John R. Woodruff diary

We trained as a crew at Gowen Field, Boise, Idaho.

Our crew consisted of
2nd It. Thomas C. Badger, Pilot, Glendale, Calif.
2nd Lt. Richard E. Guerin, Co-Pilot, Conn.
2nd Lt. Frank A. Riley, Bombardier, Hoboken, N.J.
2nd Lt. Joseph M. Sekerak, Navigator, Ohio
T /Sgt. Michael A. Stabile, Flight -Engineer- Waist Gunner, Bridgeport, Conn.
T /Sgt. Harvey Bartfeld, Radioman- Waist Gunner, Brooklyn, N.Y.
S/Sgt. George N. Giffin, Armorer- Nose Gunner, Camaguey, Cuba
S/Sgt. James J. Kenrick, 2nd Engineer- Ball Turret Gunner, N.Y., N.Y.
S/Sgt. Virgil E. Conway, 2nd Radio- Tail Gunner, St. Anne, Illinois
S/Sgt. John R. Woodruff, 2nd Armorer- Top Turret Gunner, la Crosse, Wis.

Left Boise, Idaho 6/15/44
Arrived Lincoln, Neb. 6/17/44; left Lincoln, Neb. 6/23/44
Arrived Camp Patrick Henry, Va. 6/26/44 Italian and German POW's here. Left Camp Patrick Henry, Va. 6/30/44
Arrived Newport News, Va. 6/30/44
Got on ship (SS Santa Rosa, Grace liner)
Left Newport News, Va. 7/1/44

Besides us on the ship were a few hundred Am. Infantry, about 30 French Air Force ( They were trained in the U.S.) and a British West Indian Regiment (colored with white officers.)

Our convoy was rather small. The second day out we joined up with a convoy out of N.Y. We now were about 35 ships, plus our escort. We had Blimps and Aircraft with us the first couple of days. We ran into heavy seas a couple of days on the way over. The Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts would disappear behind the waves, then come up again. We went thru the Straights of Gibraltar at night, all we could see were lights. We hugged the coast of North Africa most of the' way thru the Mediterranean. landed in Naples on 7/16/44. Harbor was a mess. We got off the ship onto a dock built over the side of a sunken Italian Destroyer. Mt. Vesuvius had smoke coming out of it. At night the fire in the crater reflected off the clouds. Marched from the ship to train station. lots of bombed out buildings. little kids followed us begging for candy and cigarettes. Got on train to Bagnoli, (a suburb of Naples). Stayed in a University here. We had to sleep on marble floors in an upstairs hallway. Got to do some sight-seeing. Big Red Cross Center, Big Cathedrals (Beautiful), the ruins of Pompeii. The trucks we bummed rides on were a real scary ride. The drivers drove like they were crazy, thru the narrow streets.
Got on the train again, following the harbor coast line» then turned inland. We headed East into the mountains that nm up the center of Italy. Went thru lots of tunnels. Passed a large Army Camp (British and Polish). Finally got to a Replacement Depot at Gioia. All tents, dirty and dusty.

7/23/44, Went by truck to 47th Wing Headquarters, 15th A.F. We were assigned to the 376th Heavy Bomb Group, 513th Squadron. Our base was at San Pancrazio, down in the heel of Italy. We attended lots of lectures and had some training flights with combat veterans to learn the ropes. Air raids at night, mostly just nuisance raids.

Click here to read about July 31 1944

Click here to read about August 3, 1944

Click here to read about August 6, 1944

Click here to read about August 9, 1944

Click here to read about August 10, 1944 mission.

Click here to read about time as a POW.

Left San Pancrazio for Naples Sept.S. Received Soldiers Medal Sept. 9.
Boarded (Athos II) at Naples Sept.12. Left Italy Sept. 13. Arrived N.Y. Sept. 26. Became an Aerial Gunnery Instructor. Spent the rest of the war at the Air Base at Souix City, Iowa.The two crew members that didn't fly with us the day we went down, were killed later in the war. Our navigator's plane went down in the Adriatic returning from a mission 11/11/44. Our ball turret gunner was killed 8/15/44, when the plane blew-up on take-off.