Editing Consolidated B-24 Liberator (section)

====Strategic bombing, 1942–1945====
[[File:Bombing of Concordia Vega oil refinery in Ploești by USAAF B-24s, 31 May 1944 — restored.jpg|thumb|15th Air Force B-24s attacking the [[Vega Refinery|Concordia Vega Oil refinery]], [[Ploiești]], Romania fly through flak and over the destruction created by preceding waves of bombers, May 31, 1944.]]

On 12 June 1942, 13 B-24s of the Halverson Project (HALPRO) flying from Egypt attacked the Axis-controlled oil fields and refineries around [[Ploiești]], [[Romania]]. Within weeks, the First Provisional Bombardment Group formed from the remnants of the Halverson and China detachments. This unit then was formalized as the 376th Bombardment Group, Heavy, and along with the 98th BG formed the nucleus of the IX Bomber Command of the [[Ninth Air Force#World War II|Ninth Air Force]], operating from Africa until absorbed into the Twelfth Air Force briefly, and then the [[Fifteenth Air Force#World War II|Fifteenth Air Force]], operating from Italy. The Ninth Air Force moved to England in late 1943. This was a major component of the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe|USSTAF]] and took a major role in strategic bombing. Fifteen of the 15th AF's 21 [[USAAF bombardment group|bombardment groups]] flew B-24s.

For much of 1944, the B-24 was the predominant bomber of U.S. Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) formerly the [[Eighth Air Force]] in the [[Operation Pointblank|Combined Bomber Offensive]] against Germany, forming nearly half of its heavy bomber strength in the ETO prior to August and most of the Italian-based force. Thousands of B-24s flying from bases in Europe dropped hundreds of thousands of tons of [[Bomb#High explosive|high explosive]] and [[Incendiary bomb#Development and use in World War II|incendiary bombs]] on German military, industrial, and civilian targets.

The [[44th Bombardment Group]] was one of the first two heavy bombardment groups flying the B-24 with the 8th Air Force in the fall/winter air campaigns in the European Theater of Operations.<ref name="44th BG History"/> The 44th Bomb Group flew the first of its 344 combat missions against the Axis powers in World War II on 7 November 1942.<ref name="44th BG History"/>

[[File:B-24 Liberators over Bratislava, Slovakia on 16 June 1944.jpg|thumb|15th Air Force B-24s attacking the [[Slovnaft|Apollo oil refinery]] in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]], June 16, 1944.]]

The first B-24 loss over German territory occurred on 26 February 1943. Earlier in the war, both the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force had abandoned [[daylight bombing]] raids because neither could sustain the losses suffered. The Americans persisted, however, at great cost in men and aircraft. In the period between 7 November 1942 and 8 March 1943, the 44th Bomb Group lost 13 of its original 27 B-24s.<ref name="44th BG History"/> For some time, newspapers had been requesting permission for a reporter to go on one of the missions. [[Robert Post (journalist)|Robert B. Post]] and five other reporters of ''[[The New York Times]]'' were granted permission. Post was the only reporter assigned to a B-24-equipped group, the 44th Bomb Group. He flew in B-24 41-23777 ("Maisey") on Mission No. 37 to [[Bremen, Germany]]. Intercepted just short of the target, the B-24 came under attack from [[Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War II)|JG&nbsp;1]]'s [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]]s. ''[[Leutnant]]'' [[Heinz Knoke]] (who finished the war with 31 kills) shot down the Liberator. Post and all but two of the 11 men aboard were killed. Knoke reported: "The fire spread out along the right wing. The inboard propeller windmilled to a stop. And then, suddenly, the whole wing broke off. At an altitude of 900 metres there was a tremendous explosion. The bomber had disintegrated. The blazing wreckage landed just outside [[Bad Zwischenahn]] airfield."<ref>Weal 2006, p. 16.</ref>

[[File:B-24 Destroyed.jpg|thumb|A B-24M of the [[448th Bombardment Group]], breaks in half after attack by a [[Messerschmitt Me 262]] jet fighter]]

A total of 177 B-24s carried out the famous second attack on Ploiești ([[Operation Tidal Wave]]) on 1 August 1943. This was the B-24's most costly mission. In late June 1943, the three B-24 Liberator groups of the 8th Air Force were sent to North Africa on temporary duty with the 9th Air Force:<ref name="44th BG History"/> the 44th Bomb Group joined the 93rd and the 389th Bomb Groups. These three units then joined the two 9th Air Force B-24 Liberator groups for low-level attack on the Romanian oil complex at Ploiești. This daring assault by high-altitude bombers at treetop level was a costly success. The attack became disorganized after a navigational error which alerted the defenders and protracted the bomb run from the initial point. The 44th destroyed both of its assigned targets, but lost 11 of its 37 bombers and their crews. Colonel [[Leon W. Johnson]], the 44th's commander, was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]] for his leadership, as was Col. [[John R. Kane|John Riley "Killer" Kane]], commander of the 98th Bomb Group. Kane and Johnson survived the mission but three other recipients of the Medal of Honor for their actions in the mission—Lt. [[Lloyd H. Hughes]], Maj. [[John L. Jerstad]] and Col. [[Addison E. Baker]]—were killed in action. For its actions on the Ploiești mission, the 44th was awarded its second [[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Distinguished Unit Citation]].<ref name="44th BG History"/> Of the 177 B-24s that were dispatched on this operation, 54 were lost.<ref name="44th BG History"/>