Read Online Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943 by James Dugan, Carroll Stewart - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: James Dugan, Carroll Stewart
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enemy
fighters, and another ex-refinery manager from Ploesti, Wing Commander
D.C. Smythe, an advocate of low-level bombing.
As the tactical motif for the assault formed among the planners, they
became attracted to the idea of attacking Ploesti from the northwest,
the direction of the Reich itself. Coming down from the Carpathian
foothills and sweeping the targets simultaneously seemed to promise
maximum surprise. Moreover, from this direction there was a shining arrow
pointing straight at the target city -- the railway from Floresti to
Ploesti. The attack group could guide on the railway and run infallibly
upon the targets from Floresti, thirteen miles -- or three minutes --
away from the bombline. Thus Floresti, an obscure hamlet carried on only
the largest-scale survey maps, was selected as the final Initial Point,
the turning place for the bomb drive.
Looking down at Ploesti from the Initial Point, the planners found the
refineries neatly spaced across a five-mile-wide bombline. Men rushing
across a strange country could not be expected to learn place names,
much less the names of factories, so the refineries were assigned numbers
from left to right.
The lead group, Colonel K.K. Compton's Liberandos, accordingly drew Target
White One on the far left, the Romana Americana plant. The second group,
Addison Baker's Traveling Circus, would simultaneously strike White Two,
the Concordia Vega refinery. Section B of the Circus, led by Ramsay
Potts, would hit White Three, the parallel Standard Petrol Block and
Unirea Sperantza units. Killer Kane's heavy Pyramider force, coming
in on the center, would take out the number-one priority target of the
raid, Astro Romana, or Target White Four, the two-million-ton producer
that had eluded Halpro. On Kane's right, flying almost on top of the
railway, would come Leon Johnson's Eight Balls, aiming for White Five,
the Colombia Aquila refinery.
Johnson's deputy, James Posey, would veer off a few points further right
to carry his force to Blue Target, the important Creditul Minier plant,
five miles south of the White targets at a town called Brazi. The last
and seventh strike force in the bomber stream, Jack Wood's Sky Scorpions,
would climb the foothills and hit another isolated objective, the Steaua
Romana refinery at Câmpina, 18 miles north of Ploesti. It was named
Red Target.
The approach was shrewdly selected, considering the extra flying range the
B-24's would be given that day, the surprise angle, the lucky railroad,
and the fact that the last sixty miles to the Initial Point would be
flown over wooded foothills and ravines that Allied Intelligence was
almost sure had no antiaircraft defenses. Intelligence firmly estimated
that the flak and detection systems were arraigned in Ploesti's eastern
approaches, toward the Soviet, and denied the possibility of effective
defenses in the northern, western and southern salients of Ploesti. What
enemy commander could be expecting an incursion over the vast distance
from Africa, and especially one that went on an extra hundred miles or
so to attack through the back door? Unfortunately for this supposition,
Gerstenberg was definitely expecting an attack from Africa and was right
now building up his guns on the north, west and south.
Having picked Floresti as the turning point for the bomb run, the planners
redoubled assurances that the navigators could find the little town. They
projected a line west of Floresti and slightly south and found that two
much larger towns lay along this approach, Targoviste and Pitesti. So
Pitesti became the First Initial Point to find and Targoviste the Second
Initial Point. Crossing them correctly would bring one unerringly to the
Third I.P. In addition, there was a prominent landmark at Targoviste
that could be seen for many miles, a large ancient monastery on a hill.
Everything that could be done for the navigators was
fighters, and another ex-refinery manager from Ploesti, Wing Commander
D.C. Smythe, an advocate of low-level bombing.
As the tactical motif for the assault formed among the planners, they
became attracted to the idea of attacking Ploesti from the northwest,
the direction of the Reich itself. Coming down from the Carpathian
foothills and sweeping the targets simultaneously seemed to promise
maximum surprise. Moreover, from this direction there was a shining arrow
pointing straight at the target city -- the railway from Floresti to
Ploesti. The attack group could guide on the railway and run infallibly
upon the targets from Floresti, thirteen miles -- or three minutes --
away from the bombline. Thus Floresti, an obscure hamlet carried on only
the largest-scale survey maps, was selected as the final Initial Point,
the turning place for the bomb drive.
Looking down at Ploesti from the Initial Point, the planners found the
refineries neatly spaced across a five-mile-wide bombline. Men rushing
across a strange country could not be expected to learn place names,
much less the names of factories, so the refineries were assigned numbers
from left to right.
The lead group, Colonel K.K. Compton's Liberandos, accordingly drew Target
White One on the far left, the Romana Americana plant. The second group,
Addison Baker's Traveling Circus, would simultaneously strike White Two,
the Concordia Vega refinery. Section B of the Circus, led by Ramsay
Potts, would hit White Three, the parallel Standard Petrol Block and
Unirea Sperantza units. Killer Kane's heavy Pyramider force, coming
in on the center, would take out the number-one priority target of the
raid, Astro Romana, or Target White Four, the two-million-ton producer
that had eluded Halpro. On Kane's right, flying almost on top of the
railway, would come Leon Johnson's Eight Balls, aiming for White Five,
the Colombia Aquila refinery.
Johnson's deputy, James Posey, would veer off a few points further right
to carry his force to Blue Target, the important Creditul Minier plant,
five miles south of the White targets at a town called Brazi. The last
and seventh strike force in the bomber stream, Jack Wood's Sky Scorpions,
would climb the foothills and hit another isolated objective, the Steaua
Romana refinery at Câmpina, 18 miles north of Ploesti. It was named
Red Target.
The approach was shrewdly selected, considering the extra flying range the
B-24's would be given that day, the surprise angle, the lucky railroad,
and the fact that the last sixty miles to the Initial Point would be
flown over wooded foothills and ravines that Allied Intelligence was
almost sure had no antiaircraft defenses. Intelligence firmly estimated
that the flak and detection systems were arraigned in Ploesti's eastern
approaches, toward the Soviet, and denied the possibility of effective
defenses in the northern, western and southern salients of Ploesti. What
enemy commander could be expecting an incursion over the vast distance
from Africa, and especially one that went on an extra hundred miles or
so to attack through the back door? Unfortunately for this supposition,
Gerstenberg was definitely expecting an attack from Africa and was right
now building up his guns on the north, west and south.
Having picked Floresti as the turning point for the bomb run, the planners
redoubled assurances that the navigators could find the little town. They
projected a line west of Floresti and slightly south and found that two
much larger towns lay along this approach, Targoviste and Pitesti. So
Pitesti became the First Initial Point to find and Targoviste the Second
Initial Point. Crossing them correctly would bring one unerringly to the
Third I.P. In addition, there was a prominent landmark at Targoviste
that could be seen for many miles, a large ancient monastery on a hill.
Everything that could be done for the navigators was
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