398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association


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

Woods Mission No. 12

8 June 1944
Target Tours, France

June 8, 1944 Mission #12
Location of target: 5 miles east of the city of Tours, France.

Type of target: 46 tiered railroad bridge across the river Loire.

Load: 2300 gals of gas & 12-500 lb. bombs.
Altitude: Assembly 25,000 feet and do the bomb run 20,000 feet.

Flight Time: 6:10 hours
Escort: None

Force of raid: One wing of 36 planes, but only 30 showed up.
Position: No. 2 element of the high squadron.
Opposition: Light flak
Battle damage: None

Results:
Hit target as briefed, clear over target, photographs show that we knocked the devil out of it. Lead group had a dry run on the target, so we had to go back for them. Flak was light and inaccurate. We expected fighters on all days, but we did not see a one today.

We got our first good look at the invasion beach today. We couldn't tell where the lines were, but here's what we could see. Fires in the city of Caen, allied fighters in low level strafing, piles of stores, munitions and vehicles on pock marked landing craft and merchant ships. Naval cruisers and battle ships bombarding coastal defenses. Destroyers and PT boats were all dashing around. Flashes from the beach and smoke rising. One tug was towing complete steel bridge span across the channel. As far as the eye could see, you could notice activity.

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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