Ploesti; The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943
New York: Random House, 1962. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. viii, 407, [1] pages. Endpaper maps. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Biographical indexes. Roster. Index. DJ is price clipped. DJ has some wear and soiling. Name in ink on fep. Carroll Stewart was a military man who made a career as a reporter and journalist. . Stewart served with Kuroki in World War II. Dugan and Stewart's book Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of August has been called the definitive history of one of the greatest aviation battles in history; the book has been translated into at least 4 languages. James Dugan (May 7, 1912 – June 3, 1967) was a historian, editor and magazine article writer. During WWII he traveled to England with the Office of War Information. He was promoted to rank of corporal in medical corps at Fort Hancock, N.J. Dugan supervised French, German, Spanish and Russian classes for soldiers. Dugan also worked as a war correspondent in the European Theater. He served with the Army Air Corps during WWII. Dugan had a long-lasting connection with Jacques Cousteau. Dugan first met Cousteau in 1944 during the liberation of France. Much of his writing in the 1950s and 1960s concerns underwater exploration with Captain Jacques Cousteau. Dugan received the Grand Prix, Cannes International Film Festival award for the documentary The Silent World in 1956. He was also part of the team that produced the Academy Award-winning documentaries The Silent World (1956) and World Without Sun (1964). On August 1, 1943, an enormous armada of America B-24 Liberator bombers roared at nearly treetop level over the peaceful farms and villages of Romania. This mission was Operation Tidal Wave. Its target—“the taproot of German might,” Hitler’s giant oil refineries at Ploesti. Hundreds of U.S. airmen had volunteered for the mission despite warnings that half might not return. In thirty minutes, more firepower was exchanged than in two Gettysburgs, and five men earned the Medal of Honor. Ploesti presents a vivid reconstruction of a dramatic and controversial mission. Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploie ti, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the "oil campaign" to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis powers. The mission resulted in "no curtailment of overall product output." This mission was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft and 660 air crewmen lost. It was proportionally the most costly major Allied air raid of the war, and its date was later referred to as "Black Sunday". Five Medals of Honor and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses along with numerous others awards went to Operation Tidal Wave crew members. A 1999 research report prepared for the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama concluded that the mission to Ploie ti was "one of the bloodiest and most heroic missions of all time. Romania had been a major power in the oil industry since the 1800s. It was one of the largest producers in Europe and Ploie ti was a major part of that production.[10][11] The Ploie ti oil refineries provided about 30% of all Axis oil production. The Ninth Air Force (98th and 376th Bombardment Groups) was responsible for the overall conduct of the raid, and the partially formed Eighth Air Force provided three additional bomb groups (44th, 93rd, and 389th). All the bombers employed were B-24 Liberators. Colonel Jacob E. Smart planned the operation, based on HALPRO's experiences. HALPRO had encountered minimal air defenses in its raid, so the planners decided Tidal Wave would be executed by day, and that the attacking bombers would approach at low altitude to avoid detection by German radar. Training included extensive review of detailed sand table models, practice raids over a mock-up of the target in the Libyan desert and practical exercises over a number of secondary targets in July to prove the viability of such a low-level strike. The bombers to be used were re-equipped with bomb-bay fuel tanks to increase their fuel capacity to 3,100 gallons. The operation was to consist of 178 bombers with a total of 1,751 aircrew, one of the largest commitments of American heavy bombers and crewmen up to that time. The planes were to fly from airfields near Benghazi, Libya. They were to cross the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea, pass near the island of Corfu, cross over the Pindus Mountains in Albania, cross southern Yugoslavia, enter southwestern Romania, and turn east toward Ploie ti. Reaching Ploie ti, they were to locate pre-determined checkpoints, approach their targets from the north, and strike all targets simultaneously. For political reasons, the Allied planners decided to avoid the city of Ploie ti, so that it would not be bombed by accident. Condition: Good / Good.
Keywords: WWII, European Theater, Ploesti, Romania, Oil Refineries, Operation Tidal Wave, B-24 Liberator, Strategic Bombing
[Book #84353]
Price: $85.00