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Wolfram Wars: Exposing The Secret Battle in Portugal
Wolfram – also known as Tungsten – is about more than electric light bulbs. Its more deadly claim-to-fame rests in its armour-piercing qualities.
During WWII, Wolfram was in great demand with both the Allies and Axis powers who scoured the globe for the precious material; indeed, they deployed huge resources to secure supplies whilst simultaneously doing their best to sabotage and undermine one another.
The greatest beneficiary from these shadowy dealings was Portugal, a neutral country, under the control of the mercurial António de Oliveira Salazar. The sudden surge in demand created great wealth and bustling ‘gold rush towns’ deep in Portugal’s remote mountainous interior, but threatened to undermine Salazar’s grand vision for his country.
Wolfram Wars examines the role of Portugal in the Wolfram trade, alongside the exploits of its British, American and German customers. It takes in the glitz and glamour of wartime Lisbon, the mischievous dealings of intelligence services, and includes some of WWII’s most interesting spies – spies with code names such as Garbo, Tricycle, and Treasure. A certain young intelligence officer and creator of James Bond – Ian Fleming – also has a role to play.
Appealing to connoisseurs of WWII history, Wolfram Wars is a story that offers adventure, intrigue and espionage, and a fascinating insight into this little-known but hugely important aspect to the war.
During WWII, Wolfram was in great demand with both the Allies and Axis powers who scoured the globe for the precious material; indeed, they deployed huge resources to secure supplies whilst simultaneously doing their best to sabotage and undermine one another.
The greatest beneficiary from these shadowy dealings was Portugal, a neutral country, under the control of the mercurial António de Oliveira Salazar. The sudden surge in demand created great wealth and bustling ‘gold rush towns’ deep in Portugal’s remote mountainous interior, but threatened to undermine Salazar’s grand vision for his country.
Wolfram Wars examines the role of Portugal in the Wolfram trade, alongside the exploits of its British, American and German customers. It takes in the glitz and glamour of wartime Lisbon, the mischievous dealings of intelligence services, and includes some of WWII’s most interesting spies – spies with code names such as Garbo, Tricycle, and Treasure. A certain young intelligence officer and creator of James Bond – Ian Fleming – also has a role to play.
Appealing to connoisseurs of WWII history, Wolfram Wars is a story that offers adventure, intrigue and espionage, and a fascinating insight into this little-known but hugely important aspect to the war.
158 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 18, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 17, 2021
I have read several books about the role Wolfram played for Portugal during the Second world war both in fiction and in historical accounts
Portugal had and still has natural mines of Wolfram or Tungsten . Its use was vital to Germany and to the Allies because it strengthened bullets , shells , tanks and machinery . Dr Salazar Portugal's leader wanted to preserve his country's neutrality which he just about succeeded in doing and undoubtedly saved lives by his country not being an active participant .
At that time Portugal was a refuge for many , particularly Jews fleeing German persecution and citizens of France , Holland , Belgium and other occupied countries . It was country of spies from all sides , people on the make and the take and shadowy people , civils servants and migrants hoping to get out of Europe and take their riches or remaining possessions to safer places such as the USA .
This author covers in a somewhat dry manner what happened at the time and also some history prior to WW11 and what happened to Portugal after the end of the war . He manages to spice the story up with somewhat lurid headlines about " Spies , secrets and sex " and " Wolfram by day and fornication by night " and also because Ian Fleming was a naval intelligence officer present in Lisbon at the time . James Bond gets quite a lot of attention .
There is some fine detail and the story is fascinating . The author has to be congratulated on the scope of his tale and being seemingly self published even more so .
This is not a glossy book and none the worse for that
Portugal had and still has natural mines of Wolfram or Tungsten . Its use was vital to Germany and to the Allies because it strengthened bullets , shells , tanks and machinery . Dr Salazar Portugal's leader wanted to preserve his country's neutrality which he just about succeeded in doing and undoubtedly saved lives by his country not being an active participant .
At that time Portugal was a refuge for many , particularly Jews fleeing German persecution and citizens of France , Holland , Belgium and other occupied countries . It was country of spies from all sides , people on the make and the take and shadowy people , civils servants and migrants hoping to get out of Europe and take their riches or remaining possessions to safer places such as the USA .
This author covers in a somewhat dry manner what happened at the time and also some history prior to WW11 and what happened to Portugal after the end of the war . He manages to spice the story up with somewhat lurid headlines about " Spies , secrets and sex " and " Wolfram by day and fornication by night " and also because Ian Fleming was a naval intelligence officer present in Lisbon at the time . James Bond gets quite a lot of attention .
There is some fine detail and the story is fascinating . The author has to be congratulated on the scope of his tale and being seemingly self published even more so .
This is not a glossy book and none the worse for that
September 13, 2020
Interesting & Informative
I liked that Portugal was able to gain monetary substance from WWII by staying neutral, however, it is too bad that Salazar chose to keep his people illiterate and naive. It peaked my interest with the spy and espionage that was part of Lisbon at that time and I have bought another book on Portugal durinthat era.
I liked that Portugal was able to gain monetary substance from WWII by staying neutral, however, it is too bad that Salazar chose to keep his people illiterate and naive. It peaked my interest with the spy and espionage that was part of Lisbon at that time and I have bought another book on Portugal durinthat era.
June 20, 2025
This book deals with far more than the sale of wolfram by Portugal during World War II, so the title is a little misleading. The book includes a biography, but no endnotes. I wasn't impressed with the production values; it appears a little amateurish. On the other hand, it does give a descent overview of Portugal during WWII.
September 13, 2017
This was such a fascinating read. There are so many elements to this story that I never knew about. Would be happy to see a follow-up book focusing purely on the incredible espionage stories!
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April 25, 2019Poorly executed
Some interesting facts are explored, but the writing is weak. Author has a dry tone, similar to a lecture in a boring history class.
Some interesting facts are explored, but the writing is weak. Author has a dry tone, similar to a lecture in a boring history class.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews