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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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[snopercod]

Thanks for the pix. The one with the top half of the empennage missing was amazing.

[Tax-chick]

I plan to be sitting at the table cleaning a thunder stick, when her date arrives.

If you really want to be scary, arm her brothers!

[Professional Engineer]

Love radials, the bigger the better.

I had the pleasure and priveledge to be standing about 100ft behind a Corsiar when the engine was fired-up one time. It was located between two metal hanger buildings that were about 200ft apart. The noise and reverberation was intense. I know I was grinning ear to ear!

[Professional Engineer]

If you really want to be scary, arm her brothers!

LOL. That won't be a problem. BTW, here is Msdrby's shooting iron.

[kilowhskey]

Fellow radial lovers should plan to travel to Reno the week of September 13th for the air races. The T-6s have their own class and, in the unlimited field, there is a long running rivalry between the baddest radial of them all, Rare Bear, and a gaggle of Mustangs. The old stick and rudder guy says Check it out.

[SAMWolf]

Nice. Hope she can hit on the first shot though. :-)

[SAMWolf]

A Mustang making a low pass. There's a sight and sound to behold.

[Tax-chick]

Pretty! My dad had a similar one hanging on the wall for years ... wonder what happened to it?

[CholeraJoe]

Thanks for the Airpower thread, Sam and snippy.

[SAMWolf]

You're welcome CholeraJoe.

[alfa6]

Iris7, I happen to live just a couple of miles from the Save A Connie airport. Downtown Kansas Citry Aiport(MKC), A while back the Connie flew over while my neighbor was working on a car. He looked up and asked what the heck was that racket. I told him it was only 13,000 horses flying over.

The Connie has a sound all it's own anymore, any time I here it I try to get out and take a look. Connies are one of the few planes that look like they are going 500mph just sittin there.

One other thing regarding Wright R-3500s and Skyraiders, I recall reading a story years ago of a Skyraider being launched with the WINGS FOLDED and the plane was able to make a safe carrier landing. Have you any knowledge of this story?

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[SAMWolf]

I recall reading a story years ago of a Skyraider being launched with the WINGS FOLDED and the plane was able to make a safe carrier landing.

That one I never heard of. Skyraider is an excellent plane. I read somewhere that it can carry the firepower equivalent to a WWII destroyer. Don't know how true it is but it sure sounds impressive.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Sword_Svalbardt]

My grandfather, "gramps," said the mission was hell. The flight was very long, and they were off course. When they did correct the course - because of uncalculated cross winds - the German Wurzburg radars had vectored aircraft aginst the bomb group.

Gramps knew the planes would be sent up against them, because they flight commander had ordered the aircraft to a higher altitude to combat the heavy crosswinds to save fuel for the return trip back to N. Africa.

Once the fighter planes were cleared, the Liberators then dropped to an altitude of about 150 feet. They ran square into an anti aircraft artillery train which began ripping planes out of the sky.

Gramps' plane lost #1&#4 engines on the way in. Both waist gunners wewre killed by anti aircraft fir, and the tail gunner was critically wounded dying before the mission was completed - no one could get to the man, because the floor boards to the aircraft aft of the wing were severely damaged, and deemed unsafe to walk over.

Weapons were dropped on target, and then the crew had to fight a dying aircraft all the way back to the Med, and attempt the crossing. All weapons were discarded along with any unneeded weight.

Engine #3 failed on the return trip, and my grandfather had to make a determination whether to ditch the aircraft. The crew made the determination that the plane would NOT survive a water ditch, so gramps decided they would try to ride it out and hope for the best.

When they reached N. Africa, and made the approach, landing gear would not deploy. Manual attempt was tried, but the undercarriage was so heavily damaged from flak that it was no use.

Ball turret could not be retracted back into the fuselage, and the gunner had to crawl out of the turret, and climb through the damaged fuselage to egress from his position.

Gear up, nose slightly elevated, the plane ground to a halt after breaking in half just aft of the bomb bay.

My grandfather was a strong man, and a good pilot. After VE day he wanted a transfer to the Pacific theater, but his request was denied, and the B-24 he had inherited to fly from Italy into Germany was used as a cargo plane. He died of Cancer in the early 1980's.

SS

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you for your grandfather's story. Those were some men we had. America grows them up good!

[Sword_Svalbardt]

PING!

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Soaring Feather]

LOL I'm on the wrong thread! Oh dear!

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. What day is it?!!