The "second Ruhr" was a World War II area that included the "southern regions of Germany, the plateau of Bohemia, and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spli ...

" where

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

military production was dispersed away from

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called a ...

bomber bases in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. After Allied

Operation Pointblank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel para ...

bombing of German aircraft facilities had begun,

dispersed the 27 larger aircraft works across 729 medium and very small plants (some in tunnels, caves, and mines), and

oil production Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dr ...

was also dispersed (e.g.,

Blechhammer The Blechhammer ( en, sheet metal hammer) area was the location of Nazi Germany chemical plants, prisoner of war (POW) camps, and forced labor camps (german: Arbeitslager Blechhammer; also Nummernbücher). Labor camp prisoners began arriving as ...

). However, by October 1943, long-range bombers could reach the area (e.g., Marienburg).

References

World War II sites of Nazi Germany World War II strategic bombing {{Germany-WWII-stub