Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

the dcfcuckrs could not get 1lI supplies of the ncccssary chcnuc.rlx. Another dctcnvivc fcuturc at l'locsti \I'as the coustruct iou of hugc blast \I'alls-rcquiriug cnollgh brick to bu.ld a sizeable modern town-s-arouud cvcry single iustall.it iou at each refinery, r" oth ing qui tc 1ike tlu-m had ever been seen, Some were six feet thick at the bottom and tapered upward to a height of 20 feet, \I here thcv were 111'0 feet wide. I':n'n a series of three pU1llpS had a complete squarc of blast \I'alls around it, and from the air the whole arrnngcmcnt had the weird, dazzle-painted appearancc of a gigantic, ouc-storv, mul ti-roomcd, roofless h ousc. There were three Lngc-scale raids in the month of ~Ll\', at the end of whicl: the Stc.iua Rom.m.t rcfincn'--thirdmost productive-c-had been definitely knocked out, 'and the overall output at Plocsti had been trimmed down to 317,000 tons monthlv. [unc brought another three attacks and an innovation in the l Sth Air Force's tactics, On the l Oth , P-3Ss made a 10w-le\TI bombing-strafing run on Rom.m.r Amcr icaua Rcfincrv, They dropped between 40 and 50 bombs wcigh ing 500 pounds each and set fire to the Crutvcll crude oil distillery plant, \\'hen they left, 10 oil storage tanks were hlazing and the mechanical work shops were almost COlllplctcly dcmolished. Five stabs in [ulv caused important material damage to the Rom.rna Amcr icn na and Concordia refineries. Storage faeil itics of the Unirca Rcfincrv were scvcrclv rocked, and the giant Astra Rmnnuu plant \\';IS once again subjected to an aerial pummeling, In August, up to the time of thc capture of the Plocsti fields by the Soviet Army, several hcuvv strikes \\'CTe carried out byfl«: I Sth Air I'o'rce with one ilight hombiug foray by RAI' \Vcllingtons and Hulifuxcs. In addition, there was a straight fighter sweep by p.51s and p.38s on August 6, By the end of the last mission, the cupacitv of the main Romanian refineries \\'as reduced from its rated 700,000 tom of erudc output per month to a mere 77,00') t()m~a drop of 90 percent. No wonder, then, that the followiru; rccorn- Thick blast walls 20 feet hiah were reduced to rubble at the Xenia rcfincrv. Oil t.mk , sheltered bv walls. was complcu-lv C'oll:lp'ecl. 36 mcud.rtious appeared m the \llthcira\\al orders issued by the command of the Nazi 26th Panzer Divixiou in Italy: "Armored units which arc not completely ready for action and those which cannot be taken along on account of the iucl position must be blown up, Connunudcrs will have to decide which motor transport will have to be taken along and which left behind, basing their decision on the fuel positiou . , ." l':loquent tcxtimony to the leak which air PO\lU- had punched in the German gas tank. On the less cloudy side of the enemy's ledger with respect to his "fuel position" arc several important considerations. I'irst is the bet that the word "dcstrov" must be used cautiously when applied to the oil incluxtrv. A refinery is a vulncrublc mcch.iuixm, it is true, but it can be repaired if spare parts arc rcad ilv avu il.iblc. A plant m.iv be struck with the greatest possible aecuL1ey, with the right number, tvpc a nd size of born bs. ~ lost of the surface structure may he dcmolishccl, most of the mach incry smashed. But the foundations will prob.iblv be left standing. the bulk of undcrground pipes and other works will be little harmed, and some of the mar-hines wi] l no doubt be available for repair or sal\';lgc. Hitler's men are well aware of this, and in Jnne a spcci« 1 conun issioncr was a ppoi n ted to d ircct such rcnovat ion activities. IIc \\'as gin'n preference for labor and material even over ann.uucnt m.mnf.icturcrs, and the result has been the creation of a well trained corps of skilled workmen who arc specialists in just this type of emergency work. }.lorcovcr, extr;I\'agant pains have been taken to have spare parts within reach, Just as in the Reich substitute bridges arc read:' to replace existing Sp;1I1Swhich the Nazis think may he demolished, so extra machinery and huilding materials have heen deposited in the vicinitv of many essential oil plants. By this means, it is possible for a refinery to be in production again remarkably soon after it has been saturated with hom bs. The speed of German restoration is hest illustrated hy recent figures, Whereas, in September it was known that oil capacity had fallen to its [ow point of approximately 2) percent of the pre-attack level, the belief among experts was Five successive attacks in [ulv, J
Hamburg i lPolilz IMagdeburg 1 I r Trzebinia Merseburg I BIechharnmer 1 Ruhland Lutzkendorf Bohlen 1 BruxlIZcllz 1 Loban IAlmasfuzilO Oil PLANTS ATTACKED THE SCOREBOARD AT PLOESTI April-August 1(J44 Number of raids Num bcr of effective sorties Tons of bombs dropped Reduction of oil producing capacity A:\F losses 2"76 hcavv bombers, 59 Enemy fighters destroyed Probably destroyed or damaged f, CampinallPloesti 24 5,266 12,737 90% fighters 334 239 !. IBrazil lllles, ra/ed buildina». could also be seen at Lob.iu. Bohlen, "lers(:hurg. Ibm burg - ill Liet, wherever thc air armadas struck, DECEMBER,1944 that vnlumc might rise during the winter ino n thx because b.id weather would probably interfere witl: our opcr.it ions. 10 soften tile el1eeb of such ass;Il!lts, the cucmv has been smroundlng his oil targets with xcnnc extrl'ln~'Jy strollg hatterles of antiaircraft guns. At Brux, for cx.uuplc, photo leC
Page 1 and 2:
~J 1 AIR FOftCES * OCTOBER 1944
Page 3 and 4:
Rendezvous Who Is He? Dear Editor:
Page 5 and 6:
[us: ,dlat is tIle AAI'I'DC~ It is
Page 7 and 8:
oads and bridges and military imtal
Page 9 and 10:
Here's how controllers direct the p
Page 11 and 12:
sengcr and courier service in areas
Page 13 and 14:
GET WISE Here are a few of the easi
Page 15 and 16:
Airborne soldiers. shown here durin
Page 17 and 18:
Smoke in background is fruin [up.ui
Page 19 and 20:
It has pronounced step characterist
Page 21 and 22:
TIIC{"II""IIIi; ;lItidc j, till' I/
Page 23 and 24:
OCTOBER,1944 The first thing the a\
Page 25 and 26:
YOUR ENEMY All ;Iirer;!ft fllillg o
Page 27 and 28:
->",i" .""tJnil'et hj/'- By Col. Do
Page 29 and 30:
28 011 BOll~aiIldk is quicklv unloa
Page 31 and 32:
the plane landed, a jccp would driv
Page 33:
THE PHiliPPINES DISTANCES SHOWN IN
Page 36 and 37:
The economic system of the Philippi
Page 38 and 39:
The AAF's homing pigeons are recogn
Page 40 and 41:
Our aviation engineers had to fight
Page 42 and 43:
---- technique • -- - --- . RUNWA
Page 44 and 45:
High Intensity Controlled Lighting
Page 46 and 47:
Attached to a flyer's ear, the Oxim
Page 48 and 49:
Automatic Pilot Trainer-A new train
Page 50 and 51:
3 5 7 Surprised by the friendliness
Page 52 and 53:
TIM ELY A D V ICE FRO M THE A I R I
Page 54 and 55:
R.6 I:>:CJ: the AAF S helicopter, t
Page 56 and 57:
SS I. You on the left, Buddy, appea
Page 58 and 59:
ever .nrivc at a fir',t ~Iid stut i
Page 60 and 61:
p:rinted on the outvi.lc wrt l: ,ih
Page 62 and 63:
tanks and truck-borne infantry and
Page 64 and 65:
FIGHTER CONTROL (Colltilltled from
Page 68 and 69:
Property of tDe Library ARMY INDtJS
Page 70 and 71:
For the Record I)e:lr h!Jtlll Rende
Page 72 and 73:
he Allie's into German-held of the
Page 74 and 75:
H Combat may make you Lazy By Maj.
Page 76 and 77:
..... -; ... The results of two yea
Page 78 and 79:
Production charts show the disaster
Page 80 and 81:
all key points of the factory's 3-+
Page 82 and 83:
HE Fortresses T wings to the took o
Page 84 and 85:
';:'4"'~' .~~~c ~)'~ ~J ~~~ ~" . "
Page 86 and 87:
'l'h is was a YClr ago, but these a
Page 88 and 89:
Pulling in His Ne-:I:. Reeelit de,c
Page 90 and 91:
When a radio operator makes a mista
Page 92 and 93:
Lifeline to the US,S R BY HERBERT R
Page 94 and 95:
Ten o'clock of a December morning a
Page 96 and 97:
THE MAN WITH THE PRIVATE BREEZE By
Page 98 and 99:
THE AIR WAR IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFI
Page 100 and 101:
STANDARD FLIGHT INSTRUMENT PANEL E
Page 102 and 103:
It 11c:l!,illg l.ot h sidc
Page 104 and 105:
, , ,CO:-iTI:-iUI:D ]'\o\\', pacbgi
Page 106 and 107:
technique ••• CO]\;Tl:"UED Ne
Page 108 and 109:
INSTRUMENT PANEL (Continued from Pa
Page 110 and 111:
LIFELINE TO THE US S R ( Cout iuucc
Page 112 and 113:
F\lr:RCF'\~CY FOUrp\lr:,\'T luvpcct
Page 114 and 115:
50 COMBAT MAY MAKE YOU LAZY (Contin
Page 116 and 117:
EN of the AAF-including the hundred
Page 118 and 119: .I In. ]~rhO:S-':cl the'mll-it:IIT
Page 120 and 121: August 7. Patton kept moving his he
Page 122 and 123: l'Iiavigation Training En Masse. Th
Page 124 and 125: "WE arc not going to bubble over wi
Page 126 and 127: A wood block support; injured legs
Page 128 and 129: Burma. A Japanese light antiaircraf
Page 130: ~ ~,C"= =~=.~7~~ ---,- .... _._. __
Page 134 and 135: HOW ,SHARP ARE YOU? A 'hoto Test of
Page 136 and 137: .. ' Back to the Philippines PART I
Page 138 and 139: Tacloban strip \\";IS not sC'ITicca
Page 140 and 141: All Tile Illftl, \\ ,(("d If iii, ,
Page 142 and 143: :lIe fbttle of Hrit.un. IC\i" intru
Page 144 and 145: Underground. ,'~ group of worried m
Page 146 and 147: volunteers between the agcs of II .
Page 148 and 149: I f By Capt. Greer Williams Air SlI
Page 150 and 151: Flaming debris (If njllI, ])1]]1:ll
Page 152: ground fire the pilot should look f
Page 155 and 156: two weeks: Cincinnati. one week: Pi
Page 157 and 158: At 5.000 fed. the pilot opened the
Page 159 and 160: cardboard bombs on their choice of
Page 161 and 162: turn to Traffic Scction, Crcnicr Fi
Page 163 and 164: Oil refineries arc gooel targets, T
Page 165 and 166: Tile air campaign to choke off fuel
Page 167: fallen into Allied hands, thus maki
Page 171 and 172: He's the guy who holds the life of
Page 174 and 175: :::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::
Page 176 and 177: :::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::
Page 178 and 179: 46 V4ba\'s vnong V4itbtbis pictUfe1
Page 180 and 181: :::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::
Page 182 and 183: j ._3 Thirteen days after the 13th
Page 184 and 185: THE ABC OF D-DAY When an invasion i
Page 186 and 187: By all AIR F( )RCl-: ()\"t'rsc;/s S
Page 188 and 189: The fighters called for help and th
Page 190 and 191: A jeep, laden with leftover explosi
Page 192 and 193: THE ABC OF D-DAY t Cont inu.xl [r o
Page 194 and 195: By Capt. E. E. Churchill co, isu. A
Page 196 and 197: - ~ --'fftJMlGa ~II.I - , • - '--
Page 198: We're more than 2,300,000 individua
show all

Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?