Hi all, I would like to learn more about the bombing campaign (if you can call it that) carried out by the USAF against targets in Slovakia. A list of units involved with targets would be the holy grail so to speak, but any help would would be gratefully received. For starters I found this:- "On June 16, 1944 four waves of B-24 Liberator bombers of 98th, 376th, 449th and 450th Bombardment Group of Fifteenth Air Force (overall 158 planes) attacked Apollo refinery, winter docks and bridge across the Danube river in Bratislava, Slovakia."
You may find this of some interest. Although primarily a biography of Joe Morton it has mention of the OSS mission to try and facilitate the rescue/recovery of downed aircrew in Slovakia. Given the OSS radio link there's likely to have been targeting information passed, which may be something you want to get to. Here's the link: Joe Morton: War correspondent executed by the Nazis Kind regards, always, Jim.
I would regard these raid(s) as part of the bomber offensive against the oilfields held / used and related facilities by Germany (60% of all oil they had), notably the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. See: Ploesti Oil Fields, Air Raids on | Encyclopedia.com For context. A 1943 USAAF raid, with heavy losses launched from Libya: Operation Tidal Wave - Wikipedia and 1943 - Operation Tidalwave, the Low-level bombing of the Ploesti Oil Refineries, 1 August 1943 > Air Force Historical Support Division > Fact Sheets I have a vague memory that some of the oil / products were moved by barge along the River Danube and as the opening post author states Bratislava is on the Danube. For a Slovak viewpoint see: Remembering victims of WWII air raid - spectator.sme.sk and this cites the refinery was one of the top ten refineries used by the Germans: 75 years since bombing of Bratislava Search in this USAAF document for Bratislava or the other formations and there is an entry for the 376th: https://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf The big difference between the Ploesti raid mentioned and the Bratislava raid is that the USAAF was operating from fields in Italy, so support from long range fighters was possible (P-38 Lightning & P-51 Mustangs). Not that the Luftwaffe was absent from the skies. See: JG302 - Squadron Profile. There is a 2022 book on the raid(s) and the summary states: Link: https://www.amazon.com/16-June-1944-strategic-operations/dp/8097189178
Empire Umpire, Might be worth trying to get access to this 2023 conference paper by a Slovak historian: Final Destination Slovakia. Activity of Western Allies Air Forces over Slovakia (1944-1945). The Abstract: From pg. 98 https://icmh2023istanbul.com/docs/XLVIIIth CONGRESS of ICMH - CVs and ABSTRACTS BOOK-1.pdf
