In mid-July, the three Eighth Air Force groups began practicing for a low-level mission against the Ploesti oil refineries, along with the 376th and 98th groups from the Africa-based Ninth Air Force. Tidal Wave called for the 93rd to be the second group in the low-altitude formation, which would be led by K.K. Compton’s 376th Bomb Group.

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According to the plan drawn up by Major John Jerstad, now with the 201st Provisional Combat Wing, the 93rd would strike in two sections. Section A, led by Colonel Baker, was to hit target White Two, the Concordia Vega refinery; Section B, led by Ramsay Potts, was to hit White Three, the Standard and Unirea Spearantza refining units. The Traveling Circus attacks were to be conducted simultaneously with the lead group’s attack on White One, the Romana Americana plant. Three other groups also would hit targets.

On August 1, 1943, a total of 177 Liberators took off from Libya for Ploesti–39 of them from the Traveling Circus. Extra fuel and a maximum load of bombs, ammunition and thermite sticks put each airplane well over the safe takeoff weight for a B-24. One B-24 crashed on takeoff when an engine failed after the wheels left the ground; there were only two survivors from the 10-man crew.

All went well as the formation, now down to 167 heavily laden bombers, flew onward. Brigadier General Uzal Ent and Colonel K.K. Compton led the formation in Teggie Ann, formerly the 93rd’s lead ship. Teggie Ann reached the first initial point, but four similar-looking valleys lay between it and the second initial point. As they approached Targoviste, Rumania, the 2nd initial point, 20 miles away from the 3rd initial point where the formation was to turn into a bomb run heading of 127 degrees, Compton led his formation in a turn. Unknowingly, he had taken up a heading that would miss Ploesti altogether–his group was headed for Bucharest.

Colonel Baker, with Major Jerstad in the co-pilot’s seat, saw Compton make the turn and recognized the mistake, as did others in the 167-plane formation. Several pilots broke radio silence in an attempt to warn Compton of his error. For a time, Baker followed the 376th, but halfway to Bucharest, seeing the smoke of the Ploesti refineries to his left, the 93rd commander made his decision. He turned Hell’s Wench 90 degrees to the left, away from the lead group, and headed for Ploesti–with all 38 Traveling Circus planes strung out behind.

Because of Compton’s error, the Traveling Circus targets were on the other side of town, so Baker took the 22 planes of his section toward an unfamiliar target. As they approached the refineries, the 93rd lead section encountered heavy flak. Pilots ordered the gunners to engage the flak towers while they hugged the ground to spoil the anti-aircraft gunners’ aim. Airplane after airplane was hit by the heavy fire and went down in flames. Hell’s Wench struck a balloon cable, then received a direct hit from an 88mm anti-aircraft gun. Other crews saw their leader take three more hits and burst into flames.

Even though there were flat fields in which he could have landed, Baker elected to continue leading his group toward the target he had selected. He and Jerstad jettisoned their bombs so that the mortally wounded B-24 would stay airborne just a few moments longer. Over the refineries, the ill-fated Liberator climbed to 300 feet so the crew could bail out, then fell off on one wing and crashed in a field. There were no survivors from Hell’s Wench. Baker and Jerstad were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions over Ploesti.

As the bombs detonated on Ploesti’s refineries, gasoline tanks caught fire and began exploding, throwing debris high into the air, into the paths of approaching Liberators. Now the B-24 crews had a new threat to contend with, as if the deadly anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters were not enough.

Ramsay Potts’ Section B bombed Astro Romania, the largest oil producer in Europe, a target originally assigned to the 98th. As the remnants of the 93rd’s two sections drew away from the target, they were attacked by fighters. Gunners aboard the Liberators managed to force them to break off the attack. As the German pilots regrouped, they caught a couple of B-24s that were flying at about 300 feet instead of hugging the ground, where the fighters could not safely attack. Both Liberators were shot down.

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