Liberators On Ploesti

Operation Tidal Wave B-24s of the 44th and 98th Bomb Groups exit the target at extreme low level after turning the oil refineries at Ploesti into a fiery maelstrom.

In May 1942 Colonel Harry A. Halverson led 23 factory-fresh B-24s from Florida on an epic flight that was supposed to finish in China. Known as HALPRO (Halverson project) the unit was going to bomb Tokyo in a follow-up to the Doolittle raid. When HALPRO reached Egypt however, the crews were ordered to stay put and prepare to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti. The mission (the first US raid of the European war, top secret at the time and later overshadowed by the disastrous low-level Ploesti raid of 1943) was set for June 12th.

The aircraft took off individually between 10:30 and 11:00 pm on June 11th, arriving over the target at dawn the following day. Ten bombers hit the Astra refinery at Ploesti, one B-24 attacked the port area of Constanta, the remaining two B-24s struck unidentified targets. Three ended up interned in Turkey, the rest manage to reach friendly bases in Iraq. Damage turned out to be minimal but the mission was considered a success.

The first heavy bombardment mission against German-held Europe was the mission by thirteen B-24's, from Fayid, Egypt, to attack the most important target in the war - the oil refineries at Ploesti. The target was not much damaged. The very improbability of this two thousand-mile round trip was its best protection, and enemy opposition was not heavy.

Though the ships had to land all over the Middle East on their return journey, four being interned in Turkey, only one was lost, in a crash landing at Habbaniya. The Russians felt this American bombardment mission on their Front with impressed surprise.

The R.A.F., Tedder and his people, who had told Halverson my orders could not possibly be carried out, also felt it. The handwriting for the epic Ploesti mission of August 1, 1943, for the later attacks of the Fifteenth Air Force from Italy for the whole long-range American air offense, was on the wall. Had the headlines not been so full of the battle of Midway in the Pacific that week, this extraordinary mission - virtually into the unknown would have been better appreciated at the time ...

On August 1, 1943, at the very moment Mr. Churchill was discussing the project of bases in the Caucasus with President Roosevelt and Premier Stalin, the eyes of the world were attracted to the Balkan area by the daring attack of Brereton's Ninth Air Force Liberators (reinforced by two groups of the Eighth) on Ploesti.

No mission in the war was more carefully planned, with full knowledge of the odds against it, nor carried out despite mishaps in identifying the target, with more amazing courage. The damage done to the sprawling miles of Europe's Number One oil field was great - 60 per cent of the total production capacity temporarily knocked out - but the cost was heavy.

Fifty-four of the 177 B-24's dispatched on the 2400-mile flight failed to return. Some little glimpse of the determination of the men who carried out the Ploesti mission is obtained from the report of their long, quiet approach to Rumania and their target. As one of their key formation leaders suddenly spiraled down unexplainably into the Mediterranean, not a voice broke radio silence. The deputy leader, a young lieutenant, moved up to take his place, and the formation flew on.

As for the bombing itself, the planes that came back had tree branches stuck to their bomb-bay doors. Some went in so low, undetected by the enemy's radar, that they were blown to pieces by the blast of their own bombs. For the first time in history five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded for the valor of a single military operation.

click image to enlarge More than 170 B-24s started out on this route from airfields near Bengasi, Libya, to their targets - oil refineries around Ploesti, Romania - in the unprecedented 2,700-mile, low-level assault of August 1, 1943. Only ninety-two returned to base that night.

There are enough other stories of heroism on that mission to fill a book. The Distinguished Service Cross, second highest decoration for valor, was awarded to several men, among them Ent, Compton, Wood, Posey, Appold, and then-Capt. William R. Cameron of the 44th Group, like John Jerstad a volunteer for the mission.

Improvisation and raw courage overcame the vagaries of war--inaccuarate intelligence on enemy defenses, unforeseen weather, human error - and a plan that perhaps demanded too much of too many in a strategy and tactic that had not been tried before. We honor the men who met the tests and trials of an historic mission and the nearly 500 who did not come back that day.

Of the 164 Liberators which had gained the target area, 41 had been lost to enemy action. An additional 14 (including the 8 interned in Turkey) were lost through other causes, such as the takeoff accident of Kickapoo, the inexplicable dive into the sea of Flavelle's plane near Corfu and the collision in the clouds over Bulgaria. Thus the total plane loss added up to 54. (And of those which had returned to Benghazi, barely 30 were still flyable.) This would mean too the loss of 540 men.

The final death toll of the Ploesti raid, according to Air Force files, came to 310. The number of wounded was initially given as 54 (3 of whom were in Turkey), but that number plus 20 lay in hospitals in Rumania. More than 100 prisoners, also, spent the rest of the war in Rumania.

Ploesti Was Surrounded By Six Oil Refineries

Retired Air Force Gen. Leon W. Johnson, who commanded the 44th Bomb Group and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his part in the Ploesti mission. After the war, General Johnson's distinguished career included command of the Third Air Force and the Continental Air Command. He also served as Senior Air Force Member of the United Nations Military Staff Committee, and was US Representative to NATO's Military Committee and Standing Group.

The city of Ploesti lies on the Romanian plains fifty miles north of Bucharest. In 1943 it was surrounded by six oil refineries, all working at maximum capacity, making their contribution to the war machine of the German occupiers. In 1941 they refined a large portion of the 2.1 million tons of Romanian oil supplied to the Germans. By 1943 the refineries had become even more critical to the German war effort because of German reversals in Russia, with the loss of the hoped-for Russian oil supplies from the Baku area on the Caspian Sea.

Our military planners estimated that the destruction of these refineries would cripple the German war machine and possibly bring it to a grinding halt. The question was how to go about it. A small, high-altitude, night attack had been ineffective in 1942. High-altitude daylight attacks would be expected to require repeated missions by planes that were vitally needed to decrease the Nazi submarine menace, to slow down the German aircraft factories that were busy producing interceptors, or to support the Army as it moved into Sicily and Italy.

It was decided that a single treetop-level mission of approximately 150 planes best fitted the existing conditions. This laid a premium on range at low level, and it was decided that the B-24 Liberators would have to be used. The B-17 Fortresses would not have the required low-level range. The force requirement of more than 150 Liberators, or five groups, could not be met in Africa. There were only two groups operating there; three groups normally operating from England were borrowed to complete the force.

In late May, the three groups in England stood down from bombing operations over Germany, and were set to practicing low-level formation flying over England. The low-level practice in England was to determine the time required to send five successive waves of aircraft flying at treetop level over the same point. The fuzing of the bombs needed to be such that the first explosion would not occur until the last wave had crossed the target.

In mid-June, the groups moved to the North African desert near Bengasi, Libya. The units were quickly engaged in attacks against targets in Southern Europe, to familiarize them with the theater, as well as to provide support for the Army, which was preparing for the invasion of Sicily. The primary mission, for which they repeatedly practiced, continued to be the attack upon the Ploesti refineries, and was set for noon on Sunday, August 1, 1943. The time was deliberately chosen in order to minimize casualties among the impressed laborers.

The results of the attack were good, and the Germans were deprived of much oil and major refinery capacity. Lack of a follow-on allied bombing capability enabled the Germans to rebuild. The high-altitude air campaign from Italy, mounted almost a year later, was required to totally deprive the Germans of this vital resource.

B-24s practicing low-level formation flying against simulated targets in the Libyan desert. Three Eighth Air Force groups from England joined two B-24 groups from the Mediterranean area for the Ploesti mission.

The Ploesti Episode

Winston Churchill once observed that "in war, nothing ever goes according to plan except occasionally and then by accident." That was the story of one of the most daring bomber operations of World War II - the treetop-level attack on Romanian oil refineries.

The whole Ploesti episode began on a high note as far as I was concerned. After six months of combat operations in very cold and hostile winter skies over Europe, we were shifted, without explanation, to low-level formation practice over the green fields of England.

We were told that for the time being, at least, there would be no combat - and it was springtime. There were new crews and new B-24s to replace those that had been lost, and losses had been severe for our group - the 44th. We didn't understand then that this relatively pleasant interval was designed to prepare us for an exceptional mission - one that would put it on the line for all of us.

After those few weeks of preparation, we took off singly early one dark morning and flew, at very low altitude, to an airfield in the southern part of England. The next day, we crossed the Bay of Biscay, again low enough to escape German radar, and passed through the Straits of Gibraltar to Oran in Algeria. After a brief but interesting stay, we proceeded to Benina Main, near the coastal city of Bengasi in Libya. It was nearly dark when we climbed down from the Buzzin' Bear and waited to be directed to our billet. As we waited - and waited - Sgt. Gerald Sparks, our radio operator from Meridian, Miss., entertained us with his guitar. Eventually, someone came by in a truck and threw off a large canvas bundle, which we were informed was our billet. We knew then that we were not destined to feel at home in this strange new environment - and we never did.

After missions over such targets as Messina, Catania, Foggia, and Naples, I completed my required twenty-five in a borrowed ship, the Suzy-Q, over Rome on July 19. We then plunged into low-level formation practice once again, but this time it was over the dry Libyan desert. It occurred to me at the same time that I was not really expected to fly this low-level mission, whatever the target was, but I was swept up in the preparation for it primarily out of loyalty to my crew, and perhaps some curiosity that caused me to want to see it through.

For almost two weeks, B-24s in small groups were crisscrossing the desert in all directions, practicing low-level formation flying. Eventually, the groups became larger as the training progressed toward a full-dress rehearsal involving the total force of B-24 Liberator bombers.

Five bomb groups were to be involved in our still-undisclosed mission - three groups in their dull green-hued aircraft from England and two units stationed in Africa. The airplanes of the latter groups were dust colored, almost pink, and were easily distinguished from the England-based B-24s. All of these were B-24Ds - lighter and faster than the models that came later with the nose turrets and other modifications.

Target models had been set up in the desert. When we were considered ready, the entire force of 175 bombers took off, assembled in group formation, and lined up one group behind the other. Proceeding just as we would against the actual targets in Romania, we arrived at the practice IP (initial point), and each unit then swung approximately ninety degrees to the right. This maneuver put five units of aircraft flying side by side at very low level and racing toward our simulated target. In this manner, all our aircraft were streaking over their small targets at nearly the same moment. The units were then to turn to the right, which meant that once again the five groups would be lined up one behind the other, as they left the target area.

Gen. Leon W. Johnson, USAF (Ret.). Why Ploesti? Air Force Magazine. August 1971.

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Ploesti Dugan & Stewart. "A big, carefully documented, tremendously exciting book about the wildest U.S. air raid of WWII. It is easily the best ever of the 'single air battle' books and in many ways superior to such major campaign records as The Longest Day." - Life Magazine.

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