Books about Ploesti from Amazon.com

We were dragged through the mouth of hell."--from a Ploesti Mission debriefing report

"We knew it was a disaster and knew that in the flames shooting up from those refineries we might be burned to death. But we went right in."--Lieutenant Norman Whalen

Planned by Winston Churchill, authorized by Dwight D. Eisenhower, and executed by five specially trained American bomber units, the attack on the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania, was among the most daring and dangerous missions of World War II. If the raid succeeded, the Nazi war machine would suffer a devastating blow. On August 1, 1943, nearly two hundred B-24 bombers flew from Benghazi, North Africa, with directions to descend on Ploesti at treetop level, bomb the refineries, and return. The low-level bombers could evade enemy radar and were thought to be more difficult to shoot down. But despite warnings that a German heavy flak train had been moved into the area and that the secrecy of their mission had been compromised, the bombers were sent out. Minutes from the target, one of the commanders made a wrong turn, leading the formations away from Ploesti. Recovering from this mistake, most of the bombers relocated the refineries, but the mission was doomed. The ensuing air-ground battle claimed dozens of the bombers, and many of those that survived the ordeal were forced to ditch in the ocean or in remote areas due to lack of fuel or structural damage.

In Into the Fire: Ploesti, The Most Fateful Mission of World War II, Duane Schultz re-creates this great battle, combining original research and interviews with survivors in order to capture the tension, drama, and heroics of the warring sides. More Medals of Honor were awarded for this mission than any other aerial combat enterprise in the history of the United States. But the medals are bittersweet testimony to the courage of the 1,726 young men who risked all on a fateful attempt to cut off the Nazi supply of "black gold.".
Price: $16.10 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Unlike previous books on Ploesti, Jay Stout goes well beyond the famous big and bloody raid of August 1943 and depicts the entire 1944 strategic campaign of twenty-plus missions that all but knocked Ploesti out of the war and denied the German war machine the fuel and lubricants it so desperately needed.

While Fortress Ploesti is the narrative history of the entire air campaign to deny the Ploesti oil complex to the Axis powers, it is also a launching point for the author's inquiries into many aspects of the American strategic bombing effort in World War II. It delivers across the board.

Stout, who served as a Marine F/A-18 pilot in the First Gulf War, asks questions about aviation combat history and technique that any modern combat pilot would be dying to ask. He carries the ball far beyond the goal post set by all other Ploesti historians. He has gone out of his way to describe the defenses throughout the campaign, and he brings in the voices of Ploesti's defenders to complement the tales of Allied airmen who brought Ploesti to ruin. He describes the role of the bombers, that of the fighters, the ant-aircraft defenses, even the technique of obscuring the Ploesti complex with smoke.

In the end, Stout's narrative describes the entire Ploesti effort for the very first time in print, and, by proxy, guides the reader through the intricacies of the entire Allied strategic bombing campaign in Europe, and all the weapons and techniques the Axis powers used to parry it. His lucid presentation of complex issues at the tactical and strategic levels is impressive.

Jay Stout's previous books include Hornets Over Kuwait, his Gulf War memoir and, as co-author, The First Hellcat Ace..
Price: $18.02 [Notify me when price goes down.]

On August 1, 1943, an enormous armada of America B-24 Liberator bombers roared at nearly treetop level over the peaceful farms and villages of Romania. This mission was Operation Tidal Wave. Its target—“the taproot of German might,” Hitler’s giant oil refineries at Ploesti. Hundreds of U.S. airmen had volunteered for the mission despite warnings that half might not return. In thirty minutes, more firepower was exchanged than in two Gettysburgs, and five men earned the Medal of Honor. Ploesti presents a vivid reconstruction of a dramatic and controversial mission..
Price: $29.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Tidal Wave! August 1, 1943. The legendary low level raid on Ploesti, Rumania by the 376th, 93rd, 44th, 389th and 98th Bomb Groups, is described by author/historian Mike Hill in this new large format, 50th Anniversary book. Never before published photos taken during the raid, many from the original negatives, dramatically show the raid, and give the reader a sense of the intensity of fierce flak, and aerial combat. Mike has interviewed many of the surviving veterans of the mission, giving the story a personal flavor from the unique view-point of the crew members. Also included is a complete listing of the aircraft and crews that flew the mission. Mike Hill also the author of The Desert Rats: The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid. The dust jacket artwork for this new book is by Mike Boss..
Price: $34.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Colonel Ray Ward's magnificent Those Brave crews: The Epic Raid to Destroy Hiltler's Oil Fields, follows the fortunes of American aircraft on their suicidal mission against the vital Ploesti (Roumania) oil fields. With him you will follow each different crew, sit in the pilot's seat, and share the unique experience of the gunners dueling eye-to-eye with the enemy flack crews. The sacrifice and dedication of these men rivals other famous events in history, such as the calvary charges of the Crimea, Pickett's assault at Gettysburg, or Xenephon's March..
Price: $14.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]