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| We
Remember Operation Tidal Wave: Bombing the Ploesti
Oil Fields |
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On
Display: September 15, 2003 - October
19, 2003
Location: Louisiana Memorial Pavilion |
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We
Remember: Operation Tidal Wave, Bombing
the Ploesti Oil Fields
“If
we lose the oil fields, we lose the
war.”
--Adolf Hitler
On August 1, 1943, one hundred seventy-seven
Army Air Corps B-24 bombers flew from
Libya through 1,000 miles of enemy territory
to the oil fields in Ploesti, Romania.
The large B-24s, heavily loaded with
4,000 pounds of bombs each, were on
a minimum-altitude attack on a facility
protected with 230 anti-aircraft guns,
mobile anti-aircraft units called “flack
trains” and hundreds of German soldiers
armed with machine guns. Code named
“Tidal Wave,” the operation combined
heavy bombardment groups from the 8th
and 9th army air forces under the command
of Brigadier General Uzal G. Ent. A
third of Germany’s oil was produced
and refined at Ploesti, so if the Allied
bombing was successful it would cripple
the German war machine.
The formation of heavy, low-flying B-24s
was to make a surprise attack but became
scattered before reaching the target.
The first group to arrive had the undesired
effect of alerting the German defenders
to the others. The subsequent groups
faced heavy anti-aircraft fire, poor
visibility from burning oil refineries
and explosions of Allied delayed action
bombs. What resulted was a confusing,
disastrous battle marked by heroic actions
but heavy casualties. In the end 54
Allied bombers and their crews were
lost and only one-sixth of the planes
that returned were left flyable. A second
raid on the oil fields was not immediately
possible with such a depleted force,
so the Germans were able to repair the
damage and resume the oil production.
Oil production at Ploesti was ultimately
knocked out but only after several more
B-24 missions that resumed in 1944.
Five high-altitude raids were staged
in April and June. In July and August
the 15th air force followed with eleven
high altitude raids flown from captured
German air bases in Italy. In August,
Soviet forces captured the region and
ended the threat of the oil fields,
hastening the German defeat.
Welcome 93rd Bomb Group" and "We
Remember Operation Tidal Wave: Bombing
the Ploesti Oil Fields" will continue
through Sunday, October 19, 2003. |
| This
Liberator, damaged by falling
debris, has lost a large portion
of its right wing. The plane has
rolled over and is headed for
the ground. The bomb bay doors
are clearly visible in the photograph.
Although equipped with parachutes,
seven out of ten aircrew members
typically died in plane crashes.
Once a damaged plane began to
dive or spin, forces inside the
craft pinned men to the floor
of bulkheads, trapping them inside.
The Army Air Corps lost 54 planes
in the first raid on Ploesti;
only one in six of the returning
bombers were left in flyable condition. |
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to Special Exhibitions |
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