The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The Ploesti Raid - (Aug. 1, 1943) - May 15th, 2004

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[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Into the Mouth of Hell

Losses on the first large-scale Ploesti raid were staggering, heroism unsurpassed.

Tradition rests on a foundation of great deeds done together in the past. A keystone of Air Force tradition is the Aug. 1, 1943, bombing attack on oil refineries at Ploesti, about 30 miles north of Bucharest, Romania. That mission stands as a monument not only to the skill and courage of Air Force crews but also to the ability of our combat leaders to pull together strands of a broken plan and salvage limited success from the apparent certainty of disaster.

The Ploesti raid was unique in several respects. It was the first large-scale, low-level strike by heavy bombers against a well-defended target and the longest--1,350 miles from base to bombs-away--of World War II up to that time. For extraordinary heroism that day, five men were awarded the Medal of Honor, a record that may hold for all time.

Why did Ploesti merit that unprecedented effort? In mid-1943, seven refineries in and near the city were producing an estimated 35 percent of Germany's oil and an equal proportion of her aviation gasoline. Some Allied planners thought that destruction of the refineries might even force the Nazis out of the war.

The task force put together for Ploesti was composed of two Ninth Air Force B-24 groups--the 376th and 98th--based in North Africa and three B-24 groups from Eighth Air Force--the 93d, 44th, and the recently arrived 389th--that were moved from their UK bases to fields in North Africa near Benghazi, Libya. The attack was set for Sunday, Aug. 1, in order to minimize casualties among impressed workers at the refineries. It was meticulously planned and thoroughly rehearsed, including two full-scale practice missions against a simulation of the Ploesti targets, laid out in a remote area of the desert.

Surprise and Precision

In concept, if not in execution, the plan of attack was simple, its essence: surprise and precision. The bomber stream would be led by the 376th Group under Col. Keith K. Compton, followed by the 93d, 98th, 44th, and 389th in that order. Specific buildings within the five refineries in Ploesti; the refinery at Campina, 18 miles northwest of the city; and one at Brazi, five miles to the south, were assigned to elements of the five groups.



The task force, totaling 177 B-24s with Brig. Gen. Uzal Ent as mission commander flying in Compton's aircraft, would take off between 4 and 5 a.m., fly north in a tight column of groups to Corfu (off the coast of Greece), then climb over the mountains of Albania and Yugoslavia to the Danubian plain, where they would descend below enemy radar coverage. At Pitesti, the first Initial Point (IP), the 389th would break off to the left and proceed to the refinery at Campina.

The four leading groups would drop to 500 feet and continue to the final IP at Floresti, where they would begin a 13-mile bomb run on five refineries in the city and the one at Brazi, descending to treetop level for bomb release. All six refineries would be hit almost simultaneously by a single wave of bombers, flying line-abreast, that would saturate the defenses. That was the plan. Winston Churchill is credited with observing that "in war, nothing ever goes according to plan except occasionally, and then by accident." Ploesti was no exception.



In the long flight over the Mediterranean, the column lost some of its cohesion, with the 376th and 93d Groups slightly ahead of the other three. Then, near Corfu, the lead aircraft with the route navigator went out of control and crashed. (Ent and Compton were not in the lead bomber, but in a position to assume the lead when a final turn to the bomb run was made.) A second 376th aircraft bearing the deputy route navigator followed down to look for survivors. Unable to climb back in time to rejoin the group, it returned to Benghazi.

Now ahead of the formation towering cumulus clouds rose above the mountains. The two lead groups threaded their way through or under the clouds, while the 98th, 44th, and 389th penetrated the cloud line at varying altitudes. By the time those three had reformed a column and resumed a heading for Pitesti, the first two groups were 29 minutes ahead of them.

Because of radio silence, Ent and Compton could not contact the trailing groups. Not knowing whether or not those groups had turned back, they decided to follow the operations order even though they might have to go it alone. Thus, the five groups actually proceeded toward Pitesti as two widely separated forces. A surprise attack on the refineries in Ploesti by a single wave of some 140 bombers, that dominant key to success at an acceptable cost, was beyond redemption.

The Wrong Turn



The chain of circumstance was not yet complete. The 376th and 93d Groups made their turn at Pitesti and headed for the final IP at Floresti. Halfway between the two IPs lay the town of Targoviste, which closely resembled Floresti. Flying at very low altitude, the 376th mistook Targoviste for the IP and turned southeast on the briefed bomb-run heading, which took the two groups to the west of Ploesti--an error that wasn't discovered until they were on the outskirts of Bucharest. At that point, Ent broke radio silence, ordering the two groups to turn north and attack targets of opportunity in the complex of refineries.

The 93d Group, led by Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker, a National Guard officer who had been called to active duty in 1940, caught a glimpse of refineries off to the left. He and his pilot, Maj. John Jerstad, who had completed his combat tour but volunteered for the mission, bored in on an unidentified refinery, which turned out to be Columbia Aquila, a 44th Group target. Enemy defenses, much heavier than anticipated, were thoroughly aroused. More than 230 antiaircraft guns, supported by many barrage balloons and smoke pots, surrounded the refineries, with perhaps 400 fighters in the area.



Into a maelstrom of ground fire, Baker led the group. Short of the refinery, his B-24 was hit and burst into flames. Baker and Jerstad could have bellied in on open fields or pulled up to bailout altitude and probably saved themselves and their crew. But this was a mission on which some thought the outcome of the war might hinge. Without wavering, they led the bombers straight on to the refinery before crashing into the ground. Both Baker and Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Off to the right of their funeral pyre, a second element of the 93d bombed two refineries assigned to the 98th Group. Meanwhile, five B-24s of the 376th Group led by Maj. Norman C. Appold hit the Concordia Vega refinery, originally assigned to the 93d, and "emerged covered with soot" as other 376th bombers unloaded on various segments of the Ploesti complex.



While the 376th and 93d were making the best of a bad situation, the other three, led by veteran pilot Col. John R. "Killer" Kane, commander of the 98th, turned at Pitesti as planned. The tail-end 389th under Col. Jack Wood broke off to the northeast, bombing the refinery at Campina to complete destruction. Four aircraft were lost to flak, one of them piloted by 21-year-old 2d Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes, who was on his fifth combat mission. His B-24, hit by ground fire, leaked streams of gasoline from wing and bomb-bay tanks.

Below lay wheat fields, where Hughes could have landed, but instead he drove on through the smoke and flame created by the bombers ahead of him, struck his target, and came out with his left wing sheathed in flame. His desperate attempt to save the crew by crash-landing on a lake bed failed when one wing of the blazing B-24 hit a river bank and the plane exploded. The mission's third posthumous Medal of Honor was awarded to Hughes.

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[Iris7]

Really like "Zulu". Really like the boys singing, very much. "Men of Harlech" gets sung in a very loud bass around here often enough that there is no surprise, usually without the words since I forget them. The movie uses a better version of the words than I have found elsewhere anyway.

[Light Speed]

I like to sing allong too...except..no Bass section.

Used to be an N.H.L. practice goalie..played in Senior levels with ex pro's and Europeans.
So ya..a few 90-100mph slapshots in the nuts..
everything works...just can't hit those bass notes.

Sing Men of Harlech ..midrange now : )

[SAMWolf]

The counter girl at Starbucks must've suggested it.

Yeah! That was it!

[SAMWolf]

LOL! I showed those rules to my daughter when she started dating. She got a big kick out of them

[SAMWolf]

I think the U.S. has lost a lot of tooling that would take a lot of time and money to restart. Seems a shame we've lost so much of our manufacturing base.

[SAMWolf]

The only prop planes I got to fly on were military types and they were probably turbo-props by that time. I was on the Hercules, Caribou and Provider. Those were load enough. Seen film of B-17's starting up,impressive.

[Iris7]

"I think the U.S. has lost a lot of tooling that would take a lot of time and money to restart. Seems a shame we've lost so much of our manufacturing base."

All too true. But one thing is as true as true is.

There is no lack of good men ready to do the job.

There are lots of fine young men, very competent, just straining at the bit. There are more than a few old boys like me ready any hour of the day to get back into sixteen hour days seven days a week. Get rid of the bureaucracy, put the damned Liberals and their Green buddies in a cage, pull the plug on the old boy network - and off to the races. It would be the best thing next to Heaven.

Well, don't know if I really could hack that work schedule! Feeling confident tonight, but though the spirit is willing, the flesh will beg to differ! Get a few really good subordinates to watch the store and take a weekend off!

[Iris7]

Not the nut shots, probably. Had a few myself in my day, but not from hockey. A good one will hardly bother you at all after a month or two!

The real bass came in after I turned fifty, some aging change in the vocal cords probably. I was always stuck between baritone and bass before.

[PhilDragoo]

Combined Bomber Offensive

High Resolution

Consolidated B-24 Liberator Walkaround

High Resolution

B-24 bomber final assembly area at Ford Motor Company's Willow Run plant, September 1944

When World War II broke out, Ford built thousands of aircraft engines, as well as the B-24 Liberator bombers that were so instrumental in the Allied victory.

High Resolution

When the nation is threatened by french-communist gigolos, its true heroes will rise to the occasion:

[Iris7]

Howdy, SAM,

You got me thinking about the Caribou, I recollected radials. Google reports Pratt Twin Wasps at 1450 hp. - Liberator engines. Well, sort of grandchildren of Liberator engines! A bunch of the Canada DeHaviland machines are still in service, using turbines, Pratt PT-6s I bet.

[SAMWolf]

It was good, honest work. It's what made this Country great. IMHO, a county needs manufacturing.

[snippy_about_it]

It had been almost a year and a half since Sam first posted it so I thought it would be a good choice for our Saturday Revisit Threads. These are the kind that we can read more than once.

[Iris7]

Howdy, Phil,

The Twin Wasp photo is a real keeper. Got it saved and up as background now. Such exquisite workmanship.

During the World War Ford went into making the big weapons in the biggest way they could manage. GM held back. Old Henry was in charge of Ford at the time, and Mr. Ford was every inch a man.

[SAMWolf]

Evening Phil Dragoo.

Love the Patton pics. I knew you'd come up with something. Patton would despise a man like Kerry, IMHO, all Americasn should despise a man like that. How people like him get elected and stay in power is hard to understand. They are against everything America stands for.

Great walkaround photos of the B-24. I may get a chance to see a real one after all. One scheduled to come to a local airport in June.

[SAMWolf]

Google reports Pratt Twin Wasps at 1450 hp

I just remember them being very loud.

[snippy_about_it]

Great pics Phil, thanks. Love the Patton vs. Kerry posts. Good job.

[Iris7]

"a county needs manufacturing"

I won't claim a "humble" opinion, or a "humble" bone in my body! A county needs manufacturing, period. Full stop.

Going to get by on "intellectual property"? The Chinese find such conceits hilarious. "Intellectual property" is just stuff they haven't decided to take yet. In their good time it will go the way of the W-32 warhead, mark my words.

[SAMWolf]

I won't claim a "humble" opinion, or a "humble" bone in my body! A county needs manufacturing, period. Full stop.

LOL! Losing our manufacturing base is gonna come back and bite us in the butt someday.

[Iris7]

Google says the Provider, C-123, had two Pratt R-2800s of 2,500 hp apiece. Big airplane, 80 feet long, 110 foot wingspan, could take off carrying it's own weight of 15 tons. These R-2800s were close descendents of the engines in the F4-U, P-47, and DC-6. I think they were put in early C-119s and Constellations.

[Iris7]

Dang, Google says the C-121 version of the Constellation had Wright R-3350s, the Skyraider engine. Gotta keep checking the old memory, must need a disk defrag!