TWiH0730
“This Week in History” is a weekly recounting of historical events which shaped today’s U.S. Air Force. On, August 1, 1943, during Operation Tidal Wave, 177 B-24 Liberators used low-level routes to drop 311 tons of bombs on the Ploesti Oil Refinery in Romania. This was the first large-scale, minimum-altitude attack against a strongly defended target, and the longest major bombing mission from base to target undertaken to date. (U.S. Air Force photo)