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What did Ploesti,Romania have to do with anything? I Know,,,, Do You?
cuhulin

The Shadow Knows
During WWII, in June 1941 Romania abandoned neutrality and joined the Axis,
By 1942 the refineries at Ploesti were producing nearly a million tons of
oil a month, accounting for 40 per cent of Romania's total exports. Most of
that oil, as well as the highest-quality 90-octane aviation fuel in Europe,
went to the Axis war effort. Ploesti provided nearly a third of the petrol
that fueled Hitler's tanks, battleships, submarines, and aircraft. In
return, Germany occupied Romania and protected her natural resources--more
specifically, German gunners guarded the multiple refining and storage
plants that ringed Ploesti.

Thanks to its relative remoteness from airfields, Ploiesti was spared Allied
attack until 1943, when the United States Army Air Forces mounted Operation
Tidal Wave from North Africa on August 1, bombing the refineries in a
massive low altitude strike by 178 B-24 Liberator bombers. It was the most
bombarded city in Romania in World War II. Although the raid inflicted heavy
damage on the ground, much of the damage was soon fixed. In April 1944, the
Allies launched decisive attacks from captured airbases in Italy. Finally,
the city was captured by Soviet troops in August 1944.

LC