. Prewar activities.

a. Before the war (1939), Bussing NAG was the second largest producer in Germany of 4.5 to six-ton heavy trucks. From about 1932 onward the trucks were equipped with four and six cylinder Diesel engines of Bussing design and manufacture. Pre-1940 truck production varied between 4,000 and 5,000, per year. Production of six-ton trucks ceased in 1939.

2. War Activities

a. Apart from negligible deliveries of minor airplane parts, bomb racks, turrets, etc, Bussing's entire war activity was the manufacture of 4.5-ton trucks (pre-1939 type) and truck spare parts. In 1944 the firm produced 42 per cent of the total German output of these trucks. During the war, production of spare parts totalled 28,000 tons.

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3. Physical Description of Plant

a. The Bussing Works are located at Brunswick,, seven miles southeast and northeast of the main railway station. They are bounded on the southeast by main line of the Reichsbahn. Four marshalling yards are located within a mile of the plant. A main street, Salzsdahmbunstrasse, cuts north and south through the plant. The area surrounding the plant is mainly residential. There are no outstanding landmarks.

b. The plot occupied by the works is nearly square and con-tain l6.3 acres (708,952 sq ft.) The built up area covers 471,464 sq ft or 66.5 per cent of the plot area. There are 22 separate buildings, mostly adjacent to one another. The majority of the buildings have more than one story. Total floor space of all buildings is 830,910 sq feet. Most of the buildings were built prior to 1935.

c. The principal types of building construction are as follows:

(1) Fifty-six percent are one and two story buildings with connecting passageways. Construction is structural steel frame with brick filler walls. Roofs are precast concrete slab on steel trusses and wood with composition covering on steel trusses. Floors are concrete.

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(2)  Twenty eight per cent are one and five story buildings with brick pilastered load bearing walls. Roofs are wood with composition roofing on timber trusses and floors are concrete.

(3)  Fourteen per cent are one and five story buildings of reinforced concrete frame with brick filler walls. Roofs are of reinforced concrete supported by reinforced concrete columns and floors of concrete.

(4)  Two per cent are one and two-story buildings of timber frame with brick filler walls. Roofs are wood with composition covering supported by timber trusses. Floors are concrete.

d. The Bussing plant was well equipped, with 1,582 various types of machines and machine tools, the majority of which were multi-purpose. The volume of production, before and during the war, was not in sufficient volume to justify the extensive use of single purpose tools and the mass production type of mechanical conveyor. The works did have, however, a final assembly line with the material flow in straight channels.

4. Ownership and Personnel

a. The firm was established in 1903 by Heinrich Bussing. In 1922 the firm was changed into a joint stock company with a capital of RM 5,000,000. In March 1943, the joint stock company was changed into a limited liability company (GmbH). The management from then until the present time consisted of Rudolph Egger, Willy Staniewicz and Otto Schirz. These three with other plant officials, were interviewed.

5. Labor

a. The size of the labor force increased by about 34 per cent during the war years, from 4,356 in 1939 to 5,827 in 1945. This increase was made possible solely by adding more and more foreign workers until they amounted to almost 50 per cent of the total force.

b. There were never more than 500 workmen employed on the night shift. Most of these night workers were engaged on machining operations of those items where shortages had occurred.

c. The number of women workers on the plant increased from four per cent in 1939 to 16 per cent in 1945.

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III ATTACKS

1. This plant was subjected to a total of 11 air raids from 10 February 1944 to 31 March 1945. During the entire period no severe damage was inflicted on the plant.

a. 10 February 1944 Eighth AF, day area raid,, Five HE bombs fell within the plant area. One direct hit on administration buildings. No hits in plant production area. Damage negligible.

b. 23 Marsh 1944 Eighth AF, day area raid. Only two HE bombs on plant area. No damage except to company owned dwellings.

c. 8 April 1944, Eighth AF, day area raid, l6 HE bombs and undetermined number of IBs on plant area.

d. 22/23 April 1944, RAF, night area raid. No HE bombs and approximately 183 oil incendiary bombs in the plant area. No major damage. Considerable superficial damage.

e. 8 May 1944, Eighth AF, day area raid, approximately 83 oil incendiary bombs patterned on main factory buildings. Serious damage by fire on three main buildings.

f. 5 August 1944, Eighth AF, day area raid. Eight HE bombs within the factory area. Serious structural damage to main plant machine shop, and some damage to machine tools.

g. 12/13 August 1944, RAF, night area raid. Approximately 83 oil incendiaries on plant area. No HE bombs on the plant area.

h. 14/15 October 1944, RAF, night area raid. Approximately 135 oil incendiaries on plant area. Fire throughout area resulted in serious damage. No HE bombs on the plant area.

i. 22 October 1944, Eighth AF, day plant raid. Eight HE bombs and an estimated several hundred IBs on the plant area. One building totally destroyed, serious structural damage to others.

j. 3 March 1945, Eighth AF, day plant raid. Ten HE bombs and estimated several hundred IBs on the plant area which resulted in severe structural damage.

k. 31 March 1945, Eighth AF day area raid. Only two HE bombs fell within the plant area, causing negligible damage.

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IV EFFECTS OF BOMBING

1. Physical Damage

a. Damage to Buildings. During the period from 10 February 1944 (first raid) to 31 March 1945, this plant received damage from 11 different raids. In these, the built-up floor areas suffered 15 per cent total destruction, 22 per cent partial destruction, and approximately 12 per cent superficial damage. Total destruction means "floor area totally destroyed and not usable without complete rebuilding of a permanent or temporary structure." Partial destruction means "floor area partially destroyed and unusable until certain major measures of rebuilding are effected." Superficial damage means "area considered unusable until necessary temporary roof covering and window coverings are provided and debris clearance effected."

b. The following table shows cumulative damage by all raids and breaks down the total destruction to building type and bomb type.

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TABLE 4

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c. Damage to Utilities. Utility damage was minor and had little effect on production.

d. Machine and Machine Tool Damage.

(1) Damage to Machine and machine tools was negligible with only four raids causing any damage at all. The large amount of dispersal was a main factor in limiting damage. The following table shows the damage by raids.

(2) The decrease of machine and machine tool inventories at the Bussing NAG Plant as shown in the above table is due to the dispersal of the machines. Those machines totally destroyed never exceeded one per cent during amy raid and those machines which were damaged, never exceeded four per cent.

e. Equipment

(1) In the raid of 3 March 1945 the heat-treating plant was completely destroyed. This did not seriously affect production as the plant was able to use the heat treating facilities from one of its branch plants. Other types of equipment, such as air compressors, electric and acetylene welding equipment, sand-blasting machines, cranes etc. were only slightly damaged.

f. Inventories

(1) Destruction to raw material, work in process, and finished goods for all raids was:

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The total loss in raw material and work in process was equivalent to 0.47 of a month's inventory, based on the average monthly consumption in 1944. This was a negligible loss when compared to the average inventory of 2.5 months.

g. Casualties

(1) On 8 April 1944, seven foreign workers were killed and two Germans were wounded. On 3 March 1945 one foreign worker was killed and one foreign worker wounded. These eight killed and three wounded are the entire casualties.

h. Air Raid Precautions

(1) The ARP personnel totalled 1,155. The organization was equipped with radio and telephone communication to all plant stations and a two-way general line to the ARP command post of Brunswick, which issued all air raid warnings.

(2) The plant's regular fire brigade consisted of 38 members with 39 auxiliary members. In addition there were 358 first aid fighting units distributed throughout the plant.

(3) The factory area was provided with a water distributing system for fire protection supplied from two sources: the municipal supply, for utility and portable use, and the municipal lake and company owned wells.

i. Bunkers

(1) The plant was provided with two main air raid bunkers. These bunkers had space for

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1,653 persons in all. In addition there were three reinforced concrete trenches with space for another 3,200 persons.

j. Camouflage

(1) No attempt was made to camouflage the buildings,,

k. Baffle Walls

(1) Use of Baffle walls was confined to the erecting of brick walls around all transformer stations and gas regulator controls.

2. Loss of Production

a. Production was affected by plant attacks to a very minor degree, for total building destruction in all raids amounted only to 15 per cent. Production in 1944 decreased by 420 trucks from the 1943 output of 4,710, but this decrease was due to a combination of factors, among them disruption of transportation facilities. At no time was production ever completely interrupted as a result of air raids on the plant. The plant's excellent dispersal program, covering 62 per cent of all machine tools, was effective in limiting the production loss caused by bombing.

b. The only measurable effect bombing had upon this plant was to divert labor from production to air raid debris clearance and repair, and to stop production while alarms were in progress. Dispersal was carried to such a major extent that loss of plant floor space due to destruction by bombing was easily nullified by moving equipment to other space which had been vacated in dispersal. A total of 460 trucks were denied to the enemy because of time lost due to the three factors mentioned above, and is the equivalent of approximately l.25 months production.

3. Dispersal Program (Exhibit A.)

a. Following the first raids the decision was made to disperse a large percentage of machining operations in anticipation of further and heavier attacks. Machining of gears, connecting rods, flywheels, cylinder heads, oil and water pumps, steering gears, rocker arms, exhaust manifolds, front and rear axles, differentials, etc, were all dispersed. All these parts required extensive machining operations on valuable machine tools. No attempt was made to disperse final truck assembly, final motor assembly or cylinder block machining.

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b. Fourteen sites were selected, 12 of which were located in small and isolated communities within 20 miles of the main works. In addition, a further expansion to Gifhorn about 25 miles from the main works, was made in March 1945 for engine parts machining. The installation was nearly finished in April 1945 but only negligible production was achieved.

c. All types of buildings were used for dispersed plants. The largest dispersal was to the Jute Spinning Mill, at Vechnelde, 10 miles from the main works, where 40,000 sq feet of space was used for installing 199 machine tools and employing 482 workers.

d. At the time of occupation by the US Army, 15 April 1945, 14 dispersed plants were in full operation, and one in partial operation. These plants covered a substantial part of machining operations for the Bussing Trucks. The factory area of these dispersed plants was 186,560 sq ft or 23 per cent of the total factory floor area of the main works. There were 1,664 employees or 30 per cent of the total Bussing employees. There were 937 machine tools or 62 percent of the total of 1,538 machines and machine tools used by the firm.

e. None of the dispersed plants suffered from attack or damage.

f. It took an average of 33 days between start of dispersal and start of production in these new locations. Actually there was only negligible loss of production because prior to removing the machine tools from the main works, a sufficient stock of finished parts was accumulated to maintain production of main plant during machine removal and erection in the new location. Thus only minor loss of production was suffered by dispersal.

g. Labor for the dispersed plants was obtained from the main works in sufficient volume for requirements. The nearness of the dispersed plants to the main plant helped this situation.

h. The necessity for transporting both the semi-finished material and finished parts to and from the dispersed plants added to the complexities of manufacture, but it was not a major problem.

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V   CHECK ON INTELLIGENCE

1. Production figures given by Intelligence are quite accurate.

2. Some Intelligence reports cited Bussing NAG as manufacturers of light and medium trucks, fire-fighting equipment, tractors. In fact, from 1939 only the 4.5-ton truck was produced.

3. Intelligence in one report states that about 1,500 workers were employed. In fact 5,661 were employed in 1943. 5,634 in 1944 and 5,827 in 1945.

4. Intelligence rated plant as number three priority. In 1944 Bussing NAG produced 42.7 per cent of all 4.5-ton trucks made in Germany.

5. Intelligence stated "Bussing NAG Plant at Brunswick, is closely knit, consisting of several large buildings interconnected and mostly under one roof." In fact there were 22 separate buildings of substantial size.

VI  VULNERABILITY AND EVALUATION

1. This plant presented a good target for bombing because of the concentration of buildings within the plant area.

2. The buildings were of old construction, and had a very high percentage of wooden roofs, thus making them vulnerable to attack by HE and IB.

3. The type of manufacture did not call for use of very heavy machine tools. The machine tools installed should have been very vulnerable to attack.

4. Because so much of the final product (trucks) was dependent on progressive machine operations, damage to machine tools of 20 or 25 percent would have seriously interfered with production until machines were replaced.

5. The Plant is located in a residential area surrounded by many old multi-story apartments with attendant conflagration possibilities.

6. As a result of the excellent dispersal program air-raids had a minimum effect on production.

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Photo 1 - Transportation Depot in foreground (top view).

Photo 2 - Transportation Depot (side view).

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Photo 3 - Tool making and repair shop (2nd floor and roof).

Photo 4 - Electricians and Carpenters Shop (top floor).

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Photo 5 - Truck delivery dept.

Photo 6 - Truck delivery and testing dept.

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Photo 7 - Heat treating and automatic lathes.

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Photo 8 - Bookkeeping and sales dept.

Photo 9 - Development dept (4th floor).

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Photo 10 - Tool Making and repair shop (roof).

Photo 11 - Too1 making and repair shop (2nd floor).

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CONFIDENTIAL

BUSSING NAG., BRUNSWICK                                                                             EXHIBIT A

SUMMARY OF DISPERSAL EFFORT AND ACHIEVEMENT

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