Midwest Chick's Place

On August 1, 1943,  Operation Tidal Wave took flight from Benghazi, Libya to bomb Axis fuel refineries at Ploesti Romania.  Consisting of B-24 Liberators, usually a high-altitude bomber, this was a low-level flight with five groups coming at the target from different directions.

The groups consisted of planes from both the 9th and 8th Air Force.

Ninth Air Force[15]

98th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (“Pyramiders”), Col. John R. Kane°

376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (“Liberandos”), Col. Keith K. Compton°°

Eighth Air Force

44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (“Flying Eight Balls”), Col. Leon W. Johnson°

93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) (“Ted’s Timberlake’s Travelling Circus”), Lt.Col. Addison E. Baker°, Maj. John L. Jerstad°

389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (“Sky Scorpions”), Col. Jack W. Wood°°, 2nd Lt. Lloyd Herbert Hughes°

It was something that had never been tried before.