The daring mission to cripple the Axis machine.

In 1943, the Allied forces were grasping for anything to undercut Hitler’s power and relieve his relentless pressure on the Red Army. The US Army Air Force planned Operation Tidal Wave, which would take off from Benghazi, Libya, fly low and maintain complete radio silence to escape Axis observation, and bomb Hitler’s vital oil fields in Ploesti, Romania. On August 1, 178 B-24 bombers prepared to take off. Fifty-three would never return—the Germans knew they were coming. Operation Tidal Wave was a massive tactical defeat. However, it proved the mettle of the USAAF and provided a rallying point for the public. Author William R. Bradle offers the definitive account of this doomed operation and takes readers into the thick of the action with thrilling accounts from many of the crews.