Operation Halpro losses over Romania

denes i confirm to you too, no B-24 whatsoever was lost due to ARR or Luftwaffe on July 11 or 12.....if they were than they were UFO's HALPRO didnt lose not even one over ploesti, period....if there were b-24 losses on that day than not over Ploesti or from Halpro.Just wanted to let you know mate. B-24's were also operated by RAF for high altitude recon due to his range, for demolition and secret teams parachuting over Yugoslavia, Poland etc.

Alex

Yes, I know. That's why I noted that the pilots have claimed those Liberator kills.

Gen. Dénes

Thanks Denes I missunderstood your point,I was under the opposite impression ....though ultimately it would be useful to know on why ARR and Luftwaffe accredited the pilots with such fictious and nonsense victories claims

Alex

The Halpro raid was on the night of 11/12 June, 1942 not in August (Mr. Denes) and not even in July (Mr. Alex). But I'm sure this is an involuntary mistake.

Here is a part of Adj. av. Pascu (from Escadrila 59 , Grupul 8 Vt.) testemony about the claim of a B-24 Kill on the night of June 11/12, 1942 (I'll give in romanian language to be more concise):<<...Am ajuns în zona Ploieştiului şi bateriile A.A. au deschis un foc intens, fiind stânjenit în urmărirea inamicului. Acesta şi-a aruncat bombele la întâmplare , lovind o sifonărie-după cum aveam să aflu. După lansarea bombelor, avionul cu patru motoare a intrat în nori. Întrucât fuseserăm instruiţiu că punctul de intrare în ţară sunt gurile Dunării, am pornit pe sub nori spre Brăila-Galaţi. Zburam la 3900 m şi, înainte de Urziceni, printr-o spărtură a norilor, la o distanţă de circa 100 m în faţa mea, a apărut avionul. Instantaneu am declanşat mitralierele şi tunurile de bord. I-am lovit motorul interior stâng care a luat foc. Întrucât eram foarte aproape de el şi spărgându-i-se rezervoarele de ulei, acesta s-a răspândit în aer, acoperindu-mi parbrizul, micşorându-mi vizibilitatea. Am obesrvat cum bombardierul se depărta în flăcări în zona Viziru, fiind nevoit să cobor, întrucât motorul începuse să dea rateuri. Nu vroiam să aterizez, întrucât acest lucru presupunea să nu deschid trenul de aterizare şi o aterizare pe burtă îmi putea fi fatală. Am intervenit şi am început să acţionez pompele de amorasaj benzină în circuit şi turajul a revenit aproape la normal. Am luat din nou înalţime, deoarece pierdusem 2000 m. Ajuns la Buzău, am oservat că dinspre Ziliştea venea un alt avion cu patru motoare, ceea ce însemna că acţiunea inamică se desfăşura într-un cadru mult mai larg. Am atacat într-o poziţie prielnică pe dedesupt, dar muniţia mi s-a terminat. ÎN ZBOR SPRE BRĂILA, AM VĂZUT CUM PRIMUL BOMBARDIER PE CARE-L ATACASEM ERA ÎMPRĂŞTIAT PE O MARE SUPRAFAŢĂ ÎN ZONA VIZIRU ŞI ARDEA. Am trecut de câteva ori pe deasupra lui şi am aterizat apoi la Mizil, unde se afla Escadrila 60. După ce am alimentat avionul cu benzină şi s-a făcut plinul cu muniţie, am decolat din nou şi m-am îndreptat spre Târguşor. Am făcut un tur deasupra aerodromului dând din aripi, semnul victoriei...>>.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious error. Apparently, it's not a good practice to hurry and rely too much solely on memory.

Gen. Dénes

Alex, there is a big differecne between probable and confirmed vitories. The first are just the pilot's claims, the latter are officially recognized and omologated by the higher echelons.

I will say it again for the thitrd time: The B-24 claim of adj. av. Vasile Pascu was not confirmed.

Victor, Fratello

As I have stated earlier on there was nothing ralated to HALPRO detachment lost over Rumania as such the WWII rumours who credited what and who confirmed or disapprove what on the air kills is rather specutlative and noth worth commenting...I would have be interested to know where exactly at Ploesti HALPRO bombed and if there are any target photos left from that era.

Fratello it was a typo I know it was June and not July,thanks anyways

Al

I know that perfectly well, as I posted that piece of information before you did. But one aircraft was damaged and had two wounded on board (pilot Virgil Anderson and machine-guner Enoch Kusilavage), probably the one attacked by Peltz and Pascu.

Regarding the effects of the bombing I posted a detailed report in the older discussion on Halpro on the forum that I mentioned, but which nobody seemed to bother reading. So I will post it again.

The 13 B-24Ds designated to take part in the mission took off from Fayd at 10:30 pm on 11 June. They flew over the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea, going around neutral Turkey, and over the Balkans to Constanţa. They were suppose to regroup there and head west towards Ploeşti, via Galaţi. The airplanes entered Romanian air space at 3:44 am and at 3:57 am the alarm was given at Bucharest. The Ploeşti defense was announced at 4:05 am, but the guns were firing around the city since 4:00 am

At 4:10 am, the first bombs were dropped at Medgidia. Ten minutes later, the B-24D "Little Eva", flown by Wilber C. West, which was experiencing some engine problems dropped its bombs on the Constanţa harbor area. Two bombs fell between the port and the slaughterhouse and the other eight into the sea. The bomber then headed to Turkey and landed at Ankara later.

At 4:33 am, a B-24 dropped five bombs in a forest 40 km north of Bucharest. However, three bombers managed to find Ploeşti at 4:44 am and dropped 12 bombs. Three houses were destroyed and made six casualties: three dead and three wounded. Six bombs fell near Vălenii de Munte. One house was demolished and a woman was wounded.

Approximately forty minutes later, a bomber identified as "Soviet", dropped five bombs near Buzău and destroyed 150 m of railroad and a building, killing two and wounding six. This obvious misidentification lead some to believe that also VVS aircraft participated in this raid, which is very doubtful, because the only airbase from which they could have flown was at Sevastopol, in Crimea. The Soviet base was then under assault by the German and Romanian troops of von Manstein’s 11th Army. Most likely this was also a B-24D of the Halpro Detachment.

At 5:40 am, a B-24D dropped six bombs on the German barracks at Ramnicu Sarat and several buildings near them. One man was killed. It was the last reported bombing.

At 6:02 am, the state of alarm was canceled at Ploeşti. Things returned to normal. Of the 12 B-24s, two landed at Alep (Syria), seven in Irak and three in Turkey. As mentioned earlier the thirteenth bomber was already at Ankara.

The American report stated that ten aircraft hit the "Astra Română" refinery, one hit the Constanţa harbor and two an unidentified target. However, the RAF experts that requested the raid initially, analyzed the reports and came to the conclusion that the effect of the raid was most likely zero.

The results of Halpro raid at PLOIESTI was 5 bombs droped with 3 destroyed houses. Human victims: 3 deaths and 3 woundeds.

Victor you are right. But something here is not clear. Adj. av. Pascu in his testemony said about his kill on night of June 11/12, 1942 that he saw a burning wreck on the ground ("ÎN ZBOR SPRE BRĂILA, AM VĂZUT CUM PRIMUL BOMBARDIER PE CARE-L ATACASEM ERA ÎMPRĂŞTIAT PE O MARE SUPRAFAŢĂ ÎN ZONA VIZIRU ŞI ARDEA"). Could be a concoction in adj. Pascu testemony about his claim?

About the claim of B-24 Kill by slt. Peltz from Luftawaffe on night of June 11/12, 1942, in Romanian archives was mentioned: <<Statul Major al Aerului, Secţia II-a. Nr. 1107 din 16 iunie 1942. Către inspectoratul General al Jandarmeriei, domnului col. C. Tobescu. Am onoarea a trimite alăturat o schiţă în zona unde declară slt Peltz că a căzut avionul atacat de el, din acelea care au violat teritoriul ţării în ziua de 12 iunie 1942. Vî rugâm ca prin organele d-voastră să daţi ordin să se exploreze această zonă pentru a găsi fie avionul, fie părţi din el..>>.

Fratello , that was the request sent to the cheif the Jandarmerie in order to search for the wreckage.......what did they find out ?

Alex

and also in nota telefonică nr.625/1942 a Legiunii de jandarmi Brăila către Inspectoratul General al Jandarmeriei was mentioned: <<La ordinul d-voastră nr. 35781/1942, raportăm că în ziua de 12 iunie 1942, Legiunea a fost informată de Misiunea germană că un avion inamic a fost doborât în regiunea Brăila. Am dat ordin secţiilor de jandarmi, care au format echipe alcătuite din pescari şi jandarmi, să controleze această regiune. Nu s-a găsit avionul, întrucât întreaga regiune era sub apă. Maior Popa>>.

A newspaper article about Operation Halpro: Operaţiunea Halpro (in Romanian only)