“The B-24 is seen here with seldom viewed archive footage of maintenance and combat operations. Lots of furious machine gun action! (Some B-17 in here too.) This unique material is combined with video of a restored B-24 in operation today to give the viewer an excellent look at this outstanding heavy bomber of the Second World War.”

A film portrait of the 15th Air Force in Action, AIR SEIGE vividly recounts the air raids on the Ploiesti oil fields as part of Operation Tidal Wave. The film is narrated by then-actor and later President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania in 1943. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the “oil campaign” to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis. Post-war analysis indicated that the mission resulted in “no curtailment of overall product output”, and so was unsuccessful. This mission was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft and 660 aircrewmen lost. It was the worst loss ever suffered by the USAAF on a single mission, and its date was later referred to as “Black Sunday”. Five Medals of Honor and numerous Distinguished Service Crosses were awarded to Operation Tidal Wave crew members. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com