| Original caption: “Oil storage tanks at the Columbia Aquila Refinery burning after the raid of B-24 Liberator bombers of the United States Army Air Force. Some of the structures have been camouflaged.” Columbia Aquila Refinery distillation and cracking plants are already damaged, and flames can be seen (center left) from the tank storage area. Ploești was then a city of 95,000 with the refineries closely grouped around its outskirts and joined together by an intricate network of roads and rail tracks. It lies on the Walachian plain 35 miles north of Bucharest, on the main highway and rail line from that capital to the Transylvanian Alps, to Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and finally to Germany itself. 60 miles due south flows the broad, turgid Danube, historic international waterway of Eastern and Central Europe. Many thousands of the adults of Ploești worked in 1 of the 40 refineries, The Columbia Aquila Refinery (White V) was the 5th most important target of the mission, and was attacked by components of the 44th Bomb Group. The damage report, published on August 5, 1943, determined that: “Damage to this plant is so intense that almost complete rebuilding would be necessary before it could resume operation. The crude oil distilling plant has been devastated by fires and explosions while the cracking plant and stabilizer installation have been damaged on slightly less seriously. the boiler house appears damaged. Nine storage tanks and at least nine process tanks have been destroyed. Other damage is located among workshops, offices, compressor buildings and storehouses, while some damage has been done to railway tracks and rolling stock. the number of craters seen outside the target area is small.” Aquila’s defenses were imposing: 230 antiaircraft guns plus barrage balloons and smoke generators. An estimated 400 German and Romanian fighters were reported in the region. While its total monthly capacity was only 44,000 tons, fully half was cracked aviation gasoline. Its prior ownership had been French. Colonel John R. Kane (January 5, 1907 – May 29, 1996) of the 98th Bomb Group and Colonel Leon W. Johnson (September 13, 1904 – November 10, 1997) of the 44th Bomb Group made their prescribed turn at Florești and proceeded to their respective targets at the Astra Română and Columbia Aquila refineries. Both groups would find German and Romanian defenses on full alert and faced the full effects of raging oil fires, heavy smoke, secondary explosions, and delayed-fuse bombs dropped by Lieutenant Colonel Addison Baker’s (January 1, 1907 – August 1, 1943) 93rd Bomb Group on their earlier run. Both Kane and Johnson’s approach, parallel to the Florești-to-Ploești railway, had the unfortunate distinction of encountering Gerstenberg’s “Die Raupe” (“the caterpillar”), a disguised flak train. At treetop level, around 50 feet (15 meters) above the ground, the 98th would find themselves to the left and the 44th on the right. The advantage, however, would rest with the 98th and 44th, whose gunners quickly responded to the threat, disabling the locomotive and killing multiple air defense crews. While the effects of earlier bomb runs were causing difficulties locating and bombing their primary targets, both Kane and Johnson did not deviate from their intended attack, with the aircraft they were leading taking heavy losses in the process. Their low approach even enabled gunners to engage in continued ground suppression of air defense crews directly below them. For their leadership and heroism, Kane and Johnson were awarded the Medal of Honor. Lt. Colonel James T. Posey (May 24, 1913 – June 23, 1984) took 21 of the 44th’s aircraft on a separate assigned attack run on the Creditul Minier refinery, just south of Ploiești. Although air defense batteries had already heavily engaged the 93rd, Posey’s aircraft also received heavy fire from the same emplacements. Maintaining a continued low-level approach into the target area took some of the still heavily laden aircraft through tall grass, and damage was caused by low-level obstructions. Posey and his aircraft—equipped with heavier 1,000-pound (450 kilogram) bombs — managed to find their marks at Creditul Minier without loss to the formation. They left behind a full measure of destruction. The combined weight of bombs on White V totaled “the most destruction” of any Tidal Wave objective, according to later surveys. Although not totally erased, Colombia Aquila refinery was out of production for 11 months. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2185.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.36 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2932 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Air Force |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Ploești |
| State or Province | Prahova |
| Country | Romania |
| Archive | Library of Congress |
| Record Number | LC-USW33- 036496-C |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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