398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


Lt. Mark J. Woods, Jr.'s Diary
Navigator, 600th Squadron

Woods Mission No. 7

31 May 1944
Target Melhouse, France

May 31, 1944 Mission #7
Location of target: Mulhouse, France, 16 miles from the Swiss border, 10 miles from the German border.

Marshaling yards. Alternate target: St Dizier.

Target of last resort: marshaling yards at Charleville and Mezieres, France, 49" 46'N 04" 43' E seven miles from the Belgium border.

Type of target: We went after target of last resort, marshaling yards.

Load: 2700 gals of gas & 12-500 lbs of demolition bombs

Altitude: 19,000 feet over target, 23,000 feet elsewhere
Flight Time: 6:25 hours

Escort: P-51s P-47s, and P-38s

Force of raid: Two wings of twelve planes

Position: Number 2 man of first element low squadron of high group of first wing.

Opposition: Light flak near Bruxelles.

Battle damage: None

Results: Weather report was completely off the ball. Hit towering cumulus, had to climb above flight plan, and circumnavigate the clouds. When on the other side, the weather looked bad, so we went into the target of last resort. The leader wandered around trying to find the target. Finally we started toward the target, but it was not recognized, and we did a 180-degree turn. There were clouds over the target on this heading. We did not drop the bombs. We started for home, looking for another target. We went over a Dutch port with two large ships in the harbor.

Remarks: We flew this mission with Lt. Art Frilog.

Notes:
  • Lt. Mark J. Woods, Jr. was a Navigator on Stanley R. Reed's 600th Squadron crew.
  • The above transcription was provided by Carolyn Woods and Joe K. Mansell.
  • This transcription is a reproduction of the original. Spelling and punctuation changes have been made to improve readability. In some circumstances, material may not have been transcribed or was rewritten.
  • Clarification of acronyms or special words or guesses of certain words are shown in brackets [ ].

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