Download Free Ploesti Through The Lens Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Ploesti Through The Lens and write the review.

The Ploesti Raid took place on Sunday, August 1, 1943 and, but for a navigational error which put the leading formation on a course away from the target, the operation might have resulted in the destruction of the seven chosen targets. However, by the time the mistake was realized, the defenses were on the alert and over 20 Liberators were brought down in and around Ploesti. A further 35 aircraft were lost. Although the operation resulted in the award of five Medals of Honor — America’s highest decoration for bravery — the cost was high: 308 airmen lost their lives and 208?were taken prisoner or interned. Out of the 1,753 men who are known to have set out on the mission, a total of 516 failed to return.
'If it is granted that the successful destruction of the target would warrant the possible expenditure of the entire force...' So wrote Major General Lewis Brereton, the US Ninth Air Force commander in the Middle East, as the planners contemplated the options of a high or low level attack on the oil refineries at Ploesti in Rumania. If this source of 40 per cent of Germany's oil could be eliminated, it would deal a vital bodyblow to the Third Reich's ability to wage war, and a surprise attack by heavy B-24 Liberators flying at tree-top height was considered the best method of achieving success. Three bomb groups from the Eighth Air Force based in Britain flew out to join two groups of the Ninth already in North Africa, the combined force of 179 aircraft destined to carry out the first massed low-level heavy bomber mission in history. The Ploesti Raid took place on Sunday, August 1, 1943 and, but for a navigational error which put the leading formation on a course away from the target, the operation might have resulted in the destruction of the seven chosen targets.However, by the time the mistake was realised, the defences were on the alert and over 20 Liberators were brought down in and around Ploesti. A further 35 aircraft were lost. Although the operation resulted in the award of five Medals of Honor - America's highest decoration for bravery - the cost was high: 308 airmen lost their lives and 208 were taken prisoner or interned. Out of the 1,753 men who are known to have set out on the mission, a total of 516 had failed to return.
Operation Tidal Wave was one of the boldest and most controversial air raids by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). At the time, the Romanian Ploesti oil fields produced about a third of all Axis oil, and was Germany's single most important fuel source. In the summer of 1943, the USAAF decided to stage a major raid on Ploesti from air bases in Libya. The resulting Operation Tidal Wave raid on 1 August 1943 was one of the costliest to date, losing 53 aircraft, about a third of the starting force. Of the more than 150 bombers that took part in the raid, only 88 B-24s returned to Libya, 55 of which were damaged. On the other hand, of the 17 Medals of Honor awarded to US soldiers and airmen from Pearl Harbor in 1941 to D-Day in 1944, 5 were awarded to pilots of the Tidal Wave mission in recognition of their extraordinary performance. Although undoubtedly bold and heroic, the mission had questionable results. Initial assessments argued that the mission caused 40% of the refinery capacity at Ploesti to be lost but subsequent studies concluded that the damage was quickly repaired and that output had exceeded August levels within a month. This new study examines the raid in detail, exploring the reasons why its dubious success came at such a high price. Supported by maps, diagrams, and full-colour artwork including battlescenes and bird's-eye views, this is the full story of the audacious Ploesti raid of 1943.
Coastal Command, created in 1936 alongside Fighter and Bomber Commands in the reorganization of the RAF in its preparations for the coming war, was Britain’s mainstay in the battle against the German submarine. As more and more Allied merchantmen were sunk during the long voyage from North America, the Mediterranean, and points south, tracking down the U-Boats became a constant struggle against harsh weather on long-distance patrols out over the Atlantic and Bay of Biscay. To counter the threat, Coastal Command established a ring of bases stretching from Scotland and Northern Ireland to Iceland, and from south Wales and south-western Britain to Gibraltar and the Azores, all 53 of these stations are covered in this book.
THE FOURTH YEAR began with intensified fighting on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands in September 1942. The United States had launched their fight back in the Pacific when they landed there the previous month. In the Western hemisphere the USA threw its almighty weight into the fight against Hitler’s Germany with the ‘Operation Torch’ landings in North Africa. The Americans had boots on the ground. Hitherto in the war the Axis had largely been the controllers of events; now as often as not, they had to react to occurrences under a continuous rain of blows. Montgomery had masterminded a tactical success at El Alamein in November 1942; Rommel had retreated to face an Allied invasion of Tunisia and defeat of all Axis forces on that continent. This was followed in Russia by Hitler losing an entire army at Stalingrad when the starving survivors surrendered in January 1943. Then the Allies invaded Sicily triggering the ousting of Italy’s dictator, Mussolini, from power. Further concern for the German Führer came with the first daylight bombing raid by the USAAF at the end of January 1943. It was followed by the RAF successfully breaching two dams in the Ruhr valley in a precision night raid. Those events heralded round the clock bombing of Germany by day and night. On the Eastern Front in the summer Hitler gambled one final strategic offensive at Kursk and suffered a decisive defeat, never again to regain the initiative or launch a major offensive in Russia. By the end of the fourth year of the war the Allies dominated the vital Atlantic seaways upon which future Allied strategy was entirely dependent – although the German submarine menace still existed.
"Aggies of all ages will find it a wonderful read and so will people who are interested in military history, national security or sacrificial service. It is a wonderful book! Don't miss it."--Thomas G. Darling' 54, Major General, USAF (Ret.), Commandant Emeritus