I need your help.
The first 250 people who order my “deluxe” Tidal Wave DVD documentary set (multiple DVDs when they become available) will receive a FREE, full-size (13″ x 17″), suitable-for-framing, exact replica of one of the official Tidal Wave attack approach map/diagrams used by the pilots and bombardiers on their final low-level runs into their targets. It will ship rolled in a sturdy container so you can display it any way you wish.
Although I have originals of all the approach diagrams (White I-V, Blue, Red), only the White IV, White V, Blue, and Red diagrams were actually used as intended. Blue and Red targets were essentially completely eliminated from the remainder of the war, and White V very severely damaged. White IV, which was a huge target, was damaged, but not severely.
White I, II, and III were not attacked as planned, so these unique approach maps were not useful to those crews, and so are not included in this survey.
I’m only going to print one of these maps, and I need your help to decide which one it will be. Please vote right now by completing the very short survey below (you can choose only one).
BTW, once the first 250 are given away for free, the remainder of the small print run will be available for purchase as a separate product.
Thanks!
Dave
Dave ,
Would love to be one of the first 250, My Dad ( Giacomo {Jack} S. Lorusso, 1922-2010) was a radio operator on B-17’s, had told me that his best friend who may still lives near Wash. D.C. flew in the Ploesti Raids as a Navigator, “Don Cannavaro” . I don’t know if you have names of flyers ,but I for one found this out before Dad passed. looking forward to the DVD Sets…Keep them Flying
Hi Ron
Keep tuned here; I’ll let you know when it’s OK to order (once I have the disks actually being copied and will be able to ship within a few days).
I believe your Dad’s friend participated in the 1944 air campaign against the Romanian oil targets (not just Ploesti), as his name does not appear in the unofficial “official” list of Tidal Wave participants.
Without doubt the Ploesti area was MUCH more heavily defended (including the addition of 128mm and twin 128mm guns) by the time your Dad’s friend flew there. One point I’ll be making in the doc is that during Tidal Wave individual defenders typically had the ability to fire on individual Tidal Wave ships for 10 seconds to 20 seconds due to their very low altitude. Your Dad’s friend faced much stiffer opposition that could see him–and shoot at him–for 5-8 minutes PER GUN due to the high altitude attacks.
I have a AAF report of interview with the top Romanian Air Force and military officials from early September 1944, where they state it was easy to defend against the 1944 air attacks because the USAAF and RAF always flew the same routes inbound and outbound, always at the same altitude, and nearly always at the same time of day. Clearly the US Department of Defense didn’t learn anything from this insight as we did exactly the same thing during the air campaigns against targets in North Vietnam in the ’65-’71 timeframe.
Gerstenberg had considerable power to bring German anti-aircraft and fire fighting units into the Ploesti oil region before Tidal Wave, but the attack scared the hell out of the German high command due to the surprise (low altitude vs. high altitude) and significant damage it caused. As the result, he got pretty much whatever additional resources he wanted in the fall and winter of 1943, and into the spring of 1944. Unfortunately, all this is outside the scope of my documentary, which is focused on the context and execution of Tidal Wave and the results of that specific operation.
Dave
Hi Dave. looking forward to the release of your DVD. Finally picked up a print of Robert Taylors – Ploesti, The Vital Mission. Have been waiting for some time for one to become available. All the best with your venture. Cheers, Clyde.
That’s great, Clyde. I’m being interviewed about the documentary today and hope to have the first segment of the video up on this website later this week.
Dave
Like you, I read (to the point of destruction) the early ’60s book on Ploesti/Tidal Wave – I must have had several different editions of it in paperback, and I was always blown away by the heroism of the men involved, the incredible innovative scope of the mission, and the results (which I always felt should have been stronger than suggested by the book). I think it’s important to remember that from the time of Tidal Wave, the Nazis only had access to Romania’s refineries for another year, so the repair time involved was even more crippling because of the short time-window.
I’m eager to see this documentary, and anxious to know the price (as it’s my intention, unless the price is prohibitive, to obtain the deluxe version). Thanks for keeping us posted on the project as it comes together.
Ned Barnett – IPMS Life Member
9x “historian” on History Channel programs
military/aviation author
non-aviation award-winning documentary film producer
unabashed “fan” of the heroism of Ploesti’s raiders
Hi Ned
Yes, the heroism of most of the Tidal Wave crews was astounding–even more so when taken in context.
I’ll let you know more details about buying the sets when I’m a little further along. I was hoping to get the set on the street by Christmas, but there’s too much work left to do. At this point I expect to release the sets very early in 2013.
Dave
Dave, I’ve been a student of Tidalwave since I learned about it in 1965 through the American Heritage book series, Air War Against Hitler’s Germany in elementary school. Since then I’ve read and studied just about everything I could on Tidalwave. Like many, I have been frustrated by lack of details about certain important parts of the mission, especially how it was flown and the results. Your work is important and will shed much needed light on this perhaps the greatest bombing mission of all. Your interviews with Dana Bell offer a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come. Good Luck and I hope to see your results soon.
William
Hi William
Thanks much for your kind remarks. I certainly hope you learn many new (and confirm or discard some old) facts about the mission. I also hope to create a much deeper understanding of pretty much all aspects of the mission.
As I’ve noted, this documentary will cover the context of the mission, which was extremely important, as well as its execution and aftermath. For example, Tidal Wave is one of the relatively few individual military actions that was discussed in very great detail by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the British Chiefs of Staff. Not once, but at several major conferences (Casablanca and the Washington Conference of May ’43, for example). It was quite remarkable for an individual operation of this or any type to receive so much highest-level attention before the fact.
As I noted in the interview with Dana Bell, the Romanian military documents have provided quite significant insight into the day’s activities and the aftermath. I’m really looking forward to sharing this stuff with you guys.
Dave Klaus