Well, I did a little more testing and the refueling does work.
The reason it wasn't working for me was probably because I was playing off of a corrupted save file. I corrupted the save file myself while I was trying to give my commander a type XXI.
I was bored and didn't feel like playing "for real." It's a little bit of work to play this game with realism in mind. Especially when you are starting your career in '44 and using dead-is-dead rules for yourself. I just have to be in the right state of mind to play this game properly. It takes a lot patience and some determination this late in the war.