Black Sunday PLOESTI Tidal Wave August 3, 1943 Secret Photo Colombia Refinery

Description

Photo of Ploesti Colombia-Aquila Oil Refinery on April 3, 1943 detailing the damage done by Operation Tidal Wave, April 1, 1943 in Romania. Photo measures 10.5" x 11.5"
Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the USAAF based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploesti, Romania on August 1, 1943 during WWII.  It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the oil campaign to deny petroleum based fuel to Axis powers.  The mission resulted in “no curtainment of overall product output”
The operation was of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft and 660 air crewmen lost.  It was proportionally the most costly major air raid of the war and it’s date was later named “Black Sunday”.  5 Medals of Honor and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses along with numerous awards went to Operation Tidal Wave crew members.  A 1999 research project prepared for the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama concluded that the bombing campaign in Ploesti was “one of the bloodiest and most heroic mission of all time”.  One of the downed American Planes crashed into a female prison in Ploesti, resulting in the death of 100 civilians and the injury of another 200.