Lt. Mark J. Woods, Jr.'s Diary

398th Bomb Group
Memorial
Association

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

Woods Mission No. 20

**25 June 1944**
**Target** **Toulouse, France**
Total combat time=138.35 hours Date: June 25, 1944 Mission No. 20 Location of target: Toulouse, France Type of target: Sub depot and assembly plant 2 miles northwest of town. Load: 2700 gals of gas & 18-250 lb. bombs. Altitude: 24,000 feet. Flight Time: 10:00 hours Escort: P-38s and P-47s in area cover Force of raid: 7 wings, we were the 2nd wing Position: Deputy lead of low squadron. Opposition: Heavy flak Battle damage: Small hole in waist of our plane. Results: Bombed as briefed. Day's losses: the 398th lost one plane. Remarks: We went over the beachhead at 16,000 feet, and caught the works. The flak was very accurate. Caught a little flak at the bridge at Tours that we had hit previously. It looked ship shape. We came in on the target, and really got a reception. A plane went down out of high group, burning. We saw seven chutes. A man came out of waist door; pulled his ripcord, the chute opened, and the man fell out of it. The chute went swirling away. One plane took off for Spain at a low altitude. The Pyrenees Mountains are a very rugged range. We flew this mission with Lt. J. A. Davis and crew of the 601st squadron.

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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