15th AF Ploesti report needed

[Don Caldwell]

I'm trying to locate a copy of The Air Battle of Ploesti, issued by the 15th AF in Italy in 1944. A paper or e-copy is greatly preferred to microfilm. Any lead will be appreciated.

Don Caldwell

[Pilot]

I have AF study done after the war about this raids, in PDF form... contact me on email and I will send it to you.

[Frank Olynyk]

Don,
I expect to be at Maxwell AFB the first full week in March, assuming the fools in Washington don't shut down the government. I can see if they have a copy, and shoot it with my camera, if you still need it.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Don Caldwell]

Strecko --

Thanks. I look forward to getting the pdf file. It may not be exactly the one I'm looking for, but should be very useful.

Frank --

I haven't been able to confirm that Maxwell has the report, but they should, and if you could photograph it this would sure beat their microfilm, which we're both getting too old for. Strecko's report may be the one I'm after. He says it's postwar, but the 15th AF folded their tents very rapidly after V-E Day, not even turning out a decent unit history, and mine is supposedly dated "1944". If Strecko's does the trick, I'll call you off early next week.

Don

[Frank Olynyk]

Don,
If you go to addall.com, and put in Air Battle of Ploesti, and then exclude Dugan, you should find a listing for the item from MilSpecManuals. Or fish up the MilSpecManuals website. They sell a PDF version on CD for $5, plus postage. I just used them to buy PDFs of several of the USSBS volumes on the oil campaign. The PDFs I got were very readable. Faster and easier than Strecko or I could manage. They have a lot of the USSBS reports.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[Don Caldwell]

Frank --

Thanks for the tip. I've been very slow to take advantage of what's available on the internet -- most of my official files were either hand-copied back when or rest uneasily on microfilm. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Don

[Alex Smart]

Hello Don,

There is the document from AFHRA that can be downloaded from the "Studies" link in the "Sticky" on this forum

May be what you seek.

103. (U) The Ploesti Mission of 1 August 1943, by Earl Cruickshank (1944). 191 pages.K1012
467687


Alex

[Don Caldwell]

Hi Alex --

Thanks, but the report you reference covers only TIDAL WAVE, the 1 Aug 43 low-level mission. The report I'm looking for was issued by the 15th AF itself in Italy in 1944 and covers the entire campaign, which ended only days before the Red Army entered Ploesti in August 1944. It was the principal reference used by Jay Stout in his Fortress Ploesti (Casemate, 2003). I haven't seen it elsewhere. I don't know if USAFHRA has it -- if they have an on-line holdings index like the PRO's I haven't found it -- but it isn't in the 8 reels of 15th AF microfilm I've bought over the years. However, if anyone can ferret it out, Frank can.

Don

[Schenck]

NA has the document AIR 23/7776 under the same title.

[Schenck]

NA lists the document AIR 23/7776 under the same title.