at the time, Robert did not receive the money. A point we return to later (in
this chapter, Sect. 15.5).
The French entered Ludwigshafen the same day Robert fled Germany.
Two of the three BASF factories therefore came under French control, but
not before Bosch had moved much valuable material across the Rhine and
shut down the ammonia plant at Oppau. This he maintained was ‘due to a
lack of coal’, but in reality, it was to prevent the Allies understanding how the
ammonia synthesis worked. Even so, the French confiscated over a million
Marks worth of finished dyes and shipped them to France.
1 The French of
course regarded Oppau as a munitions factory and crawled all over the plant
trying to ‘tease out’ her secrets. Bosch knew that patents alone would not
explain his industrial process, and with regard to the visit of the French
inspectors The Times in London on Wednesday 12 November 1919 carried a
quote from the BASF in which they maintained that … ‘if they, the French,
saw the works they would not be able to duplicate them, and even when
erected, they could not operate them’. Even so, if the Allies were permitted to
study a working plant and disassemble a reactor or two then the BASF’s
competitive advantage in post war fertilizer production would eventually be
lost. Bosch and his staff therefore became totally obstructive believing that in
law the Allies had no right to steal German technical secrets.
24 Bosch used
every device to avoid restarting the plant, the French inspectors therefore had
to content themselves with taking measurements and photographs, gathering
samples, climbing ladders, peering into pipes and drawing diagrams.
1
The BASF workers made it even more difficult. Access ladders suddenly
disappeared, important gauges were removed or ‘de-natured’ so that their
purpose was disguised, and when inspectors appeared workers would ‘down
tools’, switch off machines they were using to maintain the plant, and stare at
them until they left.
1 Oppau stood dumb in defiance, the voices of men and
machines falling silent.
But where the French failed the British were determined to succeed and at
the end of May 1919 a delegation arrived at Oppau which included representatives from the huge Brunner Mond company—forerunner of ICI—part
of a group of 20 members of the association of British Chemical
Manufacturers investigating the present position of the German chemical
industry. The ‘Brits’ were amazed at the scale of Oppau but they too met with
little success and when they demanded the disassembly of parts of the plant
for examination, the BASF threatened to ‘mothball’ Oppau throwing all the
workers on the mercy of the French who would have to deal with the consequences of their unemployment. Just like the French then, the British could
only make sketches and notes, storing them temporarily in a railway wagon
330
D. Sheppard
this chapter, Sect. 15.5).
The French entered Ludwigshafen the same day Robert fled Germany.
Two of the three BASF factories therefore came under French control, but
not before Bosch had moved much valuable material across the Rhine and
shut down the ammonia plant at Oppau. This he maintained was ‘due to a
lack of coal’, but in reality, it was to prevent the Allies understanding how the
ammonia synthesis worked. Even so, the French confiscated over a million
Marks worth of finished dyes and shipped them to France.
1 The French of
course regarded Oppau as a munitions factory and crawled all over the plant
trying to ‘tease out’ her secrets. Bosch knew that patents alone would not
explain his industrial process, and with regard to the visit of the French
inspectors The Times in London on Wednesday 12 November 1919 carried a
quote from the BASF in which they maintained that … ‘if they, the French,
saw the works they would not be able to duplicate them, and even when
erected, they could not operate them’. Even so, if the Allies were permitted to
study a working plant and disassemble a reactor or two then the BASF’s
competitive advantage in post war fertilizer production would eventually be
lost. Bosch and his staff therefore became totally obstructive believing that in
law the Allies had no right to steal German technical secrets.
24 Bosch used
every device to avoid restarting the plant, the French inspectors therefore had
to content themselves with taking measurements and photographs, gathering
samples, climbing ladders, peering into pipes and drawing diagrams.
1
The BASF workers made it even more difficult. Access ladders suddenly
disappeared, important gauges were removed or ‘de-natured’ so that their
purpose was disguised, and when inspectors appeared workers would ‘down
tools’, switch off machines they were using to maintain the plant, and stare at
them until they left.
1 Oppau stood dumb in defiance, the voices of men and
machines falling silent.
But where the French failed the British were determined to succeed and at
the end of May 1919 a delegation arrived at Oppau which included representatives from the huge Brunner Mond company—forerunner of ICI—part
of a group of 20 members of the association of British Chemical
Manufacturers investigating the present position of the German chemical
industry. The ‘Brits’ were amazed at the scale of Oppau but they too met with
little success and when they demanded the disassembly of parts of the plant
for examination, the BASF threatened to ‘mothball’ Oppau throwing all the
workers on the mercy of the French who would have to deal with the consequences of their unemployment. Just like the French then, the British could
only make sketches and notes, storing them temporarily in a railway wagon
330
D. Sheppard