Bomber attack: First offensive action Published Dec. 19, 2006 By Andrew Anthony 9th Air Force History Office SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- On June 12, 1942, the residents of Ploesti, Romania, awakened to the sounds of droning aircraft engines, and the explosions of bombs falling on the nearby petroleum refinery. Overhead, 12 B-24D Liberator heavy bombers, under the command of Col. Harry Halverson, were intent upon striking a blow at the heart of Hitler's war machine. The June 1942 attack on Ploesti, although modest in comparison to the massed bomber raids that would become commonplace over the skies of Nazi occupied Europe as World War II progressed, marked the first offensive strike by aircraft of the U. S. Army Air Forces against strategic targets on the European continent. It was also the first offensive action by one of the units that would form the core of Ninth Air Force. The bombers that took part in the June 12 raid on Ploesti were part of a bomber force composed of 23 B-24s that had arrived Egypt in early June 1942. This unit was codenamed HALVPRO in reference to its commander, Col. Halverson. The circumstances leading to their attack on Ploesti owed as much to the fluid strategic situation facing the Allies in 1942 as to any deliberate plan.HALVPROs original mission was to conduct bombing raids against Japan from bases in China. As they made their way to China via the Middle East, advances by the Japanese in the China-Burma-India Theater effectively isolated the bases that were HALVPROs intended destination and made any plans to conduct bomber operations from there unworkable. Since HALVPRO was unable to complete its original mission, Col. Halverson received orders to stay in Egypt and await further instructions. At the same time, the Soviet Union had asked the United States and Great Britain for help in disrupting the German summer offensive currently underway against them. Great Britain could spare no resources to assist the Soviets at this time and the burden fell upon the United States. After reviewing several options for meeting the Soviet's request for assistance, American and British high commands determined the best use of the resources then available would be to mount a bomber strike against the German petroleum refinery at Ploesti in Romania. Ploesti provided fuel for the German forces engaged against the Soviet Union and a successful strike against the facilities there would disrupt the German offensive. The refinery at Ploesti was within striking range of British airfields in Egypt where the U.S. Army Air Forces already had a heavy bomber force in need of a mission in the form of HALVPRO. Col. Halverson received orders to conduct the raid and on the night of June 11, 1942, 13 of HALVPROs B-24s left Egypt for a dawn strike on Ploesti the following day. One aircraft turned back prior to reaching its target, and of the remaining 12, four were forced to land in neutral Turkey on the return flight and one crash landed upon returning to base. The remaining seven aircraft that took part in the raid returned safely to Allied airfields in the Middle East. The attack on Ploesti did not achieve the expected strategic impact due largely to a combination of inexperienced aircrews, the small number of aircraft involved and the inaccuracy of the bomb delivery methods then in use. Despite this however, the raid demonstrated the need for heavy bombers in the Middle East with which to conduct strikes against Axis targets in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. HALVPRO remained in the Middle East supporting the British and additional American aircraft and personnel were soon in route to strengthen the U.S.Army Air Forces presence there.