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Tidal Wave Footage Photos, 15th AAF and Luftwaffe, 'Black Sunday', 1 August 1943

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Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:32 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	and Scorpions Attached Image

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:34 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	Ploiesti targets on Tidal Wave Attached Image

alexkdl	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:35 pm
General de corp de armata Group: Banned Posts: 1809 Member No.: 373 Joined: October 22, 2004	Aircraft , #41-24024, Carpenter On loan from 376 BG MACR #15859 Aircraft , #41-2402466th Sqd at TIDALWAVE ============================= CARPENTER, REGINALD L. Pilot 1st Lt. Ferndale, Rescued, Michigan RUMSEY, EDWIN L. Jr. Co-pilot 2nd Lt. San Fernando, WIAto hospital California POWELL, JOHN E. (389th BG) Navigator 2nd Lt. Huron,Rescued, S. Dakota KULLMAN, MARTIN L. Bombardier 2nd Lt. Los Angeles California HUENERBERG, VINCENT E. Engineer T/Sgt. Bridgeport,, Connecticut MANQUEN, JOSEPH F. Radio Oper. T/Sgt. Detroit, WIA to hospital Michigan LOOKER, ROLLIN C. LW Gunner S/Sgt. Topeka, Rescued, Kansas BROWN, WALTER L. RW Gunner S/Sgt. Cooper, KIA, drowned,Texas DURAND, FREDERICK W. Tail Turret S/Sgt Gile, KIA, drowned, Wisconsin Note: Lt. Powell was on loan from the 389th BG, 415th Squadron. Lt. Carpenter’s aircraft suffered considerable damage over the target in Ploesti and several men were wounded. They were losing gasoline from a severed gas line, and then they encountered an enemy air attack as they approached the sea. An Me 109 had attacked other stragglers and, coming off one attack on them, managed to get in a shot at Carpenter, knocking out another engine. But they continued on out over the sea, losing altitude due to the loss of two engines now. Finally, a third ran out of gas and stopped. The pilots managed to start it again for a few minutes, but only long enough for them to feather all propellers – and they prepared to ditch. Note: The last name of the pilot of the Me 109 is believed to be Stahl-Burk. [Source unclear.] They hit the water easily the first time, but the plane glanced off of it and hit again some distance away. The ditching tore off the rear fuselage section just aft of the wing. All nine crewmembers were in the nose section as per instructions. Seven men got out of the plane and released the two life rafts. Neither Walter L. Brown nor Fred Durand got clear of the sinking ship. They drowned when it went down. The survivors floated all night and most of the next day before being spotted by a Wellington of Air-Sea Rescue. This plane dropped them supplies and water, then circled them for nearly five hours until relieved by a second Wellington. Finally, that night at 1930 hours, they were picked up by a motor boat of Air-Sea Rescue Service. As Radio Operator, Joseph Manquen was observing results of their bombing through the open bomb bay doors, when a shell exploded just below these doors, seriously wounding him. 2nd Lt. Rumsey, co-pilot, who suffered a broken leg, and Sgt. Manquen were hospitalized upon their return. From a letter by Lt. R. Carpenter: “On the low level Ploesti mission, August 1, 1943, when we were forced to ditch in the Mediterranean Sea, Vincent was the first crewman to go out the top hatch. The aircraft’s tail was torn off and it was sinking nose down very rapidly. Vincent swam to the left dingy hatch, which was now under water and attempted to deploy it, but the door was jammed and he could not open it. Rapidly, he swam over to the right dingy hatch and fortunately he was able to open it and deploy the dingy. When I finally got free of the cockpit and came to the surface the first thing I saw was Vincent standing in our one and only dingy pulling all the survivors into it. If it were not for his strength and determination to deploy that remaining dingy we would have all perished. All who survived owe their lives to Vincent E. Huenerberg, the best Engineer a pilot could have. Regrettably, S/Sgts. Walter Brown and Edward Durand were crushed on the flight deck when the top turret tore loose from the fuselage and they were unable to escape.” 44th Bomb Group Roll of Honor and Casualties

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:36 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	The Tidal Wave bombers intinerary Attached Image

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:39 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	Idem Attached Image

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:42 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	PLOIEŞTI DEFENSES Attached Image

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:43 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	IDEM Attached Image

alexkdl	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:47 pm
General de corp de armata Group: Banned Posts: 1809 Member No.: 373 Joined: October 22, 2004	Fratello thanks for posting but all your post are again repetition of all my previous posts...please GO THROUGH the entire TW posted messages in order to avoid repetitions and save storage of the provider - Coloured Targets------from Internet already posted - Routes ------------Internet already posted - Ploesti A/A defense equipoment-----already posted Please post TW staff not from Internet but from Roumanian sources , because TW related stuff from Internet is already posted on here Thanks Alex This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 30, 2005 10:49 pm

Fratello	Posted: January 30, 2005 10:54 pm
Locotenent Group: Members Posts: 557 Member No.: 475 Joined: January 23, 2005	Sorry again Mr. Alex. I din't see. Please belive me I don't posted these purposely, but this topic had become too large and it's very hard to know what was posted or not. In the future I'll try do not poste another photo again.

alexkdl	Posted: January 30, 2005 11:11 pm
General de corp de armata Group: Banned Posts: 1809 Member No.: 373 Joined: October 22, 2004	Yes no problem, suggest you take a week or so and go slowly through the messages to avoid considerable repetitions and congestions of data at the providers end . Kindly try to delete all your messages of today because they are all anly repetions .Please do not post anything from Internet...is already posted Thanks Alex

Cantacuzino

Posted: January 31, 2005 07:37 am

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QUOTE

OLD BALDY AGONY
==================

THIS TRANSLATED PROM A ROUMANIAN MILITARY MAGAZINE WHICH
COLLECTED THE TESTEMONIES FROM THOSE SERVING THE GHIGHIU
MONESTERY LOCATED CLOSE TO THE A/A BATTERY AS WELL GROUND
WITNESSES, THIS IS THEIR STORY TRANSLATED BY ME ( NOT ONE OF MY STRENGTHS)

Possibly none of the aircrews involved in the TW have watched better their
own end coming than those of the OLD BALDY piloted by Lt.John Dore Jr
a young Lt from the Garden City state of NY. He has made out of his
own death the mirror of those who were just killing him. He barely
flew passed the crater which has become the mostly bombed target of
Ploesti, namely WHITE TARGET 4 the Astra Romana refineries , the
target of opportunity of the TRAVELLING CIRCUS and exclusively
reserved for the “Killer” Kanes PYRAMIDIERS .The OLD BALDY managed
to get unscaved out of the target and all it took them was to rejoin
the formation to the outbound rally point back back tor Lybia to the
Lette Airfield where a Pyramide was built from the remains
of the German mechanised divisions and aircraft wreckages bordering
Sahara.

Unfortunately the fate of the OLD BALDY was already sealed on the segment
flight to the rally formation point . Directly beneath them there was an 88 mm
flack battery equipped with an A/A gun nick named " Voinicu" ( mighty ) under
the command of young gunnery captain called Cosmin Istrate of the 86th Battery
of the 7 Anti Aircraft Regiment which dispersed their entire units throughout
the counties of Berceni and the Monastery Ghighiu located on the exit road to
the junction with the main national motorway road Bucharest Ploesti and
Bucharest – Buzau .

The A/A amo loading soldier G.Bala was about to charge into the "
Mighty" a preset 500 meter (1500 feet ) altitude detonation shell .
The other 5 battery members were waiting for the captain orders. The
gun operator Pvt 1st class Ion Garlan saw all of a sudden into his
bore sight a bomber which was getting like a silver knife out of the
curtain of the black smoke covering the refineries and alerted the
battery commander on the approaching bomber directly into the mouth
of " Mighty" .

Through his binoculars Captain Istrate adviced the crew to make a
reduction of aiming angle and signed to the crew to get ready
and open the fire at the OLD BALDY . The soldier Alexandru Partica
nicknamed " The Old Man " because at 35 years old he was the oldest
and yet at lowest ranked ,covered his both ears with his hands as the battery
crew was getting ready to fire the gun. The soldiers Constantin Disdedea
and Tudor Ghiaur froze waiting near the gun awaiting for the firing order
while the soldier Paun Ozel who delayed his marriage ceremony in the
last minute even though he received a one day leave pass which he
opted to not make us of instead remain on duty was getting ready to pull
the firing lanyard .

The American bomber was approaching the battery head on head with
buzzing engines at full throttle and as he approached within 500 meters
range to the guns mouth , they recognised the deadly danger beneath
them and have all opened the fire against the battery….But before the
bullets of the OLD BALDY would hit the battery , Captain Istrate gave
the order to fire. In less than seconds the shell has perforated the
front of the OLD BALDY fuselage and detonated near the bulkhead on
the rear fuselage .

The airplane was lighted from one end to the other like a blitz which
surprised the crew of OLD BALDY on their rendezvous with the death .
For a moment the OLD BALDY looked uncontrollable and the likelihood
that someone on the flight deck managed to remain alive after such detonation
was simply impossible…and yet we must deduct that someone on the flight
deck on his last minute agony maintained the last few hundred meters course
heading and dive angle before impacting the ground and possibly deliberately
or not to steer the bomber into the "Mighty" battery. The crew of the battery
noticed the agonising huge dark object trailing all over smoke and breaking apart
with the mutilated chin heading directly into the battery ,dropped all they had in their
hands and started to run for their lives .

None from the Bomber and the Battery managed to survive and
intruder and defender met their faith together . On the edges of this exit road
passing to the junction Ploesti South , there is a small white stone cross
in the memory of the crew of the battery who perished on their duty .
From the wreckages of the OLD BALDY 10 burned and thorn corpses of
American airmen which we identified based on the crew records from
Maxwell AFB Alabama we can confirm the following :

Pilot Lt John F Dore , Co Pilot 2nd Lt John B Stallings,Navigator 2nd
Lt Frank Worthington, Bomber Fospeh Fineran , RO Sgt Max Lower ,
Gunners Sgt Ray Gleason ,Joseph Iosco,Jones Wesley,Frank Norris and
Stanley Packer.

A priest from the nearby Monastery Ghighiu from where we heard the
story of those 17 brave soles , they made for all the crews who
perished on that August 1st day , a memorial service and farewell to
the mighty lord . Other airmen who fought on that day over the skies on
Roumania at only 50 meters above the ground, they have all passed in the
history known or unknown into the eternity .

Alex

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Cantacuzino

Posted: January 31, 2005 07:39 am

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QUOTE

A priest from the nearby Monastery Ghighiu from where we heard the
story of those 17 brave soles , they made for all the crews who
perished on that August 1st day , a memorial service and farewell to
the mighty lord . Other airmen who fought on that day over the skies on
Roumania at only 50 meters above the ground, they have all passed in the
history known or unknown into the eternity .

Alex

More pictures with Ghighiu Monastery. ( courtesy Dan Melinte)

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on January 31, 2005 07:40 am

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Cantacuzino

Posted: January 31, 2005 07:41 am

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QUOTE

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Cantacuzino

Posted: January 31, 2005 07:54 am

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QUOTE

Here an interesting photo with Lt. Tache Baciu near "Monkey Tank Gal"'s wreck from Tidal Wave
(this photo is from Top Gun Magasine, nr.1/1999 - "Duminica neagră a Ploieştiului.Bombardamentul aliat din 1 august 1943" by Dr. Aurel Pentelescu)
>Locotenetul Tacke Baciu, care a doborât bombardierul B-24 Liberator (botezat de aviatorii americani "Monkey Tank Gal"); alături se observă distrugerile provocate de către aviatorul român.> this is written below

Probably this picture was used only as propaganda purpose because Lt. Baciu was never credited with B-24 victory on Tidal Wave raid ( i don't know if he flew that day ).
Many authors had made wrong afirmation judging only pictures and not also archiv documents.

Dan.

Cantacuzino

Posted: January 31, 2005 08:03 am

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QUOTE

Here's is again the Pilot Kendall of LUCKY this time received from Dan ( Dan where did you get it from ?)

Alex

The picture was made by american reporter Ivan Dmitri after the Tidal Wave ( in Benghazi). I' l try to find a better quality for this picture.

Dan.

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