​Few people know that England was on the brink of surrender to Germany in 1943 due to a critical oil shortage. 

But England managed to persuade two American oil companies to join forces and secretly send modern oil drilling equipment and expert oil workers to England to rescue the British. 

Now a new book, "American Cowboys Secret Oil Wells Saved England in World War 2" by an American author has created a lot of tourist interest in the Nottinghamshire area.

A new book by an American author reveals that few people know that if not for the courage, skill and determination of 42 oil well drillers from Oklahoma and Texas, England might have been forced to surrender to Germany in 1943.

England was being regularly bombarded, with London alone suffering thousands of deaths and millions of dollars in damages monthly.

And, the country's essential oil supplies were at a critical low point. The country was fast approaching the point it would soon face an inability to keep its planes, ships and motorized equipment operable.

America was trying to help, sending dozens of oil-laden ships to England but German submarines and aircraft were making mincemeat of emergency oil shipments, with millions of gallons of oil winding up at the bottom of the sea.

England had a few mall secret oil wells in the Sherwood Forest area, but they were producing only about 300 barrels of oil daily, less than 10 per cent of what the country needed to keep its military in competition with Germany. Surrender seemed to be on the horizon.

England's Oil Commission approached Prime Minister Winston Churchill with the desolate news, suggesting out of desperation they try a long shot: Secretly send a representative to America to see if any U. S. oil well drilling companies would be willing to provide modern well-drilling equipment and expert oil workers.

England representative Phillip Southwell met with several major oil companies, but due to their own U. S. responsibilities none were able to provide Southwell any help. But Southwell doggedly pursued the oil companies and finally two oil companies agreed to combine their efforts to help the British recover from their desperate situation. Noble Oil and Fain-Porter Oil managed to secretly buy the modern oil well equipment and recruit 42 experienced oil field workers and secretly shipped them to England.

The oil workers received about three times the normal pay for the job, but they had to sign a contract to work 12 hours per day, seven days per week for one year, no matter how bad the weather.

Southwell then faced the difficult job of finding housing for the workers without arousing suspicion. He talked the operator of an Anglican monastery theological training school, Kelham Hall, on the River Trent, near the edge of Sherwood Forest, to share their quarters with the oil workers for one year.

Once the American oil roughnecks, made up of many former ranch hand cowboys, got settled in and began the job they started drilling several wells per week and oil production shot up to 1,000 barrels per day after two months. Within six months the wells were producing more than 2,000 barrels of oil per day. England appeared to be on the road to recovery.

One of the workers was killed in a fall from a derrick and others were injured on the job. Several of the oil workers found themselves involved in many adventures during their one-year odyssey, including taking an incredible River Trent fishing trip, visiting London and finding themselves involved in a German bombing attack, initiating a British/American bicycle race, teaching the monks softball and learning soccer, becoming an immensely popular country music act and one becoming involved in a beautiful love story.

Now, the major settings for the book, the city of Newark, The Fox Inn and Kelham Hall in Nottinghamshire has brought about an increase in tourism in the area.

"I just fell in love with the book and wanted to visit the area and get a feel for how this amazing story came about," said Helen Roundstone of London. "The Fox Inn is apparently much the same as it was in 1943 and Kelham Hall is just as beautiful as it ever was."

"Me and a couple of my friends came down here from Bristol to check out the fishing on the River Trent. We are hoping to catch a monster berbel fish like those chaps in the book did," said Howard Billingham.

"The book is based on a true story and many of the characters are based on real people and real situations," said author Ken Paul Mink, a journalist for more than 50 years and now an author of 24 books and a writer for three Internet publications, including The Travelling Adventurer Magazine (www.travellingadventurer.com), and International Travel Writer's Alliance (www.ITWA.com), the world's largest travel writer's organization.

The book, at $7.50, is titled "American Cowboys Secret Oil Wells Saved England in World War 2" and is available at Amazon.com and Kindle, along with a directory of his previous 23 books.

Useful links

​Newark, Winston Churchill, Noble Drilling, Fain Drilling, The Fox Inn, Kelham Hall, Lloyd Noble