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1943 U. S. strategic bombing campaign of oil refineries in Ploiești, Romania during WWII

Romania had been a major power in the oil industry since the 1800s. It was one of the largest producers in Europe and Ploiești was a major part of that production. The Ploiești oil refineries provided about 30% of all Axis oil production.

In June 1942, 13 B 24 Liberators of the "Halverson project" (HALPRO) attacked Ploiești. Though damage was small, Germany and Romania responded by putting strong anti aircraft defenses around Ploiești. Luftwaffe General Alfred Gerstenberg built one of the heaviest and best integrated air defense networks in Europe. The defenses included several hundred large caliber 88mm flak guns, and many more small caliber guns. The latter were concealed in haystacks, railroad cars, and mock buildings. German and Romanian AA artillery at Ploiești consisted of 36 heavy (88 mm), and 16 medium and light (37 mm and 20 mm) anti aircraft batteries. Additionally, smoke generators and 23 barrage balloons were deployed. The Axis had 57 fighters within flight range of Ploiești (Bf 109 fighters and Bf 110 night fighters, plus assorted types of Romanian IAR 80 fighters). For the defense of Ploiești, the Royal Romanian Air Force had aircraft from five Escadrile (Squadrons): 61 (IAR 80A), 62 (IAR 80B), 45 (IAR 80C), 53 (Bf 109G) and 51 (Bf 110C). The plans were resumed in April 1943, when General Henry H. Arnold commissioned his staff to continue their development. Two plans were conceived, one called for a medium scale high altitude attack to be launched from Syrian bases while the other called for a massive low altitude attack launched from Libya. Colonel Jacob E. Smart's idea of the low altitude attack was ultimately accepted. The code name for the mission was Operation Statesman, which was later changed to Operation Soapsuds, and finally to Operation Tidal Wave. In charge of the operation was General Lewis H. Brereton. The bombers to be used were re equipped with bomb bay fuel tanks to increase their fuel capacity to Additionally, the Norden bombsights were replaced with low level bombsights and the lead B 24s were also fitted with two .50 caliber machine guns which were operated by the pilot. The ordnance carried by the bombers consisted of and high explosive bombs, supplemented by incendiary bombs. All were armed with delayed action fuses varying in time from 45 seconds to six hours. and piloted by Lt. Brian Flavelle began to fly erratically before plunging into the sea due to an unexplained malfunction. Lt. Guy Iovinea friend of Flavelle who was piloting aircraft #23 Desert Lillydescended from the formation to look for survivors, narrowly missing aircraft Brewery Wagon piloted by Lt. John Palm. No survivors were seen, and due to the additional weight of fuel, Iovine was unable to regain altitude to rejoin the formation and resume course to Ploiești. The resulting confusion was compounded by the inability to regain cohesion due to orders to maintain strict radio silence. Ten other aircrews returned to friendly airfields after the incident, and the remaining aircraft faced the 9000 feet (2743 m) climb over the Pindus mountains, which were shrouded in cloud cover. Although all five groups made the climb around 11000 feet (3353 m), the 376th and 93rd, using high power settings, pulled ahead of the trailing formations, causing variations in speed and time which disrupted the synchronization of the group attacks deemed so important by Smart. Mission leaders deemed these concerns to be less important than maintaining security through radio silence. Although the Americans' orders would have allowed them to break radio silence to rebuild their formations, the strike proceeded without correction, and this proved costly. While in flight towards Bulgaria, the bomber formations were detected by German radar. The bombers were also spotted by Bulgarian Avia B 534s which took off to protect Sofia. The Hell's Wench aircraft flown by Lt. Col. Baker and his co pilot Maj. John L. Jerstad, who had already flown a full tour of duty while stationed in England, also broke formation and led several B 24s to their targets. Hit by flak, they jettisoned their bombs to maintain the lead position of the formation over their target at the Columbia Aquila refinery. Despite heavy losses by the 93rd, Baker and Jerstad maintained course and, once clear, began to climb away. Realizing the aircraft was no longer controllable, they kept climbing to let their crew abandon the aircraft. Although none survived, Baker and Jerstad were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for these actions. Maj. Ramsay D. Potts flying The Duchess and Maj. George S. Brown aboard Queenie, encountering heavy smoke over Columbia Aquila, led additional aircraft of the 93rd and successfully dropped their bombs over the Astra Română, Unirea Orion, and Columbia Aquila refineries. In all, the 93rd lost 11 aircraft over their targets in Ploiești. One of the bombers, Jose Carioca, was shot down by a Romanian IAR 80 fighter, which went into a half roll and moved swiftly under the B 24 upside down, raking its belly with bullets. The bomber crashed into Ploiești Women's Prison. Of the 101 civilians killed and 238 injured in this raid,

Air defenses were heavy over the 376th's target (Româno Americana), and Gen. Ent instructed Compton to attack "targets of opportunity." Most of the 376th B 24s bombed the Steaua Română refinery at Câmpina from the east, and five headed directly into the already smoldering conflagration over the Concordia Vega refinery. The group of bombers heading to Concordia Vega, led by Lt Norman Appold, dropped their bombs on a distillation plant of the refinery. At Câmpina, air defenses on overlooking hills were able to fire down into the formation.

With the 93rd and 376th engaged over the target area, Col. John R. Kane of the 98th Bomb Group and Col. Leon W. Johnson of the 44th Bomb Group made their prescribed turn at Florești and proceeded to their respective targets at the Astra Română and Columbia Aquila refineries. Both groups would find German and Romanian defenses on full alert and faced the full effects of now raging oil fires, heavy smoke, secondary explosions, and delayed fuse bombs dropped by Baker's 93rd Bomb Group on their earlier run. Both Kane and Johnson's approach, parallel to the Florești to Ploiești railway had the unfortunate distinction of encountering Gerstenberg's "Die Raupe" ("the caterpillar"), a disguised flak train. At tree top level, around 50 feet (15 m) above the ground, the 98th would find themselves to the left and the 44th on the right. The advantage, however, would rest with the 98th and 44th, whose gunners quickly responded to the threat, disabling the locomotive and killing multiple air defense crews. With the effects of the 93rd and 376th's runs causing difficulties locating and bombing their primary targets, both Kane and Johnson did not deviate from their intended targets, with the aircraft they were leading taking heavy losses in the process. Their low approach even enabled gunners to engage in continued ground suppression of air defense crews directly below them. For their leadership and heroism, Kane and Johnson were awarded the Medal of Honor. Lt. Col. James T. Posey took 21 of the 44th's aircraft on a separate assigned attack run on the Creditul Minier refinery just south of Ploiești. Although air defense batteries had already heavily engaged the 93rd, Posey's aircraft also received heavy fire from the same emplacements. Maintaining a continued low level approach into the target area took some of the still heavily laden aircraft through tall grass and damage was caused by low level obstructions. Posey and his aircraftequipped with heavier bombsmanaged to find their marks at Creditul Minier, without loss to the formation. in a river bed. The new fighter aces were decorated afterwards by Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria personally with the Order of Bravery, the first time in 25 years. Iron Crosses were awarded a month later from the German embassy. Other losses occurred over Yugoslavia where two B 24s collided with each other, and over the Ionian Sea where five B 24s were shot down by Bf 109s of JG 27. of which 55 had battle damage. Losses included 44 to air defenses and additional B 24s that ditched in the Mediterranean or were interned after landing in neutral Turkey. Some were diverted to the RAF airfield on Cyprus. One B 24 with 365 bullet holes in it landed in Libya 14 hours after departing; its survival was due to the light armament of the Bulgarian Avia B 534 (only four 7.92 mm machine guns). For the Americans, 310 air crewmen were killed or missing, 108 were captured by the Axis, 78 were interned in Turkey, and four were taken in by Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia. Circa September, the Enemy Oil Committee appraisal of Ploiești bomb damage indicated " no curtailment of overall product output " because many of the refineries had been operating below maximum capacity. Out of all the bombed refineries, only the Creditul Minier refinery and the Columbia Aquila restarted production in late 1944,efn|October and August 1944, respectively

The Royal Romanian Air Force carried out 59 sorties during Tidal Wave, and the Luftwaffe 89. The Americans lost 53 Liberators (including 8 which landed in Turkey and were interned) and 55 more were damaged. The Romanians claimed 20 confirmed or probable air victories for the loss of one IAR 80B and one Bf 110, plus 15 more claimed by Romanian AA guns. Even if optimistic, the Romanian claims compared favorably with the American seven fold plus exaggerations, during Tidal Wave and subsequent raids. The system of air victory confirmations of the Royal Romanian Air Force was stricter than that of the Luftwaffe at the time of the raid. Luftwaffe losses amounted to five aircraft. Another 11 fighters were damaged (two Romanian and nine German), and 19 military personnel were killed with another 97 injured. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and other commanders were convinced to continue the air campaign targeting Romania's oil production after Tidal Wave. The objective was set to lower the production by 60 70%.

The plot of the 1966 science fiction novel The Gate of Time by Philip Jose Farmer begins in Operation Tidal Wave, where the book's protagonist is one of the many pilots shot down over Ploiești. While parachuting he feels a curious dizziness and when landing he finds himself not in Romania but in a very strange alternative history world, where the rest of the plot takes place.