Noted aviation historian and author Dana Bell interviewed documentary producer David H. Klaus on about his upcoming documentary on the Tidal Wave low level attack on the Romanian oil refineries at Ploesti on 1 Aug 1943.
Here is Part 1 of Dana’s interview of Dave Klaus. Part 2 will be posted shortly.
Hi David,
My Grandfather, Edwin R. Breslin was a gunner during Ploesti. Im always trying to find more information about him. Please let me know if you have any photos of him. He flew under Pilot James Bock I believe. https://www.armyaircorps-376bg.com/bock_james_crew.html
Thanks again.
Hi Leo
I was able find a little information you might find useful.
Because I can’t upload it here, I’ve emailed you the 1 Aug 43 TIDAL WAVE Sortie Report filed by the Bock crew upon return to Benghazi.
This confirms your Grandfather was in fact the tail gunner on Lt Bock’s B-24D-CO 41-11636/#63, nicknamed “Wash’s Tub.” This was a very old B-24 that had been part of the original contingent of B-24Ds that went overseas with the HALPRO group, and in fact the plane had flown the first Ploesti mission on 12 June 1942. HALPRO was the predecessor unit that was redesignated the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in October 1942. I have no information about whether your Grandfather had been a member of HALPRO before the unit was renamed.
The famous 1962 book Ploesti: The Famous Air-Ground Battle of 1 August 1943 includes his name in the participants appendix, but oddly does not attach his name to a specific crew, and unfortunately does not mention him in the book’s text. I cannot explain the authors’ failure to connect Breslin to a specific crew, so–and this is strictly speculation–there’s a slight possibility he was not normally a member of Bock’s crew and was attached only for the TIDAL WAVE mission. I do not have nor have I ever seen contemporary lists of established 376th crews for this time period (many records for all the other groups’ established crews, but these 376th records seem elusive).
Lots of photos exist showing various 376th BG men during this period, but few are captioned with the men’s names, and without knowing what your Grandfather looked like as a young man I cannot point you towards a specific image. You might consider picking up a copy of the most significant 376th Bomb Group history, James Walker’s The Liberandos: A WWII History of the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group and It’s Founding Units. Not sure whether it’s still in print, but plenty of used copies are available on eBay.
Also, as you see in the Sortie Report, although the Bock crew physically went to Ploesti and received “sortie credit,” due to the behavior of the mission commander, Brig. Gen. Uzal Ent, the unit did not attack. Five individual pilots from the group, not including Bock, did break away from the main 376th formation to attempt attacks, but one was shot down and only three others successfully bombed. I NEED TO MAKE ABUNDANTLY CLEAR THAT CREWS THAT REMAINED WITH THE MAIN 376TH FORMATION AS THEY FLEW IN A LARGE CIRCLE AROUND AND WELL OUTSIDE PLOESTI’S FLAK BELT, CANNOT, REPEAT CANNOT, BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILING TO ATTACK SINCE THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE MISSION COMMANDER’S ORDERS. Some have tried to blame the 376th crews that failed to attack with cowardice, etc., but this is simply not true. A lieutenant piloting a plane in a formation commanded by a brigadier general cannot be blamed for following the commander’s orders. In fact, had he broken formation, he theoretically might well have been court-martialed after returning to base for disobeying orders.
Hope some of this helps.
Dave