Operation Tidal Wave - America’s disastrous assault on Romania

Operation Tidal Wave - America’s disastrous assault on Romania in World War 2
By the commencement of the first world war, Germany had already become fairly reliant on Romanian oil. When World War 2 kicked off and the Germans eventually turned their sights against Russia, part of the motivation for such a decision was to ensure that Germany could maintain control of Romania’s oil as opposed to the Allies. Thus, while the Germans sent troops to guard the oil fields - particularly that of Ploiesti, which alone produced over 50% of Germany’s oil, the Allies planned to cut Germany off from its favorite “gas station”...
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[@Knowledgia]

What other topics would you like to see about World War 2?

[@akhmat9839]

Eastern front battles and thanks for your work

[@dilioification]

Battle for România

[@user-jk4yp6fh4h]

First bomber's air raid to Ploesti from territory of Crimea peninsula by Russians in autumn of 1941 after which Hitler decided to capture Crimea in 1942.

[@rg10mex]

An objective video about the influence and actions of partisans in the East vs partisans in the West.

[@IronWarrior86]

Gumbinnen Operation.

[@ioanaionita3569]

I am from Ploiesti and I feel very proud to see this mentioned! Our town is pretty underrated and under developed, unfortunately.

[@danielradu8382]

totally agree... unfortunately

[@LeChristVraiDieu]

Salut Ioana 😊⚘️

[@DS-ll5fn]

Really strange feeling to think of the fact that my mom was 12 years old living in Ploiesti when this bombing occured. She told us kids about that bombing. She died in July last year. She will be remembered as the best mom ever ♥️

[@miguelgames1560]

my condolences, hope you doing good, may god cherish her soul in heaven 🙌🏽

[@JustMe-ob7lu]

My great grandfather was captured in stalingrad. He walked all the way back to the northeast part of Romania (Bucovina) with some Austrians. He was a humble man and NEVER talked about what happened then and there. He died in the 80's. Different level of men at the time.

[@PaulHyjal]

My grandfather told me his grandfather walked on foot from the ussr, back home in Romania. Not sure if he was at Stalingrad, as I have little information

[@GreatHunters2]

My great grandfather was shot in the hand on the Romanian side at Caspian sea oil fields but he still fighted till the end of war on both sides

[@grahamlowe7388]

Maybe he committed war crimes. The Wehrmacht had far from clean hands. Her certainly would have saw war crimes, starving civilians, burned towns and villages, the bombing of Stalingrad which killed more than Dresden thats before the mass murder of the survivors by order of hitler. How did he escape from soviet captivity in winter 43 and get back to german lines which were a long way away? Bucovina was a scene of mass murder by the Romanian Army.

[@JustMe-ob7lu]

@@grahamlowe7388 how so? Bucovina is and was part of Romania. How could he do that.?

[@grahamlowe7388]

@@JustMe-ob7lu The Wehrmacht and Romanian army committed horrendous atrocities as army group south, the Odessa massacre, the exterminations in Transnistria, the burning of villages, assisting the einzatsgruppen at babin ya. Stalingrad was one vast war crime with the murder of its population by the germans, buckovina was taken by the soviets in 1940 so the locals hatred them and blamed the jews. Antonescu played on this to have the jews murderd. if he was captured by the soviets at Stalingrad he would have been starving. how did he escape and get through soviet lines hundreds of miles of soviet held land dodging vengeful civilians and partisans in the depths of winter? sounds dodgy.

[@_elian_8875]

One of the B24s crashed near my grandfather's village. He told me a funny story about how all the villagers came to scavenge the wreckage afterwards and used its remains to make roofs and other stuff and some bolder people used parts to craft improvised bikes, romanian ingenuity at its finest

[@stormshadow5283]

Someone truly said...."Indeed Romanian isn't a nationality but a profession". XD

[@healththenopulence5106]

@@stormshadow5283 romanians are the survivors of the roman legions, so they are good at surviving

[@stormshadow5283]

@@healththenopulence5106 as opposed to others who can't survive?

[@GerVlad]

@@stormshadow5283 perhaps not in such adverse circumstances

[@healththenopulence5106]

@@stormshadow5283 if you look at our history, i dont know who could survive

[@raicubogdan3686]

l ive 10 mins from ploiesti. The americans droped some bombs on houses that were abosutely not in the target zone. Some elderly people talk about craters left from the bombing (very large holes still visible)

[@samright4661]

Well that’s what happens when you Aline with Nazis, No Sympathy

[@alexandrub8786]

@@samright4661 what was the other option Sam? Let the France's and UK's foreign affairs ministers eat some sausage in Germany like they did for Czechoslovakia?

[@felixgeorgescu2230]

I live 30 mins from Ploiesti and it is the same here.

[@_braileanul]

@@samright4661 when you abandon countries despite promising to protect them, they need to look for alternatives. If you had defended Czechoslovakia or Poland in the first place, we wouldn't have had to enter this situation. Don't blame the victims. Blame those who stayed in silence when they were abused

[@christiannoh3214]

@@_braileanul like Romania could’ve done something when the Soviets and the Germans has the Molotov Ribbentrop pact what were they gonna do defend Poland 😂

[@pepp4560]

Aa a young man in the Seventies, I met a man at a bar in Northern California. He told me he'd flown at Ploiesti. My lack of recognition of the battle at that time clearly sent him spiraling into depression. I've been ashamed of my ignorance ever since and have never again brought up the subject of war at a bar.

[@desperadolighfoot8534]

My father was a Romanian fighter pilot on the IAR80, 81 and BF109. He actually flew the Ploestis missions and defended Bucharest as well. His motivation was to protect his family from destruction. He never spoke about these battles. He was quite proud of the prince's prowesses who used to at airshow fligh upside down with a long hook attached to his helmet, and in front one the crowd would pickup a scarf of some sort with the hook of the ground. He also told me about one of his aerial victory over a BF109, my father ran out of amunitions pursuing a German BF109, so (and this crazy): he actually flew over the 109, got so close to its tail with his propeller, obliging the German pilot to land in order to avoid colliding with my father. He was quite proud of that one:)🎼 🎹 🛡. He saw so much horrors during the war: he became fearless, all through out his life he wasn't scared of anything, ever. May he fly in peace for ever. My father was captured by the soviets and tortured, escaped from prison and flew to Turkey were he was again tortured, being not only a fighter pilot, but also a test pilot and an aeronautical engineer. He had designed a wing which prevented the plane in falling into a spin. It enabled the plane to land like a leaf, as he described it. Under torture he never gived out his secret, nor to the animalistic soviets, nore to the turks. Eventually his design was copied, he never capitalized on it, and these days you see it on every modern plane: the canard wing tips.

[@roccobilly2973]

I guess a book with this story and more details could be a best seller

[@M_G79]

Multumim pentru comentariul postat si in mod deosebit pentru serviciul facut de tatal dvs. in timpul razboiului. Pentru Romania este o onoare si un privilegiu ca a avut oameni ca el. Godspeed!

[@zurgesmiecal]

@@M_G79 lol so much lies in those war stories

[@phillipmorris4555]

Such a family , Why not give your real name.as I do not doubt your family's history.

[@CFITOMAHAWK]

That is BULLSHIT. Canard Wing Tips are from The Wright Brothers. Not from your "father"?.. You love to lie and exagerate.

[@mbi.studio]

For anyone wondering, Romania was first on Germany's side and then on Allies' side because of Transylvania. We were following our interest of reuniting all the Romanian territories

[@robertstan298]

...or the fact that Fascism was also gripping Romania at the time, where many pogroms against Roma and Jewish people were already happening.

[@INNIMA]

@@robertstan298so what

[@gs637]

Good documentary, thanks. Another low altitude air raid against Ploiesti was actually attempted later-on, using a formation of P-38 aircraft (=two-feathers as the Romanian pilots used to call them). It ended-up in the worst dogfight defeat the P-38s have ever suffered during the entire WW2. And it was delivered by Romanian Royal Airforce pilots, flying the nimble and powerful home-made IAR-80 fighter. Worth looking into this as well.

[@mingus2854]

💖

[@comradekenobi6908]

Never knew Vampires are so good at dogfights, I guess they are natural at flights /s

[@gixmax]

@@comradekenobi6908 so funny to be called that since nobody here makes that association :))

[@gixmax]

@@comradekenobi6908 genuinely had a good laugh since, you know, i'm Vlad from Transilvania and for you that's probably the most vampire shit ever but here they are not really a part of the lore or anything. sorry if I sounded offended :)

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@gixmax yeah don't worry bro I know transylvania I more than spooky castles and Vampires, I've read a ton about their army in ww2 too :) And yes I've noticed too not a lot of people would joke about Romanians being Vampires, quite odd lol

[@infantryattacks]

I was a Marine Security Guard at the American Embassy in Romania in 1976-1977. I have fond memories of the Romanian people and Bucharest. On occasional train rides to visit locations in the Carpathian Mountains, the trains would often travel through the oil fields. There were empty revetments spread throughout this region that I surmised might have been built to protect antiaircraft guns during the war.

[@user-ue9jq6fp9b]

Must have been pretty cool being on MSG behind the Iron Curtain!

[@Knowledgia]

This is such an incredible story. A real portal to the past. Thank you so much for sharing it!

[@infantryattacks]

@@user-ue9jq6fp9b Every MSG detachment has a Marine House. During the Cold War our Marine House was the only one behind the Iron Curtain that was separate from the Embassy Compound. We lived in an old villa in an old superb inside Bucharest. It was a very comfortable experience until we were clobbered by a 7+ Richter Scale earthquake in 1977 that devastated much of the city.

[@andreim841]

@@infantryattacks 4 th of March... A black day

[@tortellinifettuccine]

Earthquakes have always plauged bucharest, thankfully much is done to make current infustructure as resilient as possible, and all new infustructure is practically Earthquake proof, but so many beautiful buildings and even unesco world heritage sites lay vulnerable to Earthquakes.

[@iustintarachiu9326]

My grandfather witnessed the attack on the Steaua Română rafinery from Câmpina. When I was younger (and he was still alive) he described to me how fast and low the planes flew and what terrible noise everything made, from their engines, air raid alarms, explosions, antiaircraft guns... You guys made me think about him, he would have turned 100 next year. Great video, by the way!

[@Cybernaut76]

Here is something to support your grandpas stories. I think this picture was taken by one of his contemporaries en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave#/media/File:B-24_Liberators_at_low_altitude.jpg

[@BajanEnglishman51]

Romania was arguably more important than Italy.

[@Zdamaneta]

We actually were. We contributed the most, both with troops and oil. We were on the right side of history fighting against the Bolshevik "Juice" of Russia.

[@vladut1907]

And France

[@_JOJ_]

I mean yeah, they were the main supplier of oil for the German Panzers and the Luftwaffe, and considering the sheer number of the Soviet manpower and weapons and how the Romanian divisions were equipped , i think they did a good job againts a country about 90 times bigget than them. unlike Italy who struggled a lot againts the inferior Greek fighting force.

[@radicalcentrist4990]

Well Romania was Germany's biggest contributor. Italy was pretty damn useless really.

[@CTI649]

Mussolini was hitler’s mannequin let s be real

[@ovd3028]

Watching this video from Ploiești, România. Love your content.

[@stefansturzu7638]

Same bro

[@h0stI13]

South east of Ploiesti there is a forest near the village of Berceni. If you go inside that forest today you will still find craters from the WW2 bombings. Many bombs fell on people's houses in the region and many civilians got killed. My grandpa would have died if he had decided to take shelter in a house of some relatives which was obliterated by bombs killing everyone inside. Instead he ran away with some friends to a nearby village on a horse pulled carriage and hid there. I like the accuracy and the level of detail of this presentation. I also appreciate the correct pronunciation of the name of my home city. Good job!

[@h0stI13]

@Graf von Losinj - I Post Info Yes, terrible times that our grandparents had to live through. It's also terrible to see it all repeating now in Ukraine. I never thought it would be possible...

[@giorgiociaravolol1998]

I had vacations in Romania recently. They take the aviation seriously, so much so that in Bucarest there's a whole neighborhood dedicated after them (Aviatorilor).

[@lexthemystic3541]

We take it so seriously that our Military Aviation Museum is… in a bad way…

[@EmYyM87]

To be honest, we Romanians we don’t know what you just have said. We forget our history and the good question marks in our history never hits the target but the issue we are that stupid, we never tent to forget the stupid things other tell us about some other things.

[@andreeas.2362]

We have the first female supersonic fighter in EUrope (certified NATO- Simona Maierean). For women in WW2 was the White squadron (Escadrila Alba).

[@alexanderbogdan8327]

A lot of people from Ploiesti know about this battle, our local writers have done a great job on writing amazing books about it. I’m thankful that you’ve decided to make a video about this insane period of our city’s history. Great job indeed!

[@alexanderbogdan8327]

@@MyVictor73 ce anume din ce am zis ti-adat impresia asta?:))

[@MyVictor73]

@@alexanderbogdan8327 imi cer scuze, doar nu am putut sa accept nedreptatea. Probabil ca am reactionat la repezeala, o sa recitesc maine acum este tarziu. Inca o data imi cer scuze. Pana la urma, este o crima impotriva poporului roman trambitata la nivel de eroism. daca crezi ca am deranjat prea tare, maine o sa sterg. Noapte buna.

[@MyVictor73]

de fapt o sa incerc sa o sterg acum

[@raresachimcomsa2219]

Have you noticed that the map is not accurate with the time

[@rankovasek1987]

If I saw a scene in a movie, where a train with AA guns is moving along bombers on both sides and trying to shoot them down, while bombers return fire with their guns, I would think about the authenticity of the scene. On the other hand, that must have been an epic sight to see

[@mihneaadr]

"The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible." Mark Twain

[@backfischritter]

There is nothing epic about war.

[@heikoplotner2636]

Dies stimmt ! Es gab Flak auf Zügen zur Luftabwehr .

[@MusicalTranscendence]

Very cool. My grandpa was working in a refinery in Ploiesti (Unirea I believe) and all our family lived in the Ploiesti region. Old people had very strong recollections of those air raids, with bombers flying at very low altitudes above their houses. My grandpa also remembers taking cover near an AA battery and the terrible noise and vibrations it made, essentially making him bounce up and down on the ground each time they fired. He also talked about one of his friends getting killed on the way to a shelter, but I don't know if this was during Tidal Wave (this was one of the most bombed places in the war).

[@Knowledgia]

Such an interesting story. Thank you for sharing it!

[@AudieHolland]

We rarely hear from people who experienced bombing raids from the other end.

[@MusicalTranscendence]

@@AudieHolland The interesting thing (to me at least) is that none of the people who experienced these events had any negative feelings towards the US, despite the bombings. For example, one plane crashed not far from where my grandparents lived (it was close to a village on the other side of a hill from where they lived, essentially). A lot of people rushed to the crash scene to try to help the crew, but there were no survivors unfortunately. Anyway, all this to say that people largely felt that Romania was stuck in the middle of this unwanted conflict between great power. It would take too long to summarize how Romania got into the war and people's attitudes, but I think many were sympathetic to the US and most hoped that Romania would fall under the US sphere of influence when the war was over (and not the Soviet sphere).

[@AudieHolland]

@@MusicalTranscendence Thank you for your detailed reply. I guess people also realized they were living on a gold mine (oil) and so no wonder foreign powers would fight over it. And they understood that the raids on Ploesti were aimed at the industry, not like the terror raids aimed at civilians population centers, of which both the Luftwaffe and Bomber Command were guilty of in World War II.

[@Blitzkrieg1605]

​@@MusicalTranscendence There's a LOT of hate towards the US and the west in general where I am. The soviets built the country through the 20th century. Almost everything you see now in Romania was built by the soviets. The sewage, metro, appartment blocks, roads, telecommunication infrastructure, power stations etc. Right after the revolution of '89 the streets practically filled overnight with expensive foreign cars. The people were shouting western propaganda such as "THEY WILL GIVE US FREE CARS, FREE GAS, FREE HOUSES, FREE FOOD. WE DON'T HAVE TO WORK ANYMORE." They then had a very fast reality check. Westerners bought everything that wasn't nailed down and took it home. The heavy machinery from the factories was the prime commodity for them. Factories became abandoned condemned buildings. They are still all over the place. Next they started buying out all the services you can imagine. Water, electricity, telecommunications, public transit etc. They were trying to buy out the state owned GRAVEYARDS of all things.

[@Schinak]

Man that bomber flight was quite literally cursed reading how it fell apart before they even reached the target. Also holy crap that AA train ambush was like something out of a movie

[@GiGi-fu2oy]

imagine those soldiers firing while the traing goes full speed and theres plane everywhere on both sides

[@gilmer3718]

I knew a pilot of a bomber that flew in that raid. I say "knew" him - he was a customer of the pharmacy I worked in when finishing school. I cannot remember how the subject of Ploesti came up but he said the people who planned it should have gone to prison. And he was very angry about it. This conversation took place in 1995.

[@cornells.1727]

I agree with him. Mistakes should always have consequences. Planning such a disastrous mission should not have gone unpunished.

[@seand9089]

Respect Romania 🇷🇴💪.

[@grahamlowe7388]

murderers and you are a nazi apologist. Antonescu was as bad as the germans.

[@torque_original]

The facts are accurate. I live in Ploiesti City and my grandfather was a corporal, serving in the anti air defence of Ploiesti that day. The loses here were minimal. Some of those refinaries are still running to this day. Good job in making the vid.

[@sebastianhalmagean7037]

Much love from a Romanian Canadian! Great video like always!

[@corinthian2500]

traitor

[@sebastianhalmagean7037]

@@corinthian2500 traitor? Wtf did I do I wasn’t even born yet 😂

[@corinthian2500]

@@sebastianhalmagean7037 supporting the other side (even if they’re right) against your country

[@InAeternumRomaMater]

@@corinthian2500 What?

[@uncleflagzz]

@@corinthian2500 what the fak dude

[@Emanon...]

For a guy named Smart, he should have relied a bit more on intelligence before launching the second raid. It's of course easy to comment in hindsight, but the mere fact that these vital installations were virtually unprotected to begin with is itself astonishing. That they protected them after the initial probing raid shouldn't however have been a surprise...

[@ElBandito]

This raid should be made into a movie! Especially the AA train part!

[@User-eb7my]

Ikr? I was thinking the exact same thing.

[@JanKowalski-vj9py]

The problem is that no one would understand it. It's like movie about battle of Midway (or battle of Jutland wich also was never turned into the movie). Without good knowledge of the battle itself it's hard to understand why japanese fleet was under constant attack and why it was destroyed when it was at most vulnerable. Eventual movie should take a great deal of time to explain what was the plan and what was the execution to notice when and why reality drifts away from intial plan.

[@Historylover-ho6lg]

I agree. Sadly, even if it was made into a good one I don't think it would be well received. Tora, Tora, Tora was an exceptionally good movie and a near perfect explanation of why the attack on Pearl Harbor happened but most people in the U.S. didn't like it. To make it good, it has to be accurate; and accuracy means no stereotypical 'bad guys' and 'good guys'.

[@catalinpricop5240]

Glory to the Heroes of the Romanian Nation! They fought for the reunification of the nation, they sacrificed themselves for the brothers from northern Transylvania, from Bessarabia and from northern Bukovina, all for the return of all Romanian lands to the Motherland. Glory to Great Romania, Glory to the Heroes of the Nation!

[@katalinkozak9869]

Man they faught against the soviets not for North Transilvania together with Hungarians and italians in between until they decided they rather stick with the bolshevics and help them march thru Transylvania participate in the rapes and plunder of the soviet troops. Much to be proud of 🎉!

[@Bigglesfly]

Da tovareste!

[@tortellinifettuccine]

​@@katalinkozak9869Hungarian propaganda moment

[@zantex7913]

Love your content, it is very nice for me as a romanian to see channels like this promoting romanian history and how important romania was in ww2.

[@djprojectus]

Locația canalului este din Romania...

[@urbanstuff9950]

This "Knowledgia" seems to be another wikipedia regurgetater and nothing more. This video is so INCOMPLETE. This channel is obviously no expert on the Astra Oil Fields, Oil campaign of World War II, Ploiești, or even Romania in general. Can not even pronounce Ploiești!!!

[@henry9020]

@@urbanstuff9950 e roman coaie

[@reggiekrager5411]

He's Romanian Lmao.

[@reggiekrager5411]

​@@henry9020The guy behind the channel who does the animations and scripts is Romanian. He hires Americans and Brits to narrate his videos though.

[@dvdpro3726]

Can't help but notice the improvements in editing on this video. Congrats, it looked great !

[@mihailupu5107]

Ba frate sunt abonat la canal deja de vreo 2-3 ani, da eu te stiu de dinainte de la Lumea lui DEDO. Ma bucura tare mult sa vad cat ai evoluat si ca ai succes. Keep up the good work

[@grosiradu]

Eu doar acum vad ca Knowledgia e roman.

[@ciuyr2510]

@@grosiradu si eu :D GG

[@Zdamaneta]

@@grosiradu E roman? Pe bune? Dar tipul ce nareaza sigur nu e roman, dupa accent.

[@ciripa]

@@grosiradu are si un clip despre bunicul sau

[@Bayard1503]

@@Zdamaneta Cu cat stii mai bine o limba, cu atat accentul dispare... nici nu stiu exact cum suna un accent romanesc.

[@conrail9876]

My grandfather was a tailgunner on the B24 Teggie Ann in the 376th. After correcting their direction they completed their mission of bombing the local rail yards and returned home. He kept a log and documentation from all his raids that my brothers and I cherish today. He was one of the lucky ones that day and continued to go to reunions with others from the raid into the early 90s. Stayed friends with many from his crew.

[@jasonthorpe7087]

These fantastic men that we are "running out of". Bless his heart that he left you a journal, to share with us!

[@thebrutaltooth1506]

Sweet. Nowadays the US are are greatest ally.

[@CrossOfBayonne]

A tail end charlie

[@CrossOfBayonne]

@@thebrutaltooth1506 Thanks as an American that makes me feel proud

[@user-cg2tw8pw7j]

@@CrossOfBayonne America, any ally. Is there an ally that exploits its allies and destroys their economy?

[@maxavail]

Romanian here. We have mixed feelings about this topic. US bombers also wrecked Bucharest and killed many civilians, yet we have erected a memorial in Cismigiu Park honoring the lives of US pilots who died on these missions. Funny how history turns around, we are America's only ally in the region currently.

[@Ivanus59]

"only ally in the region currently" Really? Are you writing this from the future perhaps? Cause right now the only 2 neutral countries bordering Romania are Serbia and Moldavia, while Hungary and Bulgaria are also NATO members, and Ukraine is pro-NATO (until Russia wins at least), and further in the wider region there is Slovakia, Poland, Greece and Turkey, all of which are NATO members and American "allies". But I guess Romania is US's only ally in Transylvania lol.

[@marius40838]

@@Ivanus59 'until Russia will win. yeah i can't take u seriously after that.

[@SebyMiner]

@@marius40838 yeah he he keeps on dreaming

[@cucginel1941]

sadly no axis war memorial, not even allowed to honour those who made the greatest sacrifice

[@JohnSmith-oh9ux]

"...only ally in the region currently...." IDK what drugs you on, but must be some strong s**t

[@nightreaper9493]

I graduated an history profile high-school and in our history lessons about ww2 we were never taught about this because it didn't affect our country as much or maybe it was not that important In the grand scheme of things ,still very nice to find this story that happened in my country

[@stephanthegreat1348]

History profile in american schools is equivalent to 5th grade history class of my little daughter here in Europe.

[@thedrunkenrebel]

The history we were taught was beautified to promote western and american exceptionalism. We were never taught the proper history of the Dej and Ceausescu regimes from start to end, but we were taught how cool were the allies at every opportunity. History we learned isn't the full picture because it would've been unprofitable to teach the people intended to be exploited about how their overlords did business

[@nightreaper9493]

@@stephanthegreat1348 i was talking about Romania not USA

[@cooldude900productions]

@@dag2273 My mother lived in romania in 1989. She was in Bistrița Năsăud she said to me that the apartment blocks were very little, there was a small kitchen and small rooms. It was also cold because the heating didnt work and you would have to stay in very long lines to even get a piece of bread at the store.

[@cooldude900productions]

@@dag2273 thats exactly how it was

[@kevintierney5711]

My great grandfather was shot down in this raid and became a POW. Fortunately for me he survived captivity

[@gabigabi7743]

All americans airmen POWs from this raid and the next one done with P38's...Survived captivity. The germans requested ,but Antonescu refused to transfer them to Germany and keeps them in Romanian POWs camps. All of them survived the war. You can find great stories on internet about them in romanian captivity.

[@kevintierney5711]

@@gabigabi7743 That sounds worth looking up! Thanks

[@danielandrone8795]

Romania even see that they don't end up in Russian hands...after August 44...

[@healththenopulence5106]

In ww2 romania was pro-usa against japan, against ussr vs germany, and neutral between france-germany.

[@torque_original]

Of course he did survive captivity. From what I know, we treated POW's here, well. Greetings from Ploiesti city! My grandfather was serving as a corporal in anti air defence of Ploiesti, hope he didnt help shot down your grandfather. That would be something, right? :))))

[@josebarzola7935]

This is one.of the first if not the very first video if seen or heard about that is about Romania during WW2. I'm not Romanian but I appreciate this as no one really talks about Romania (Iron Guard Romania) during WW2

[@dandondera2618]

Iron guard was dismanteled by the Romanian Royal Army in january 1941. It barely existed for a few months. A few months too much, unfortunately. And I say this as a Romanian.

[@saintjames1995]

My grandfather was lucky. His airwing was deployed for this battle but he drew the short straw and was told to be on reserve. If he had been unlucky, I wouldn't be here today typing this. He lost so many friends in this battle

[@alexandruhub6420]

This channel deserves the medal of honor, for the effort made over time, Great Job

[@flawliz802]

This was so impressive, romania!! The whole video prooved itself as a rollercoaster of action and emotion, i am amazed by this short documentary! R.I.P. to all who perished on this tragical day.. 🤲🏻

[@petreabenjamin4626]

What about the romanian civilians and soldiers?

[@fwp2487]

lol those soldiers was bombing even civilians some of them left the oil zone and was going toward civilians home, let them burn in hell.

[@flawliz802]

@@petreabenjamin4626 Thank you for the reminder!

[@bredsheeran2897]

May those soldiers who died honorably be remembered for the rest of time

[@AGA610]

My grandfather obtained the Romanian equivalent of the MoH during this battle.

[@ciuyr2510]

My grandpa was one of the soldiers in charge of a 38mm gun, shooting down at least 1(said engine burst into flames) and damaging others. Compared it to what in EN is "a turkey shoot". Lucky for him, and me, he was not sent to the Don bend, albeit I would not leave this comment. In his last couple of years, mind all murky, he walked around wearing all his medals and uniform, cane in hand, chatting about the war.

[@saintjames1995]

My grandfathers airwing was assigned for this battle but he drew the short straw and was told to stay behind on reserve. If he had gone, I would not be here. He lost most of his friends and comrades

[@Roma_Aeterna_SPQR]

@@saintjames1995 Nice to see descendants of former enemies getting along. It was war, nothing personal. 🤗 from RO

[@saintjames1995]

@@Roma_Aeterna_SPQR exactly. Just two people serving their countries. It was never personal

[@Knowledgia]

Incredbile story! Thank you so much for adding these memories in this comment section!

[@zizzyballuba4373]

my great-grandfather died in this operation because a plane dumped its fuel tanks on his house

[@Cybernaut76]

Thats awful. I dont know why an American plane would have done so though. Even if they did not plan to return to Benghazi, it was still a long way either to Sicily, Malta or RAF Nicosia

[@Joearebarba]

Our grandfathers spoke with proudness about this, but you rarely see anyone talking about us.. Thank you, Knowledgia

[@cristitanase6130]

Grandfather worked near the refinery as a delivery boy, in that day he was in a van together with an uncle that was driving. They got trough the entire bombardment by running wild from one side of the town to another and eventually a bomb blasted a house near the car and the vehicle rolled over. He got his hand broken and when they put it back they could not align the bones properly and his hand was kind of messed up for the rest of his life. He was 17.

[@KHK001]

An amazing video Knowledgia! looking forward for the next one

[@kkpppgjhv]

I gasped when that train turned out to be an anti aircraft train. Peak ww2 stuff imo. Not that effective though

[@feasogachsionnach1872]

Not effective but on paper (at least to me) it sounds pretty cool.

[@robertortiz-wilson1588]

@@feasogachsionnach1872 agreed.

[@nicolaesilvianobrete2337]

There were multiple trains guarding and patrolling. Not only one, and as my grandpa said (he was from Blejoi), there were these armored trains hidden by the germans, because they were build to resist high caliber guns.

[@PackHunter117]

Love Romania from 🇺🇸

[@xRlly]

@@u4O4 pup in curist

[@dragos550]

🇷🇴🤝🏻🇺🇸

[@alexandrupetrescu-qp7km]

🇷🇴🤜🇺🇲🤮🤢

[@PackHunter117]

@@alexandrupetrescu-qp7km Sheesh dude. I know a lot of Romanians and they like being here. 🇺🇸🤝🇷🇴

[@alexandrupetrescu-qp7km]

@@PackHunter117 probably brainwashed or prostitution fans Also ive seen americans discriminate romanians calling us gypsies and beggars

[@sebastianlup]

When I was 12, I spoke with one of the veterans that defended Ploiesti that day.

[@jonkeuviuhc1641]

One aditional fact that could add to the context is that Romania was the first country in the world to have Oil Refineries.

[@ok-pj4eu]

This was one of your best videos ever. It was very well-documented and narrated. And the animation was very well done.

[@Adebocs]

Operation Tidal Wave was a suicidal assault. Romanian and German army responded as a wounded warthog/wild boar or Grizzly bear from the first attempt. If you don't kill it first, you have to run.

[@oldgringo2001]

The second plane to be lost was Wongo Wongo which was carrying the mission navigator, a detail I think would be worth mentioning. Another fascinating detail is that the mastermind who made the plan for this raid is the same one who lost half the American planes in the Philippines, most of them on the ground, many hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

[@Sceptonic]

It all makes sense now.

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

Peter principle , rise to their level of incompetence

[@user-cg2tw8pw7j]

@@psychiatry-is-eugenics America is like invading Vietnam, Cuba and Korea

[@akhmat9839]

Germany and Romania anti aircraft guns that moment : Suprise Suprise (Nate Diaz voice)

[@irishrover52]

Really well constructed and presented documentary about an episode in WW2 that I previously knew nothing about. Thank you very much

[@dragomirmihai1121]

Me,a proud Romanian from Ploiesti watching this video

[@suewatkins968]

Thanks guys. This war documentary is very much inspiring. I enjoy your videos very much. Keep up the excellent 👌👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 work and detail. God bless you

[@lorenz2062]

Such a wonderful video,I live quite far from Ploiești,near Sibiu but it makes me happy to see People digging into romanian ww2 history. I've heard a lot of stories from the elders who lived în those years in warzones. Keep up the good work!

[@infantryattacks]

There is a Soviet military graveyard near Sibiu. Near a road. Used to visit your lovely city in the late 1970s.

[@Mar.1634]

Love this channel's videos! From the narration to the research put into it, everything!

[@flavius5722]

In Romania the allies bombardments from WW2 are much unknown by public view. At the time US and UK were not wanted enemyes,in comunist era the entire WW2 was a taboo subject,and today informations are available but very little care Fun fact ,even when Romanians learn about this bombardments,is more about Bucharest attack even if that was more little than the Ploiești attack.

[@Roma_Aeterna_SPQR]

It was war. Nothing personal. We had to choose a side. We chose the Axis initially because it served our cause of liberating the Moldova region which was occupied by the Russians. We didn't care about Hitler's ambitions, we actually stayed neutral as long as we could until we got an ultimatum... So, there are no hard feelings towards the US for bombing us. They did what they should. It was war and we were the enemy. Now we are allies, and we are happy about it. We would be their ally back then also if the circumstances were other. Our brothers from occupied Moldova were suffering horrors from Russia's hands, we had to liberate them.

[@cr4yv3n]

@@danielsagart1577 technically Russia was also an aggressor but circumstance put them in the allied camp and half of Europe was thrown into the dark ages

[@torque_original]

No they are not. Depends on what public you are talking with. Very well known actualy.

[@Roma_Aeterna_SPQR]

@@torque_original I didn't learn much about it in the school... they are mentioned, but there's not much attention to it.

[@mariuseu7493]

Deabea astept sa va vad p-astia de sunteti fericiti ca suntem aliati cu americanii cand o fi sa plesneasca buba :)))

[@SU55PCT]

Nice presentation of WW2 Facts and yes .proud to be Romanian Thank you very much for the effort creating the content about a country that not too many knows but. it seam to become much more often talked-about in the recent years....don't know exactly the reason for that but,i hope is not a bad one. As a future topic probably can be about some Romanian IAR flying aces like Constantin "Bâzu" Cantacuzino,Alexandru Șerbănescu,Ion Milu and many others i think will be surprising even for you to know how much they've done on their little humble fighter with the C.Cantacuzino top on 54-56 victories Thank you for your effort and keep doing a great work,you good at it

[@SpazzyMcGee1337]

I've never heard of a train ambushing bombers before.

[@LichsuhoathinhDrabattle]

Great video, looking forward to your next videos❣❣

[@boghyboghy3642]

Glorie eterna celor care au pierit pentru apararea patriei, sa speram ca lumea nu va trebui sa vada inca odata curajul romanilor.

[@MEA453]

În ziua de astăzi nu o să mai moară nimeni pentru țara asta.

[@boghyboghy3642]

Din pacate cineva tot rebuie sa moara ca sa salveze outinul care il avem altfel ce fel de oameni am fi daca ii lasam pe altii sa moara pentru noi, tot pentru frati nostri trebuie sa ne sacrificam nu pentru politicieni pulii

[@dragos550]

@@MEA453 ai făcut tu sondaj?

[@mirceazaharia2094]

Al 3-lea Razboi Mondial nu o sa fie tari vs tari, ci guverne amorale devenite insuportabile, vs popoarelor lor.

[@coolmojito]

@@MEA453 this will probably not age well

[@Uzair_Of_Babylon465]

Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job

[@acrometrall9701]

I live at 5 minutes from Romano-Americana refinery (the one with the most AA defence in the video) in my back yard i still have to this day some ground deformations from the bombs dropped. When i was younger (2010or so) it still was pretty common to found shrapnel from bombs here

[@jimmystevens9028]

My great great uncle was a side gunner in a B-24 named four eyes that was shot down during this operation, his remains were found in a mass grave a couple months ago. We just buried him in the same spot as his parents last weekend. Zelwood Gravlin is finally home.

[@VicTor-gi7so]

bless him. prayers

[@CattooButt]

WoW. RiP

[@herbchilds1512]

S/Sgt Zellwood A. Gravlin of Plainville, CT, is listed in the complete mission roster of Dugan and Stewart's book. The entire crew of nine is listed in Michael Hill's book, Black Sunday: Ploesti, page 239, where Sgt. Gravlin is identified as tail-gunner. The pilot of "Four Eyes" was 1/Lt Lawrence Hadcock. There were no survivors. They flew with Killer Kane.

[@consolidatedliberator385]

Thanks for clearing up all the details of the polesti raid.there was a lot you covered all other videos I've seen and downloaded did not cover.

[@malickfan7461]

Awesome video. Would love to see more like this.

[@mimisor66]

my father used to tell me that he was a child of maybe 8-9 when this happened, he lived in Moreni near Ploiesti and they went on top of a hill and looked at the attack from there. Moreni has oilfields too and I always thought bombs were dropped there also.

[@andreicrisan5526]

I've lived for a little while in Valea Lunga, close to Moreni, and some of my more elderly neighbors there used to tell stories of low-flying aircraft zooming over the village during the war; to make things even more interesting, the police even found an unexploded aviation bomb in a nearby forest, some 5-10 years ago. Honestly, I'd be surprised if the Allies had bombed Ploiesti but ignored Moreni, two hills over. Slight tangent, but there's also a local 'landmark' (I guess) on a hill just outside Moreni called "the Germans' pillbox (cazemata germana)"- well, it's more like a concrete tower than an actual pillbox, but I thought it was worth a mention - it indicates that the Axis had at the very least a token presence in Moreni.

[@bf61marc35]

American reaction to the first probing raid: Germans and Romanians had no defenses; doing it again on a full scale raid would be easy German and Romanian reaction to the first probing raid: We have no defenses, we need to build it up before they come back again. Result of full scale raid: Massacre

[@GreenMarkoulis13]

Great video would like to see more like these, keep it up!

[@TheFlanker27]

The details about the confusion amongst the crews are interesting to say the least. They bring me memories of the stories my grandma used to tell me when I was a kid (real happenings, experienced by her). Such as the bombing of their village, which took place in the summer of 1943 (just as operation Tidal Wave). It was a very small village in the hills beneath the Carpathian Mountains, some 150 miles from Ploiesti, so the fact that it was bombed by the Americans was indeed surprising. There were many victims, of which my grandma told me about 4 people: 3 neighbors of my great grandparents were digging a well and were buried alive to their death, and then my grandma's infant sister, whose baby cot was blown off the porch of the house by the blast of an explosion about 50 yards away (unfortunately the porch was high enough, and the baby fell on the rock pavement below to her death). The village was located about 20 miles away from any major city and there were no military nor industrial installations nearby, so the only explanation for the bombing would be that the planes were overloaded and attempting to regain altitude or they were low on fuel and trying to shed weight for the return trip. Great content bringing me back many memories

[@nickporter574]

War crimes, insofar as they exist, were committed by all sides.

[@kingkapybara9964]

Interesting. My grandpa also told me stories of planes dropping bombs on the corn fields and I was so confused why would they waste their ammo? Now that I think about it they probably tried to hit some railways

[@dukecraig2402]

Nope, US bombers had the ability to drop their bombs unarmed with the flick of a switch by the bombardier, they never armed the bombs until they were on the bomb run, all they had to do was flip a switch to arm them, even after doing so all they had to do was return the switch to the other position and they could be dropped unarmed.

[@bradleysmith2021]

Two of these groups hit the target from opposite sides simultaneously, inadvertently on a collision course with each other. Neither saw the other approaching because of the smoke until they were over the town flying at each other. Luckily none collided. One German observer, thinking this was a deliberate part of the attack, called it the finest example of precision flying he’d ever witnessed. 😂

[@counterfit5]

The enemy can't possibly know what we're doing if we don't either!

[@pimpompoom93726]

This is true, two groups flew over the target at the same time from different directions-only separated by 500 feet in altitude! That is nothing to those big aircraft!

[@GeneralulTouareg]

Years ago I read Ioan Grigorescu's book about this "Bine ati venit in infern" (Welcome to hell) he narrates it from his teenager viewpoint but also well documents the operation as later in life he came to meet with some of the american pilots that took part in Tidal Wave, i don't know if there are better writings about it out there.

[@etherospike3936]

12:50 NGL that anti aircraft train was surreal !

[@Cybernaut76]

Yeah. I thought that stuff only happens in movies and video games.

[@chozer1]

The video quality keeps improving

[@adrianmunteanu8135]

God bless Romania 🇷🇴 Pace and Love around the world 🇷🇴

[@cornells.1727]

Are you high? Stop smoking crap, not good for your health.

[@flavius7026]

Romania from producing oil for Germany, now importing at huge prices(almost 2 euro per diesel liter), interests everywhere! Great video tho and very nice animations.

[@AbuBased731]

Why is that?

[@flavius7026]

@@AbuBased731 VERY corrupt leaders, Romania had everything, from natural resources, mountains, sea, landmarks, it s a beautiful country ran by some dogs politicians

[@dragos550]

@@AbuBased731 The country's traitors from the former communist party (now PSD) sold Petrom SA (the largest Romanian oil and gas company) to the Austrians 🤬🤬🤬

[@Airland-xx3pr]

​@@AbuBased731I think is corruption

[@JohnSundman]

I knew the brother of the pilot of Aircraft #28; he was the father of my childhood best friend. I learned about this raid from the father when I was about 12 years old. That man was himself a WW2 pilot - a carrier-based fighter pilot in the Pacific theatre who was twice shot down & rescued from the ocean. This story is very real to me and your video explains it very well. My father was in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the war, but he never deployed over seas. His unit was preparing to ship out to the Pacific when VJ Day occurred. In preparing his obituary a few years ago I dug up his honorable discharge and learned that he was trained as an aircraft welder. Somehow I had never learned that. (Dad always said that the scariest thing he did during the war was shaving a 3-day beard with cold water and a dull razor.) Anyway, thank you for this informative & well-done video.

[@sabinas4407]

Thank you for your research!

[@davidmcpherson7451]

I was reading the book Ploesti, about the raids on installations. When I read about a pilot that his plane was all shot up and a crew had mortal flak wound. The crewman died with the pilot holding him. The pilot was Jake Geron. When I saw that name I about freaked out. He was family friend, actually I think he married into my family. I never knew about his war days until 4 years ago from that book. Jake was also the county recorder where we lived in the pan handle of Texas. Out of curiosity one day after that I looked up my dads death certificate. He was murdered 12/27/59, n a gas station holdup. Jake had to sign my dads death certificate for his job. I imagine that was very hard for him. The crewman and Jake knew that he wasn’t going to make it. Gaping chest wound. He asked Jake to give him more morphine and more still. Jake obliged. There was no hope. He told the crew to throw everything they could overboard as they would not make it back to base as they were barely staying in the air. The crew refused to dump their buddy into the Mediterranean though and Jake concurred. The made it back but barely made it back. I remember him as very nice. Remember him at my grandmothers house.

[@herbchilds1512]

Pilot 1/Lt Alva J. Geron (from Fort Worth) is included in Dugan and Stewart's book, in the complete roster of Tidal Wave crews. Lieutenant Geron was interviewed by, and corresponded with, them. The B-24 is identified as 42-40611-W, no nickname. Its entire crew of 11 is listed in Michael Hill's book, Black Sunday: Ploesti, page 212. The KIA crewman is identified as T/Sgt John H. Powers.

[@davidmcpherson7451]

@@herbchilds1512 I have a photo of his Jake Geron as I knew him, and wife’s gravesite in Brownfield, Tx. He married my Great Aunt Clemie (Hamilton)’s daughter I do believe. Beth I think.

[@alextiganus8165]

I live in Romania, costanta and old grandmothers told me about the attacks that hit my city

[@familylines52]

Well done! Good history recounting.

[@conceptalfa]

Great documentary!!!👍👍👍

[@frisianwarrior2295]

Insanely well done video, I love that it almost only consists of maps. Made it really exciting and suspenseful. What a disaster was that mission though

[@dumitriudaniela]

oh wow, i am Romanian and i never knew how this actually happened. There are still to this day stories of peasants from that area speaking about the American airmen found in the fields after the battle and how they gave chocolate and cigarettes to the people, but i didnt know how important this place was for the axis and how big this fight was. And can i say, as a Romanian, i was pleasantly surprised to hear the name of most cities read correctly, which is something rare for English speakers. Anyway, how you described the battle and the preparations was so captivating, powerful and sad. I hope such things will never happen again, although it seems as if history repeats itself these days. And one more thing - i live in Bucharest in the north area of the city, and every single day on my walk to the park, i pass by a small monument that celebrates all the American lives that were ended in WWII on Romanian land and i feel as though today i learned more about these men. On my next walk tomorrow, i will try to see if some of the names you mentioned that received medal of honor can be found on this monument.

[@ibejeph]

Great video. Very informative.

[@skylarbubolea]

for those complaining about the map, it’s not wrong. hungary retook part of transylvania in 1940 and did not lose it again until after the war. at the time of operation tidal wave, around 2/5 of transylvania belonged to hungary, which is why some of the region on the map is depicted as not belonging to romania…because it didn’t. the more you know!

[@Flankerski]

I find it very impressive for those times, that they flew all the way from Libya to Romania and managed to identify and bomb their targets.

[@torque_original]

Tried to bomb, failed a bit. The worse planed opperation of the war for the allies I guess. My city was packed with anti air defence. No way that could have succeded. It was a turkey shot. Tidal wave was such a big mistake. 500 soldiers lost and the objectives were up and running in a few weeks or so. Actualy those refineries are running today. Not all but thats not because of the war.

[@user-qy9tf2im7f]

Good Navigation Training by the AAF, my Father was a B24 Navigator. The Navigators usually came from the Cream of the Crop coming out of Cadet training, most like my Father were Civilian Trained in some type of Mathematical Science, my Father was an Industrial Engineer. His Group the 449th made 13 Missions to Ploesti. It got to the point where at briefing, they would say to each other Ploesti again? It was taken off the Target List when Oil & Refined products production fell below 10%. They they moved deeper into Germany & Austria. The reason the Axis War Machine became ineffective was that what remained of their synfuel plants were also destroyed.

[@pimpompoom93726]

No other bomber then in the Allied Fleet could have done this long range mission, the B-17 certainly could not. The B-24 had the range and load-carrying capability, but it lacked the durability of the B-17. I worked with a guy back in the 1970's who was a mechanic for the US 8th Air Force in England. He said he'd always much preferred working on the B-17 because he could get up and inside the wings when needed, no way could he get into the wings of the B-24-they were too thin! And he was a small, thin guy!

[@catalinbostan3542]

We never wanted to join this war. We reacted to the events that occured and just tried to avoid Poland's fate as much as possible.

[@hecklerkoch8236]

Ten years ago I bought a German-made Luftschutz helmet from the granddaughter of one of the Romanian soldiers killed in the raid while manning a Flak position close to Steaua Romana, at Campina. Apparently, he was a gunner. The woman had old photos of her grandfather smoking casually next to an 88 AA gun... She told me that the helmet was handed over to her grandmother by a German officer, at the burial ceremony. The granddaughter couldn't certify that the helmet was used by her grandfather, or it was just a commemorative symbol offered by his German comrades. But the helmet is in pristine condition, so it probably was a gift, not a part of his own gear...

[@CheeseBaggel]

Hey man i know you from the Dedo channel, keep the good work!

[@jameswells554]

I had a Great Uncle who was a Bomber pilot on that raid. His eardrums were ruptured by the flak and he could never fly again afterwards. He said that the flak was so thick you could walk on it.

[@wolfganggugelweith8760]

Brave German and Romanian Pilots! 😎👍👍👍🐺

[@ibizarise]

Watching the video from Câmpina. I can actually see the Steaua Romana Refinery from my window. Great video, thank you!

[@robertm.8653]

A very nice video, really enjoyed it

[@hpopov]

Bulgaria with its very small airforce was also hunting air fortresses flying over Bulgaria

[@yuczq.]

Very interesting, thanks for creating this :) I'm quite surprised someone made something about Romania during WW2, it usually doesn't get much talk.

[@yeyyo]

My grandparents house was about 500m from the Columbia Aquila rafinery and i spent alot of my childhood playing on the ground of it's ruins, i never knew until much later why it was in such a bad state. When i was abit older my parents told me that one of the American bombs was actually dropped in our garden since we were so close to the actual bombing site. Great documentary thank you for this knowledge.

[@LegoHunter3002]

Great video! I loved learning more about my country's involvement in WW2. I also have to say this one thing, the pronunciation is funny