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Bombing of Bucharest in World War II

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Summary

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Field	Value
conflict	Bucharest World War II bombings
partof	Western Allied campaign in Romania and Strategic bombing campaign in Europe
image	4 April 1944 Bucharest air raid.jpg
image_size	300px
caption	B-24 Liberator bombers of the 455th Bombardment Group over Bucharest on 4 April 1944
date	April 4 to August 26, 1944
place	Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
combatant1	United States Fifteenth Air Force
United Kingdom No. 205 Group
combatant2	Romania Royal Romanian Air Force
Nazi Germany Luftwaffe
commander1	United States Carl Spaatz
United Kingdom Arthur Tedder
commander2	Romania Gheorghe Jienescu
Nazi Germany Alfred Gerstenberg
casualties3	Civilians: 5,524 killed, 3,373 wounded

United Kingdom No. 205 Group Nazi Germany Luftwaffe United Kingdom Arthur Tedder Nazi Germany Alfred Gerstenberg |}} Main article: Bombing of Romania in World War II

The Bucharest World War II bombings were primarily Allied bombings of railroad targets and those of the Oil Campaign of World War II, but included a bombing by Nazi Germany after the 1944 coup d'état. Bucharest stored and distributed much of Ploiești's refined oil products.

The first operation was a sequence of 17 aerial bombardments, starting with the one of April 4, 1944. The bombings were carried out over a period of about 4 months by the United States Army Air Forces and the British Royal Air Force, with approximately 3,640 bombers of different types, accompanied by about 1,830 fighters. As collateral damage, 5,524 inhabitants were killed, 3,373 were injured, and 47,974 were left homeless. The second operation was executed by the German Luftwaffe in retaliation for Romania having changed sides (immediately after the fall of the fascist regime headed by Ion Antonescu), and took place on August 23–26, 1944.

TOC

Raids

Date	Target/Topic
1944-04-04	Railroad targets
title=Campaign Diary	url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/diary.html	work=Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary	publisher=UK Crown	access-date=2009-05-10	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050601062147/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/diary.html	archive-date=2005-06-01	url-status=dead }}
1944:	Railroad targets
1944-04-21	Railroad targets
1944-04-24	Railroad targets
1944-05-07	Railroad targets
1944-05-07/08	Industrial and railroad targets
1944-06-10	Româno-Americană oil works, Ploiești
1944-06-28	Oil refineries
1944-07-02/03	Oil refineries
1944-07-03	Oil refineries
1944-07-27/28	Oil refineries
1944-07-31	Oil refineries
1944-08-06	Railroad targets, airfields
1944-08-17/18	Oil refineries
1944-08-24 & 25	Various targets
1944-08-26	Otopeni, Băneasa

Gallery

|File:Bucharest bombed April 4, 1944 2.jpg|Bombing of the Gara de Nord marshalling yard, April, 1944. |File:7 May 1944 Bucharest air raid.jpg|7 May 1944 air raid on the marshalling yards of Bucharest carried out by the 98th Bombardment Group. |File:15th AAF B-24 Liberators over Bucharest, 1944.jpg|B-24 formation on a mission to Bucharest in 1944. Note the damaged bomber with the smoking engine. |File:24 April 1944 Bucharest air raid.jpg|Bombs dropped by the 456th Bombardment Group on marshalling yards in Bucharest, 24 April 1944. |File:Bombing of the Otopeni airdrome on 26 August 1944 (cropped).jpg|B-24 Liberators bombing the German-occupied Otopeni airport on 26 August 1944. |File:Damaged Romanian Athenaeum, 1944.jpg|Damaged Romanian Athenaeum in the aftermath of the German air raids of 24–26 August 1944.

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

Dobrovicescu, Lucian. "Aprilie 1944. Moartea vine din cer: Bombardamentele aliate asupra României". Historia.
(February 22, 2011). "Bombardarea Bucureștilor în '44: mii de morți și sute de clădiri făcute praf". [[Adevărul]].
Armă, Alexandru. (2019). "24 august 1944: Avioanele germane bombardează Bucureștiul". Historia.
Pruteanu, Cătălin. (August 31, 2006). "Ia-ți Bucureștii – Cotroceniul liniștit". [[Jurnalul Național]].
USAF Historical Research Agency{{Specify. The name of the source document is needed.. (May 2008)
(2022-07-14). "IAR 80 contra P 38 - 10 iunie 1944 - rapoarte despre misiune - USAAF".
(3 April 2024). "Pe data de 4 aprilie 1944 a avut loc primul bombardament american având ca țintă triajul de cale ferată București". IAR 80 FLY AGAIN.
"461st Bombardment Group". Mission Records: April 1944.
Giurescu, Constantin C.. (1966). "Istoria Bucureștilor. Din cele mai vechi timpuri pînă în zilele noastre".
(October 2018). "No. 150 Squadron Wellington JA515 IN-Q W/O. Clarke".
"70 Squadron Wellington X MF144 DU:H Fg Off. Sydney J. Hanney".
(May 21, 1953). "Information Report. Rumanian Petroleum Industry". [[Central Intelligence Agency.
(October 2018). "No. 40 Squadron Wellington X ME990 -R F/O. Lawrence Franklin Tichborne".
(December 2016). "No 150 Squadron Wellington X LP196 JN-E Sgt. B.F.W. Wilkinson".
"References to Ploesti, Rumania from a USAAF WWII Chronology".
Macisaac, James, J.. "The WWII History of James Macisaac and RAF 37 Squadron". Op 6 · Ploesti, Xenia Oil Refinery.
(20 June 2003). "Rumanian Aces of World War 2". [[Osprey Publishing]].
Axworthy, Mark. (1995). "Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945". Arms and Armour.
Henry L. deZeng IV. (December 2014). "Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 {{!}} Romania".

Wikipedia Source

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