[snippy_about_it]

No Turning Back

When Kane's 98th Group and the 44th, commanded by Col. Leon W. Johnson, a 1936 graduate of the Military Academy, turned at Floresti on their bomb run, they saw ahead columns of black smoke laced with flames and torn by explosions, the result of bombs dropped by the 376th and 93d Groups minutes earlier.

Both men knew that beneath those black clouds, which hid barrage balloon cables and tall chimneys, lay many delayed-action bombs that would detonate at random. With only about half the number of bombers planned for a simultaneous attack, enemy defenses would be far from saturated. They would have been fully justified in abandoning the attack. The probability of survival was low, but the rewards of success could be immeasurably high. For those two courageous leaders there was no turning back.



Kane led 41 of his B-24s straight into a scene that resembled the background of a medieval painting of hell, losing 15 Liberators to flak and fighters in the target area and three more to fighters over Bulgaria. His own plane, with one engine out at Ploesti and fatal battle damage from flak, was demolished in a crash landing at an Allied field on Cyprus.

Johnson, followed by 15 of his 44th Group crews, flew through flak, explosions, heavy smoke, and blistering heat, avoiding by a hair some 376th Group B-24s that were coming off a target, and successfully attacked the already burning Columbia Aquila refinery. Only nine of the 16 survived the gauntlet of fire. Johnson's plane was hit repeatedly, but made it back to Benghazi more than 13 hours after takeoff. While he was attacking his target, 21 of his B-24s led by Lt. Col. James Posey had a clear shot at the untouched refinery at Brazi, which they leveled, but lost two aircraft to fighters on the way home.



Both Jonson, now a retired four-star general, and Kane were awarded the Medal of Honor for their courageous decision to press on, regardless of the consequences, against targets the planners had considered so important as to justify the loss of half the attacking force. In fact, more than 30 percent of the B-24s that reached the target area were lost to enemy action or landed in neutral Turkey with battle damage and were interned.*



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.

The Results.
Two of the 7 assigned targets were not bombed, and 'in the next month their oil production 'increased from 47% of capacity to 92%. Four targets were hit by planes from different groups. Two were damaged, production falling from 66% to 28%, and two were completely shut down, one for 4 months and one for 11 months. Creditul Minier was shut down permanently.

The Cost.
Of the 162 raiders to reach Ploesti (3 crashed and 13 aborted en route), 51 were lost and 22 landed (or crashed) at Allied bases on Malta, Sicily, and Cyprus. Of the 89 Liberators that returned to Benghazi that day, only 31 were flyable.

---

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.b17sam.com/ploesti.html
www.usaaf.net/ww2/africa/africapg5.htm
www.afa.org/magazine/valor/0988valor.html

[snippy_about_it]

At first light on August 1, 1943 a force of 178 B-24 Liberator bombers lifted off dusty airstrips in the Libyan desert. They were to fly a 2000 mile round-trip deep into enemy territory, bomb a heavily defended target, and return to their North African base - without fighter escort. So began one of the bloodiest and heroic missions in the annals of aerial warfare. The target - the oil refineries at Ploesti.



One third of Germany's petroleum products were supplied from Ploesti, situated deep in Rumania and well beyond the range of Allied bombers based in England. Deprived of this vital supply of fuel, Germany's mighty war machine would grind to a halt. The high command were aware of this and the installations at Ploesti were defended accordingly. To attack such a heavily defended target with the required degree of accuracy it was necessary to bomb from a perilously low level, a task for which the B-24 was notoriously unsuited. The mission called for inspired leadership, cool determination and courage beyond the call of duty - and all of these were given in plenty.



As the first wave of bombers roared into the target, some as low as 50 feet, the German defenses opened up with a barrage of fire. Within moments the entire area erupted with exploding bombs, bursting shells, gushing flames and billowing palls of smoke. One by one the gallant crews took their aircraft through the intense wall of Ack-Ack and 88mm ground fire, and into the burning inferno to deliver their deadly cargo.

Of the 178 B-24s dispatched, 52 were lost and all but 35 aircraft suffered damage, one limping home after 14 hours and holed in 365 places. Ploesti witnessed countless acts of heroism, for which the crews received more decorations for bravery than any other mission of the war.

[Godebert]

My father's leather A-2 flight jacket from the 376th Bomb Group, 512th Squadron:

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on May 15:
1565 Henrick de Keyser architect/master builder of Amsterdam
1567 Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi Cremona Italy, composer (L'Orfeo)
1802 Isaac Ridgeway Trimble Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1888
1810 Jacob Thompson (Confederacy), died in 1885
1819 Thomas Leonidas Crittenden Major General (Union volunteers)
1830 Laurence Simmons Baker Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1907
1845 Ilja [Elias] Metsjnikov USSR, zoologist/bacteriologist (Nobel 1908)
1856 Lyman Frank Baum Chittenango NY, children's book author (Wizard of Oz)
1860 Ellen Louise Axson Wilson 1st wife of Woodrow Wilson
1880 Otto Dibelius German theologist/bishop (Confessional Church)
1889 Bessie Hillman founder (Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America)
1890 Katherine Anne Porter US, novelist (Ship of Fools)
1891 Chief Nipo T Strongheart Yakima WA, US Indian actor (Pony Soldier)
1894 Jean Renoir French director (La Béte Humane) [or Sept 15]
1895 Charles Lamont San Fransisco CA, director (Abbott & Costello Go to Mars)
1902 Richard J Daley (Mayor-D-Chicago)
1905 Joseph Cotten Petersburg VA, actor (3rd Man, Airport 77, Hearse)
1909 James Mason England, actor (Lolita, Bloodline, Boys From Brazil)
1910 Robert F Wagner (Mayor-D-NYC, 1949-65)
1918 Eddy Arnold Henderson TN, country singer (Cattle Call, Anytime)
1921 Erroll Garner Pittsburgh PA, jazz pianist (Misty)
1922 Enrico Berlinguer Italian communist/secretary-general (CPI)
1923 Richard Avedon US, photographer (1957 ASMP award)
1926 Anthony Shaffer twin brother playwright (Sleuth)
1926 Peter Shaffer twin brother playwright (5 Finger Exercise, Equus)
1930 Jasper Johns Augusta GA, painter/sculptor (Green Target)
1936 Anna Maria Alberghetti Italy, actress/singer (Cinderfella)
1936 Donald [Anthony] Moffitt US, sci-fi author (Jupiter Theft)
1937 Trini Lopez Trinidad, singer/guitarist (If I Had a Hammer)
1947 Graham Goble Adelaide Australia, rock guitarist (Little River Band)
1949 Frank L Culbertson Jr Charleston SC, Commander USN/astronaut (STS-38)
1953 George Brett Wheeling WV, Kansas City Royal 3rd baseman (1980 American League MVP)
1953 Mike Oldfield England, composer (Tubular Bells)
1955 Lee Horsley Muleshoe TX, actor (Nero Wolfe, Matt Houston)
1967 John Smoltz Detroit MI, pitcher (Atlanta Braves, 1996 Cy Young)
1969 Emmitt Smith running back (Dallas Cowboys, 3-time NFL rushing leader)
1973 Victoria Davey Spelling Los Angeles CA, actress (Donna-Beverly Hills 90210)
1978 Krissy Taylor model

---

Deaths which occurred on May 15:
0392 Valentinianus II emperor of Rome (375-392), murdered at 21
0884 Marinus I [Martinus II] Pope (882-84), dies
1174 Nur ad-Din Mahmud King of Syria, dies
1470 Charles VIII Knutsson Bonde, king of Sweden (14??-70), dies
1482 Paolo Toscanelli Italian physician & mapmaker, dies
1873 Alexander J Cuza monarch of Moldavia/Romania, dies at 53
1886 Emily Dickinson US poet, dies at 55
1895 Joseph Whitaker British publisher (Whitaker' Almanack), dies at 75
1926 Mohammed VI Vahideddin last sultan of Turkey (1918-22), dies
1932 Ki Inukai premier Japan (1931-32), murdered
1945 Major Courtney US medal of honor marine, dies in battle of Sugar Loaf
1976 Samuel Eliot Morison US historian (Admiral of Ocean Sea), dies at 88
1986 Theodore H White US journalist (Making of President, Pulitzer), dies at 71
1991 Ronald Lacey actor (Raiders of Lost Ark, Next Victim), dies at 55
1992 Robert Morris Page US physicist (radar), dies at 88

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1961 MC MORROW JOHN P.
[08/17/62 RELEASED]
1961 SHORE EDWARD R. JR.
[08/15/62 RELEASED AIR AMERICA PILOT]
1961 WOLFKILL GRANT
[08/17/62 RELEASED AIR AMERICA NBC REPORTER?, ALIVE 98]
1966 BALCOM RALPH C.---SEATTLE WA.
[NEGATIVE SAR CONTACT]
1966 JENSEN GEORGE W.---SEATTLE WA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 MADISON WILLIAM L.---LEXINGTON KY.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 MC KENNEY KENNETH D.---AUBURN MA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 PRESTON JAMES A.---BOWDEN GA.
[REMAINS RETURNED - DISPUTED 12/13/99]
1966 REILLY LAVERN G.---ST PAUL MN.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 TAPP MARSHALL L.---LOS ANGELES CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 THOMPSON GEORGE W.---BECKLEY WV.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1966 WILLIAMS JAMES E.---OXFORD MS.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/13/99]
1967 HEILIGER DONALD L.---MADISON WI.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 HILL CHARLES DALE---ROLLA MO.
1967 POLLARD BEN M.---SHELBYVILLE KY.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
0756 Abd-al-Rahman I becomes emir of Cordova Spain
0884 Marinus I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1004 Henry II the Saint crowned king of Italy
1213 English king John names Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury
1248 Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden lays cornerstone for Köln cathedral
1492 Cheese & Bread rebellion: German mercenaries kills 232 Alkmaarse
1536 Anna Boleyn & Lord Rochford accused of adultery/incest
1567 Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
1602 Cape Cod discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold
1618 Johannes Kepler discovers harmonics law
1625 16 rebellious farmers hanged in Vöcklamarkt Upper-Austria
1672 1st copyright law enacted by Massachusetts
1702 War of Spanish Succession, 1st American conflict between England & France
1718 James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents world's 1st machine gun
1730 Robert Walpole becomes England 1st prime minister (was chief minister)
1800 King George III survives a 2nd assassination attempt
1800 Pope Pius VII calls on French bishops to return to Gospel principles
1829 Joseph Smith ordained by John the Baptist according to Joseph Smith
1836 Francis Baily observes "Baily's Beads" during annular solar eclipse
1851 Rama IV, [Phra Chomklao Chaoyuhua], king of Thai (1851-68), crowned
1856 2nd San Fransisco Vigilance Committee organized
1862 Battle of Drewry's Bluff (Fort Darling) VA
1862 Battle of Princeton WV
1862 Confederate cruiser The Alabama runs aground near London
1862 Department of Agriculture created
1862 General Benjamin F Butler issues "Woman's Order" - women of New Orleans to be treated as whores as a result of their treatment of Union soldiers
1862 Union Grounds, Brooklyn NY, 1st baseball enclosure, opens
1864 Battle of New Market VA
1864 Battle of Resaca GA (3rd day)
1864 Skirmish at Marksville (Avoyelles) (Red River Campaign)
1876 2nd Kentucky Derby: Bobby Swim aboard Vagrant wins in 2:38¼
1882 May Laws-Czar Alexander III bans Jews from living in rural Romania
1885 Canadian Méti insurgent Louis Riel captured, Saskatchewan
1891 Operations begin at Philips & Company in Holland
1891 Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Rerum novarum
1894 20th Kentucky Derby: Frank Goodale aboard Chant wins in 2:41
1896 Tornado kills 78 in Texas
1902 Portugal bankrupt by revolt in Angola
1905 Las Vegas NV founded
1911 Supreme Court dissolves Standard Oil (Sherman Antitrust Act)
1912 Ty Cobb rushes a heckler at a New York Highlander game & is suspended
1916 Asiago Italy falls when Austrian troops attack the Italian front
1918 Washington Senator Walter Johnson pitches 1-0, 18 inning game
1926 52nd Kentucky Derby: Albert Johnson on Bubbling Over wins in 2:03.8
1926 British general strike ends, but mine workers go on strike
1928 Mickey Mouse made his 1st appearance
1929 Fire in X-ray film stock kills 125 at Crile Clinic (Cleveland OH)
1930 Ellen Church becomes 1st airline stewardess, United (San Fransisco to Cheyenne)
1931 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Quadragesimo anno
1933 1st voice amplification system to be used in US Senate
1934 Department of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive
1934 Karlis Ulmanis names himself fascist dictator of Latvia
1940 1st successful helicopter flight in US: Vought-Sikorsky US-300
1940 German armour division moves into Northern France
1940 German troops occupy Amsterdam, General Winkelman surrenders
1940 Nylon stockings go on sale for 1st time (US)
1941 1st British turbojet flies
1941 British attack Halfaya-pass & Fort Capuzzo in Egypt & Libya
1941 Joe DiMaggio starts 56-game hitting streak; Yankees win 13-1
1941 Nazi occupiers in Netherlands forbid Jewish music
1942 Gasoline 1st rationed in US (17 Eastern States)
1943 Halifax bombers sinks U-463
1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising ends, in it's destruction
1944 14,000 Jews of Munkacs Hungary deported to Auschwitz
1948 28 year old British Mandate over Palestine ends
1948 Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq & Saudi-Arabia troops attack Israel
1951 AT&T becomes 1st corporation to have one million stockholders
1953 Heavyweight Rocky Marciano KOs Joe Walcott in Chicago for heavyweight boxing title
1955 Building of space travel center at Baikonur Kazachstan begins
1955 Vienna Treaty: Britain, France, US & USSR restores Austria's independence
1957 18,000 people at Madison Square Garden-Billy Graham launched a crusade
1957 1st British H-bomb explosion (over Christmas Island)
1959 100th anniversary of 1st college baseball game, between Amherst & Williams Teams reenact the original contest
1960 Chicago Cub Don Cardwell no-hits St Louis Cardinals, 4-0
1960 Taxes took ("only")25% of earnings in US
1961 "Bonanza" by Al Caiola Orchestra hits #19
1961 Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Mater et Magistra
1962 US marines arrive in Laos
1963 Last Project Mercury flight, L Gordon Cooper in Faith 7, launched
1963 Peter, Paul & Mary win their 1st Grammy (If I Had a Hammer)
1966 South Vietnamese army battle Buddhists, about 80 die
1968 1st American League game played in Milwaukee, is a 4-2 California win against Chicago
1968 A tornado strikes Jonesboro AR at 10 PM, killing 36
1968 Paul McCartney & John Lennon appear on Johnny Carson Show to promote Apple records, Joe Garagiola is the substitute host
1969 Associate Justice Abe Fortas resigns from Supreme Court
1970 Beatles' last LP, "Let It Be" is released in US
1970 Elizabeth Hoisington & Anna Mae Mays named 1st female US generals
1972 George Wallace shot & left paralyzed by Arthur Bremer in Laurel MD
1972 Ryukyu Island & Daito Island returned to Japan after 27 years of US control
1973 California Angel Nolan Ryan's 1st no-hitter beats Kansas City Royals, 3-0
1980 1st trans-US balloon crossing
1980 Flyers score 8 goals against Islanders in playoffs
1980 Shawn Weatherly, Sumter SC, crowned 29th Miss USA/Miss Universe-1980
1981 "Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan's Island" airs
1981 Leonard Barker of Cleveland pitches perfect game vs Toronto
1981 SCTV Network 90, sequel to Second City Television debut on NBC
1986 Argentine ex-President Galtieri sentenced to 12 years
1987 1st Energiya Launch (USSR)
1988 Moscow begins withdrawing its 115,000 troops in Afghánistán
1989 Maxwell House coffee runs ads during "Roe vs Wade" movie despite threat of boycott by right to lifers
1989 Soviet President Gorbachev in Beijing for 1st Sino-Soviet summit in 30 years
1990 "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" by Vincent Van Gogh sold for $825 million
1991 Defense releases docs claiming Noriega was "CIA's man in Panamá"
1991 Edith Cresson becomes France's 1st female premier
1991 Red Sox & White Sox play then slowest 9 inning game (4:11)
1992 Part of Cruger Avenue in Bronx renamed Regis Philbin Avenue
1996 Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole resigns from the Senate to concentrate full-time on his presidential campaign.
1997 ABC News & Starwave Corp launch ABCNEWS.com
1997 STS 84 (Atlantis 19), launches, 6th Shuttle-Mir Mission
2000 United Press International was sold to the parent company of The Washington Times.
2001 A runaway freight train rolled about 70 miles through Ohio with no one aboard before a railroad employee jumped onto the locomotive and brought it to a stop.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Austria : Independence Day (1955)
US : I am an American Day (Sunday)
US : Armed Forces Day (Saturday)
US : Peace Officer's Memorial Day
Angel's Camp, Ca. : Jumping Frog Jubilee
National Hamburger Week Ends
National Salvation Army Week Ends
National Small Business Week Ends
National Birds of Prey Month

---

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Dymphna, patron of the insane
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of Isidore the Farmer, patron of farmers
old Roman Catholic : Feast of St John Baptist de la Salle, confessor

---

Religious History
1455 A crusade against the Turks and for the capture of Constantinople was proclaimed by Pope Calixtus III.
1686 Rev. Robert Ratcliffe arrived in Boston from England, with orders from King Charles II to establish the Anglican Church in Massachusetts.
1816 Birth of Sylvanus Dryden Phelps, U.S. Baptist clergyman and poet. His several writings included the hymn, "Savior, Thy Dying Love."
1889 At the close of a two-day denominational conference in Cleveland, Ohio, the Epworth League of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. It became the foundation of the current United Methodist Youth (UMY) fellowship programs.
1943 German Lutheran theologian and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter from prison: 'I read the Psalms every day, as I have done for years; I know them and love them more than any other book.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"Television: A medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well done."

---

Actual Newspaper Headlines...
Stolen Painting Found by Tree

---

Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
H. Ross Perot:
No, no, it's not about me, Larry. It's about the chicken

---

Fun things to do when driving...
Ask people for Grey Poupon.

---

What The Company Really Means...
"APPLY IN PERSON:"
If you're old, fat or ugly you'll be told the position has been filled.

[Light Speed]

B-24..B-17 Comparison
A comparison between the B-24 Liberator and the B-17 Fortress is perhaps inevitable. The Liberator was slightly faster than the Fort, carried a heavier bombload and could carry it farther and higher than the Fort. It was slightly more maneuverable than the Fort, and was much more adaptable to other missions. On the debit side, the Liberator was harder to fly, less stable, and much more difficult to hold in the tight bomber formations that were mandatory in the European theatre of operations. The Liberator was not capable of absorbing nearly the same amount of battle damage that the Fortress could handle. Any sort of solid hit on the wing of a Liberator was generally fatal, the high-aspect ratio Davis wing often collapsing and folding up when hit. In comparison to the B-17, there are relatively few photographs of Liberators returning home with half their wings shot away or with major sections of their tails missing. The Liberator was not very crashworthy, a 'wheels up' landing generally causing the fuselage to split into two or three pieces, resulting in a complete writeoff. In contrast, a Fortress which had undergone a 'wheels-up' landing could often be quickly repaired and returned to service. When ditching at sea, the Liberator's lightly-built bomb bay doors would often immediately collapse upon impact, the interior of the aircraft quickly filling up with water, causing the aircraft to sink rapidly. In spite of the Liberator's defects, Eighth Air Force records show that B-17 operational losses were 15.2 percent as compared with 13.3 percent for the B-24,which meant that a crew had statistically a better chance of surviving the war in a Liberator than in a Fortress.

From a B-24 web forum:

If you look at a B-17,B-29 the a B-24, one will notice the spacing in the planes rivets.
B-17&29 has close rivet patterns.....while the 24's had large spaces between .
The B-24 flexed excessivley due to this...especially the tail section in flight.
The 24 having a smaller lift profile in its wing area needed to fly with its tail stepped higher than the fuselage in flight....this reduced fuel consumption dramatically.

A 24 flying in stepped format ....upon losing step profile would drop back quickly in flight speed......spacing intervals were critical.

[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

[Driver1928]

I found your post that included this text: “Four aircraft were lost to flak, one of them piloted by 21-year-old 2d Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes....”

Lloyd Herbert Hughes was my uncle. He was just over 22 years old when he died, not 21. Here is an image of his grave marker showing that he was born JUL 12 1921 and he died on AUG 1 1943:
www.rajordan.com/pete/images/19500412-01.jpg

My memorial web site on him is here:
www.rajordan.com/pete