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Why the Air Force Will Never Forget Black Sunday

Ploiesti, Romania was home to Hitler’s oil refineries, so it seemed like an easy target of opportunity. However, the details of Operation Tidal Wave played out like a comedy of errors that should never be forgotten
B24 Liberator Lili Marlene 6 photos
Photo: Andrew Nabors
Over the targetTime to leave!History is right below your feetMy Grandfather and his crewSupposed Strength of Nazi Guns- Understatement of the century!
The Summer of ‘43 was the setting for Hitler’s ambitious (and insane) push toward the Black Sea. With Stalin pushing back to the North, the Axis war machine would need oil to subjugate the Balkan peninsula. While the British slammed Germany every night, American daylight raids were being cut down by the Luftwaffe. That’s why destroying their fuel supply seemed logical.

Romania had an incredible oil industry, with massive refineries that looked appealing in the crosshairs of a bomb sight. So, in the early morning of August 1, no less than 178 B-24 Liberator bombers took off from bases in Libya and Southern Italy. It would be a one-way trip, heading for Syria once the bombs were away, so each aircraft took off overloaded with fuel for the long flight. With strict orders for radio silence, there was no room for error for the planes or the nearly 2,000 airmen.

Time to leave\!
Photo: www.army.mil
The road to hell is paved with the greatest of intentions, so Colonel Jacob Smart decided to send everything he had. This meant the entire 9th Air Force along with three Bombardment Groups from the 8th Air Force (respectively). In theory, more bombers are better but the crews from different forces didn’t have enough time to learn each other’s movements. Radio Silence only exacerbated the issues.

This became evident once they crossed the Adriatic. To cross the Pindus mountains of Albania, everyone needed to climb up to 11,000 feet to maintain formation. However, without touching the radio, one half of the planes went to maximum boost for a straight shot while the others chose to save fuel. Of course the weather turned to thick clouds, effectively cutting the two groups off from each other.

Meanwhile, the refineries below were chugging along at about half of their capacity. Surrounding them was an entire Nazi division of anti-aircraft guns that used the terrain to their advantage. Anticipating the high-altitude attacks common in Western Europe, the defenders placed hundreds of 88mm guns on mountain tops for the best range and visibility. Anticipating this, the American commanders decided to attack at tree-top levels to avoid German radar.

Over the target
Photo: United States Air Force
The airmen even went so far as to build a mockup of Ploiesti in the Sahara Desert to train for this unprecedented attack. Unfortunately, Nazi intelligence had spotted the bombers crossing Italy, giving the flak gunners plenty of time to get ready. The 8th Air Force and the 9th Air Force were separated by the mountains, and both groups unfortunately arrived over their targets simultaneously. It would have been manageable had they held formation, but each group dropped below the clouds heading towards each other with confusion clearly seen by the enemy gunners.

Flak guns are terribly accurate, as my grandfather’s navigation desk was destroyed 3 times in the skies over Germany. But instead of firing vertical and hoping for a hit, the guns atop the mountains were able to fire down into the formations like shooting fish in a barrel. This caused many crews to drop their bombs on whatever targets they could find and make an escape.

With the oil fires filling the skies with acrid smoke, the Germans were still able to down 53 bombers, each with 10 men onboard. What’s more, the confusion over the target led to only a fraction of the refineries being damaged. Because they were only running at a 3rd of their capacity, Romania was making more oil than ever before less than a month after the raid. Black Sunday cost the Allies 310 men, with 190 being captured as POWs. One of the worst defeats in U.S. history is used to teach new Airmen of all nations, and that’s why their story should never be forgotten.

P.S. The museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force is in Savanna, Georgia and it has an incredible exhibit dedicated to this mission. It was made possible by donations from veterans including my Grandad who now reside at the great airfield in the sky.

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