Twenty-seven Minutes Over Ploesti

1 The B-24s made their bomb run through fire and flak, less than 50. feet above the targets. Twenty-seven Minutes Over Ploesti By John T. Correll Over the Astra Romana re nery, Lt. Robert Sternfels of the 98th Bomb Group lifts the right wing of his aircraft, The Sandman, to clear some tall smokestacks. Turbu- lence from delayed action bombs, dropped by the previous wave of B-24s, rocks the aircraft. 74 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2015. G. ermany's greatest vul- The slab-sided, high-winged B-24 the mission from the jump seat of the nerability in World War Liberator had a greater range and bomb B-24 Teggie Ann, piloted by Col. Keith II was its dependence load than the more graceful B-17 Flying Compton, whose 376th Bomb Group on foreign oil. The Ger- Fortress, and a slight advantage in air- would be first in the formation.

2 Mans had almost no pe- speed. For the long trip to Ploesti 1,350 There was no photoreconnaissance troleum resources of their own, and miles each way extra fuel tanks were of Ploesti prior to the mission lest the in 1938, imported 72 percent of their installed in the forward section of the Germans be alerted, so US planners did gasoline and lubricants. Domestic out- bomb bay. not know that the defenses had been put accounted for only eight percent. Chief planner for the mission was vastly improved and were now among The synthetic fuels industry produced Col. Jacob E. Smart at Army Air Forces the strongest in Europe. the other 20 percent. headquarters in Washington. The targets One of Adolf Hitler's motives for were key installations in Ploesti 's nine STRUNG OUT.

3 Invading the Soviet Union in 1941 major refineries grouped into seven The mission was laid on for a Sunday was to gain the Russian oil fields in target sets most of them clustered in order to minimize casualties among the Caucasus Mountains. That failed, around the city but one at Campina, the impressed laborers at Ploesti . The and with most of its former sources of about 20 miles to the northwest. aircraft were to maintain radio silence oil behind enemy lines, Germany was The bedrock of AAF doctrine was all the way to their targets. forced to rely on the oil-rich Balkans, high-altitude precision bombing with As the B-24s rolled out to take off especially Nazi-controlled Romania. the Norden bombsight, but Smart cal- shortly after dawn Aug. 1, tank trucks A ring of refineries around Ploesti , culated that it would require at least met them at the end of the runway to 35 miles north of Bucharest, supplied 1,400 heavy bombers to do the job that top off the fuel in their regular wing about a third of Germany's gasoline and way.

4 Including B-24s borrowed from tanks and the auxiliary tanks in the an even greater share of the high-octane Eighth Air Force in Britain, fewer than bomb bays. One aircraft crashed on aviation fuel, which was converted 200 would be available. takeoff, but 177 launched successfully from lower-grade fuels by the cracking To the horror of traditionalists, Smart from their various bases and formed up plants at Ploesti . concluded that the mission would be to cross the Mediterranean. The importance of Romanian oil flown at low level, with the final bomb Compton's 376th Bomb Group led was well-understood. In July 1941, run at minimum altitude. Flying low the formation. Behind him, in order, the Russians bombed Ploesti , doing would increase both bombing accuracy came the 93rd (Lt.)

5 Col. Addison E. considerable damage but with no last- and target coverage and also aid in the Baker), the 98th (Col. John R. Kane), ing effect. In July 1942, a dozen US evading of radar detection. The Norden the 44th (Col. Leon W. Johnson), and B-24 bombers launched an attack on bombsights were removed and replaced the 389th (Col. Jack W. Wood). Ploesti from Egypt. They found the city with simple aiming devices. An enduring bit of folklore involves under heavy cloud cover and dumped The plan was approved by the Com- the B-24 Wongo Wongo, which spun their bombs to fall where they might. bined Chiefs of Staff and Gen. Dwight out of control and fell into the sea near The only result was to stimulate the D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Corfu, off the coast of Greece.

6 Desert Germans to upgrade their defenses. Allied Forces in North Africa, and was Lilly, flying on Wongo's wing, dropped The stage was set for the epic US given to Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, down contrary to orders to check for mission against Ploesti Aug. 1, 1943. commander of Ninth Air Force, to ex- survivors and could not regain altitude It would be one of the most famous air ecute. A full-scale mock-up of Ploesti fast enough to rejoin the strike force. operations in history, but it did not turn was built in the desert near Benghazi, According to an oft-told tale, Wongo out the way the planners imagined. where the B-24 crews two Ninth Air Wongo and Desert Lilly were the lead Force bombardment groups and three and alternate lead aircraft for the mis- SOAPSUDS groups on temporary duty from Eighth sion, and their navigators had been given Allied leaders decided at the Casa- Air Force practiced dropping dummy special maps and briefings not available blanca Conference in January 1943 bombs from low level.

7 To the others. This supposedly explains that Ploesti should be bombed. For Motivation was high, especially after the trouble that ensued later. In fact, reasons long forgotten, the big mission Brereton delivered a ringing exhortation Compton's Teggie Ann was the lead was known at first as Operation Soap- to the crews at a large outdoor meeting aircraft, and Capt. Harold Wicklund, suds. British Prime Minister Winston where he emphasized the importance of flying with Compton, was the mission Churchill warned that this was inap- the target. If you knock it out the way navigator. The two lost aircraft were in propriate for an operation in which so you should, it will probably shorten the the second element of Compton's group. many brave Americans would risk or war, he said.

8 If you do your job right, it Of far greater consequence was the lose their lives and that I do not think is worth it, even if you lose every plane. feud brewing between Compton and it is good for morale to affix dispar- Brereton figured he would be leading 98th Bomb Group commander Kane, aging labels to daring feats of arms. the mission himself, but AAF Com- a colorful figure known as Killer The venture was renamed Tidal Wave. manding General Henry H. Hap Ar- Kane after a character in the Buck Ploesti was beyond the reach of nold ruled that Brereton would be too Rogers comic strip. Compton and Allied bombers in England, but B-24s valuable to the enemy if shot down and Kane did not like each other. They also could get there from North Africa.

9 Captured. The next-ranking officer, Brig. disagreed about how to get the most Thus the mission was assigned to the Gen. Uzal G. Ent, commander of IX out of the B-24. newly organized US Ninth Air Force, Bomber Command, would lead instead. Compton led the formation at a rela- which was operating from several bases Ent was well-regarded and capable but tively high speed and expected everyone around Benghazi in Libya. he was not a B-24 pilot. He would fly else to keep up with him. Kane thought AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2015 75. it best to save fuel with slower speeds As the strike force crossed the border had intercepted information about the en route and pour on the power as they from Bulgaria into Romania, Compton mission and had been tracking the approached the target.

10 Kane, whose and Baker were 20 Minutes ahead of B-24s by radar since they crossed the group was third in line, stubbornly flew Kane, Johnson, and Wood. Mediterranean. The element of surprise the mission his way, and a gap developed With radio silence in effect, Ent and was already lost. gradually between the first two groups Compton did not order Kane to catch However, that was not the worst of and the last three. up. Unknown to them, the Germans it. Compton was justified in faulting Staff map by Zaur Eylanbekov 76 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2015. Kane for failing to maintain formation Not here! and Mistake! and This large-caliber antiaircraft guns mounted integrity, but he was about to make a is not it! on flatcars. colossal mistake of his own.