Ok, this one is difficult for me, I'm of two minds here. First, Colonel Johnson (rank at the time) was awarded the Medal of Honor for the B-24 Raid on the Ploesti Oil Refinery. He was one of the five Medals awarded in the attack.*
He was one of only two of the recipients who survived the mission. He was in the lead aircraft as the mission began. As we've read on other reports of the medals awarded, the majority were awarded to crews who were towards the end of the attack as were the 3 Medal of Honor awarded posthumously. There were also 56 Distinguished Flying Cross's awarded on the mission. Air medals were awarded to ALL crew members on the mission.
But, he was there, not sitting at a desk in London "commanding" the mission." Got to give him credit for that.
So, on with the story.
 |
Photo after Col Johnson was awarded the Medal of Honor. |
Operation Tidal Wave was the mission code name for an attack on the Axis Petroleum Refinery in Ploiesti Romania. 177 B-24 Bombers were committed to the attack. 53 of them and 500 crew members were lost.
101 Civilians were killed in the attack and 238 injured. A tidbit I didn't know was that one of the bombers that was shot down crashed into a women's prison and killed about half of the total civilian casualties.
The attack temporarily eliminated about 46 percent of Ploesti’s annual production, but all the damaged refineries were back in full production within three months, making the attack fairly ineffective.
5 Medals of Honor were awarded, 3 of which were posthumous. Leon Johnson was one of the Survivors, John Kane was the other.
The mission was flown at ultra-low altitudes to enhance surprise. One of the lessons learned (and relearned many, many times again) is that large formations of aircraft at low altitude are unlikely to surprise the folks in the target area nor the people along that route.
 |
| Source |
Suffice it to say, this mission was a failure.
But....This is the official picture of General Johnson as the 4 star commander of Strategic Air Command. I'll leave it at that.
 |
| Source |
Citation for the award of the Medal of Honor to Col Leon Johnson
For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. Col. Johnson, as commanding officer of a heavy bombardment group, led the formation of the aircraft of his organization constituting the fourth element of the mass low-level bombing attack of the 9th U.S. Air Force against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. While proceeding to the target on this 2,400-mile flight, his element became separated from the leading elements of the mass formation in maintaining the formation of the unit while avoiding dangerous cumulous cloud conditions encountered over mountainous territory. Though temporarily lost, he reestablished contact with the third element and continued on the mission with this reduced force to the prearranged point of attack, where it was discovered that the target assigned to Col. Johnson's group had been attacked and damaged by a preceding element. Though having lost the element of surprise upon which the safety and success of such a daring form of mission in heavy bombardment aircraft so strongly depended, Col. Johnson elected to carry out his planned low-level attack despite the thoroughly alerted defenses, the destructive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, the imminent danger of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions, and of intense smoke obscuring the target. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, Col. Johnson so led his formation as to destroy totally the important refining plants and installations which were the object of his mission. Col. Johnson's personal contribution to the success of this historic raid, and the conspicuous gallantry in action, and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty demonstrated by him on this occasion constitute such deeds of valor and distinguished service as have during our Nation's history formed the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.
My heartburn with this one is two words in his Citation. Those would be "destroy totally". History indicates that to be untrue. The refinery was up and producing petroleum at pre-attack levels in 3 months.
* For those wondering, these are the 5 Medal of Honor recipients for their actions on this mission, Lt Col Addison Baker (posthumous), Maj John Jerstad (posthumous), Lt Lloyd Hughes (posthumous), Col Leon Johnson, and Col John Kane.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_W._Johnson
https://www.maxwell.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/
https://warhistory.org/article/the-ploesti-raid
https://www.realclearhistory.com/2021/08/02/1st_ploesti_raid_bold_but_ineffective_787621.html
Never been under enemy fire so it's easy for me to say this MOH was tossed to the raid commander since he led it plus the supposed destruction of parts of the refinery. No mention of the plane damaged, no personal wounds, no struggles to save fellow crewmen.........uh huh.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeletePretty much my thoughts exactly.
juvat
I'm not sure that I see your issue. Look at the ribbon just under his Wings. Isn't that the MoH?
ReplyDeleteI'm going on long memory here, but except for dress uniform those with the MoH wear the ribbon on the rack, not the medal itself. He seems to be confirming to regulatons.
Joe,
DeleteOh, he absolutely was awarded the Medal of Honor. And it was a difficult mission. My heartburn was the "Destroyed Totally".phrase in his Citation. Most accurate assessment was 46% destruction and even that was repaired and back in service in 3-4 months. So, not a very successful mission with 53 bombers loss and 500 killed, about a third of the mission.
juvat
Ah! Thanks for the correction. By the way you called attention to the second photo I had it in my head that you were wondering why he wasn't wearing the actual medal.
DeleteI just reread the post. And your quibble about the wording popped out and knocked that out of my head.
He received it about a month after the raid, so the decision was probably made within 2 weeks of it. Powers That Be (PTB) were likely still under the impression that it was a very costly strategic victory. From my admittedly spotty knowledge of the raid I thought it wasn't until a couple of months after that the PTB realized it was a less than complete success. It would look bad in the newspapers and upset civilians at their breakfast if they had repudiated it just months after awarding it. Around that time War Fatigue was setting in on the home front, and confidence was slipping.
Joe,
DeleteYour analysis both makes sense and is probably the reason. You've won the mission debrief of the day.
Congrats.
juvat
Thanks, juvat. Does that get me a cup of coffee if I make it?
DeleteNo quibbles with his award. I think there was a bit of "as a representative of all the flyers involved."
ReplyDeleteQuestion about his wings. When did they start using the star/wreath above the wings, and what is the meaning of them? USN does not have a counterpart.JB
Last first. The USAF has 3 levels of pilot ratings , Pilot, Senior Pilot and Command Pilot. Pilot wings are issued at UPT (undergraduate pilot training) and kept for 7 years (I think), At that point, if he's still Pilot rated (a health or other reason not to be grounded) he is now a Senior Pilot. Same wings with a star on the top center. Again, after a period of time (5 years I think) he becomes a Command pilot. The star now has a wreath above it. No authority attached to any of the levels, but is attached to the rank on your shoulders. It's more of a "He/She's been there and done that, you might want to listen to them. There were a lot of guys in the 5 sided puzzle palace who were Lt Col's and slick or starred wings. Nobody paid much attention to them although a lot of them sat on a desk outside a general's office. WhoGAS? You make coffee for him doncha?
DeleteAs to when, I've no idea. Earliest remembrance of my Dad in uniform was as a Senior pilot, so they've been around a long time. Yes, he retired as a LtCol and Command Pilot. As did I.
juvat
Wings? All sorts of them.
Deletehttps://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/collection-of-wwii-us-military-air-force-wings-1399d-c-c684c50be8?srsltid=AU7gw4WmIXzpG_wMx3kmtg6X8qS6dNajeJBdFMu_E1y_h_6Ye3iiIYoD
https://youtu.be/7AEUpnuvlBc?is=y-ZkU0VLaaFrwiaZ
Juvat, I wonder if the disconnect was between when the medal was awarded and when the final tally was done.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly from the Wikipedia article, "Of Johnson's Medal of Honor, war correspondent Andy Rooney wrote in 1995 that "no infantryman deserved it more than this good and brave Air Force general"
As with Nylon12, I have zero position to comment or stand on concerning this.
THBB,
DeleteCould be. As to the second paragraph. having read a lot of Medal of Honor reports, I can think of a lot (A LOT!) of Medal of Honor records that deserved it a lot. As best I can figure, he received it for leading a mission that lost 33% of its aircraft and about the same number of crew members while only reducing the enemy's production by 30% or so and was re-established to full capacity in 3 months. Having met the many, I wasn't impressed with him in person. Nor was my Father, a much better assessor of personal character.
Just sayin'
juvat
SAC - Leaving it at that? You mean because it was a failure and he was later promoted to 4-star? As the lead, was he the one directing the low altitude attack? 500 men lost isn't insignificant, but is it also on par with other missions?
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteNo not that I've found in my reading. There have been severe casualties in the Bomber force, mostly before the P-51 made it's entry, but none that I'm aware of with his level of losses. Could be wrong, Sarge would know. ;-)
juvat
The Ploesti raid (Operation Tidal Wave) 01 Aug 1943 saw 53 B-24s destroyed, 55 B-24s damaged, 310 aircrew killed or missing, and 190 aircrew captured or interned.
DeleteThe Schweinfurt–Regensburg missions of 17 August 1943 saw 60 bombers, 3 P-47s, and 2 Spitfires lost, and 58-95 bombers heavily damaged. The force had 7 aircrew KIA and 21 WIA aboard returning aircraft, and 557 aircrew were MIA or POW.
The bomber forces in WWII saw very heavy casualties prior to the introduction of the P-51 and its long range escort capability.
The bombing campaign is controversial, many of the targets were damaged but brought back online not long afterward. However, the number of soldiers kept on the home front to guard the cities and factories was severely detrimental to the Germans. All in all it was a very bloody campaign whose effectiveness will probably be debated forever.
Interesting. And I see your point. The MoH isn't supposed to be an attendance award.
ReplyDeleteTotally in contrast to (then) Major William Leverette who led his P-38 squadron in a major attack against German airpower in the Med, with him downing 7 aircraft in the engagement (one he literally caught up to too quickly, ducked underneath and cut it out of the air with one of his propellors.) And after he was out of ammunition, with a damaged engine, he continued to lead and control the rest of his squadron. But no MoH for him. Even in the late 70s he could describe just about every part of a Lightning.
Beans,
DeleteInteresting! Gonna do a little research. Thanks
juvat
I certainly have no place to stand on as I have never been in the military. Reading this write-up however, I am struck by the fact that he was leading the element (is that like a section or flight?), got lost in the clouds over the mountains (difficulty with reading his compass??), finally did make it to the designated site...after all the others...and dropped his load (trying to lighten up the airplane to be able to make it back home???). I agree that in this case, which is the first one of these articles I have read like this, it really does sound like he had a mentor higher up who wanted to make sure he got his participation award. Cause losing 56 planes and 500 crew??? REALLY doesn't strike me as a reason to celebrate, or even to give someone an "attaboy". Don't care how make oil storage containers he lit up.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he, and the rest of the team, would have been better if he HAD stayed in London at his desk...
I really do like reading these. Thank you for doing them!!
Suz
Suz,
DeleteHe was leading the ENTIRE strike package and got lost in clouds. Been there done that, it happens. But...The mission went Tango Uniform and he was in command. That is generally the signal to retire in current rank, not retire as a four star. Just sayin'. And, as I've said, my Dad wasn't fond of him and when I met him, I realized why. Not a nice guy. But he ranked high on the all time SoB List.
Just me, being kind.
juvat