Everywhere we go, there are places we don’t go. Sometimes regrettably; sometimes not; sometimes, “next time.” One of the places we did not go, this time, although we drove perhaps within 50 miles of it, was Ploesti. It is significant, to me, in that it is the only place name in Romania, apart from Bucharest, I knew prior to coming here. And it is significant because of its WWII history.
The Ploesti oil fields provided about a third of Germany’s war-time petroleum usage. Romania was one Hitler's earliest allies. In the summer of 1943, newly entrenched upon North African soil, the US Army Air Force elected to try one of the most daring and ambitious raids of the war: a day-time, low-level raid on Ploesti. 180 B24 Liberators were to fly from Ben Gazzi, across the Mediterranean, across still-hostile Italy, over the Adriatic Sea, and then through much of the Balkans, and Romania, to bomb the Ploesti fields. And then return. 55 did not return. It was one of the most costly raids of the war. Ploesti’s production was interrupted for some weeks, but restored. But many more Axis resources were devoted to its defense. And many more Ploesti raids followed, mostly from Italy, and mostly at high altitude. Five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded for the initial Ploesti raid, more than any other US air action of the war.
The B17 is more readily identified with the air war in Europe, and the B29 with the air war against Japan. But the venerable Liberator flew more missions than both of these combined. My father was employed building B24s at the Consolidated Vultee plant in Miami in the early 40s, and among my most treasured possessions are a pair of book-ends and an ash-tray made from Liberator pistons.
The photograph is off the web, of course, and, from a US perspective, it is one of the most famous of WWII.
The Ploesti oil fields provided about a third of Germany’s war-time petroleum usage. Romania was one Hitler's earliest allies. In the summer of 1943, newly entrenched upon North African soil, the US Army Air Force elected to try one of the most daring and ambitious raids of the war: a day-time, low-level raid on Ploesti. 180 B24 Liberators were to fly from Ben Gazzi, across the Mediterranean, across still-hostile Italy, over the Adriatic Sea, and then through much of the Balkans, and Romania, to bomb the Ploesti fields. And then return. 55 did not return. It was one of the most costly raids of the war. Ploesti’s production was interrupted for some weeks, but restored. But many more Axis resources were devoted to its defense. And many more Ploesti raids followed, mostly from Italy, and mostly at high altitude. Five Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded for the initial Ploesti raid, more than any other US air action of the war.
The B17 is more readily identified with the air war in Europe, and the B29 with the air war against Japan. But the venerable Liberator flew more missions than both of these combined. My father was employed building B24s at the Consolidated Vultee plant in Miami in the early 40s, and among my most treasured possessions are a pair of book-ends and an ash-tray made from Liberator pistons.
The photograph is off the web, of course, and, from a US perspective, it is one of the most famous of WWII.
No comments:
Post a Comment