Ploesti Through The Lens: A Guide to the Battlefields of the First World War - Softcover

Freeman, Roger A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 187006755X ISBN 13: 9781870067553

Publisher: After the Battle, 2012

Synopsis

The Ploesti Raid took place on Sunday, August 1, 1943 and, but for a navigational error which put the leading formation on a course away from the target, the operation might have resulted in the destruction of the seven chosen targets. However, by the time the mistake was realised, the defences were on the alert and over 20 Liberators were brought down in and around Ploesti. A further 35 aircraft were lost. Although the operation resulted in the award of five Medals of Honor ― America’s highest decoration for bravery ― the cost was high: 308 airmen lost their lives and 208 were taken prisoner or interned. Out of the 1,753 men who are known to have set out on the mission, a total of 516 failed to return.

About this title

About the Author

�You haven't talked to THE expert on the Great War until you have talked to Miss Coombs.' So ran one letter received at the Imperial War Museum, London, where for 36 years, from 1946 until 1982, Rose Coombs worked � in later years as Special Collections Officer. Her interest in battlefields began at an early age, influenced largely by her father who served in the RAOC, but it was not until after the Second World War (in which she served as a Radar Operator with Nos. 10 and 11 Groups, RAF), that she was able to realise her ambition, through her position at the Imperial War Museum, to visit the battlefields of Europe. During the years that followed, she had the opportunity to make hundreds of visits to the Western Front of 1914-18, on many occasions acting as guide to ex-Servicemen's groups returning to the battlefields. She accompanied authors writing on the period and lectured to groups of all ages, giving freely of her detailed knowledge of the terrain, its history, and the units and personalities involved. In 1976, Miss Coombs combined years of study, travel and research into the production, with After the Battle, of the first edition of Before Endeavours Fade � a name specially chosen by her to match the initial letters of the BEF � the acronym for the British Expeditionary Force which had set out for France in 1914. She constantly revised and updated �BEF' through five editions until her death on January 7, 1991. After the Battle's Editor Karel Margry then took over the task of keeping the guide up to date.

Edition details

• Publisher: After the Battle
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 187006755X
• ISBN 13: 9781870067553
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160