Henry (Hank) Clay Woodrum
Click to see an excerpt from Hank Woodrum’s book Walkout
Hank Woodrum (ist pilot of the Shopworn Angel y5*J)
George Hoagland, a member of the ground crew painted the noseart of the plane named by Woodrum
Information from archive reel B0289 Mission of May 9, 1944 to Calais.
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Woodrum and crew flew in position 2-2-6 of the formation.
The crew consisted of Woodrum, Morgan, Griffith, Burton, Moulder, and Anderson. The plane was Sexy Sal Y5-L
Map of the mission
Woodrum was unhappy with the food but delighted with the P-47 escort.
Captain Clay commandeered the Shopworn Angel and was forced to belly land, much to Woodrum’s dismay.
Another view of the damaged Y5*J. Woodrum’s crew flew in a replacement plane the next day and was shot down over France
From 344th BG history edited by Austin: “Practically all bridges on the Seine River had been bombed by the Marauder groups except one among the few at the outskirts of Paris, which necessary had to be destroyed to completely paralyze their communication systems. With this in mind, we were assigned to the task May 27, 36 planes dispatched but only 29 bombing. A solid wall of flak was reported near the city, the enemy evidently thinking our attack was to be made within the city limits. Some flak was fired into the formation and 16 planes received battle damage. Our results were good to excellent.”
Further…”Repairs to the Paris bridge began immediately and we were again assigned to undo their work on May 28. Thirty-six planes were dispatched and 19 bombed again with good to excellent scoring. Our return to Paris this time found the flak defenses in readiness. They were extremely heavily organized and accurate in their sighting. Five planes were shot down either at the target ore were abandoned after leaving the area due to the damage sustained. Along with these planes, 31 crew members were recorded as missing in action against the enemy. In addition to the planes lost, twenty ships received battle damage with one of these planes requiring service unit repairs. Other planes that did not bomb were blown off their bomb runs by the concussion of flak bursts blasts.”
PILOT – 1st Lt. James Foster Reynolds 0-25559 (killed)
COPILOT – 2nd Lt. Edward Horn (POW 0-69370 (POW)
BOMBARDIER- 2nd Lt. Joseph Johnson 0-745821(bailed out and evaded capture)
RADIO/GUN – T/Sgt. George Henry Coons 32550339 (bailed out and evaded capture)
ENG/GUN – S/Sgt. Samuel McDonald Gold 15170081 (POW)
TAIL/GUN – Cpl. Leonard Norris Pew 17129317(killed)
PILOT – 2nd Lt. Jack Christian Shewell 0-749337 (killed)
COPILOT – 2nd Lt. William B Bradford 0-816410 (killed)
BOMBARDIER- 2nd Lt. James Johnston 0-745816 (killed)
RADIO/GUN – S/Sgt. Thomas Ervin Joyner 34665168 (killed)
ENG/GUN – Sgt. Wendell Mark Cave 18201748 (killed)
TAIL/GUN – Sgt. John Forsythe 33592681 (killed)
PILOT – 1st Lt. Henry Clay Woodrum 0-742102 (bailed out and evaded capture)
COPILOT – 2nd Lt. Irwin Randall Morgan, Jr 0-2045200 (bailed out – POW)
BOMBARDIER- S/Sgt. Carl Lee Griffith 6249124 (bailed out – captured POW)
RADIO/GUN – Sgt. Richard Eugene Burton 35470710 (bailed out and survived – POW)
ENG/GUN – Sgt. Thomas Jacob Zagorski 37302242 (bailed out and survived – POW)
TAIL/GUN – Sgt. Edwin Lockhart Hickey 13043208 (killed chute didn’t open)
PILOT – 2nd Lt. Phillip Jerome Laux 0-685302 (bailed out and evaded capture)
COPILOT – 2nd Lt. Malvin Thomas Richey 0-689273 (bailed out and evaded capture)
BOMBARDIER- 2nd Lt. Walter Andrew Boyce 0-746852 (POW)
RADIO/GUN – S/Sgt. Roland Wayne Henry 35574817 (POW)
ENG/GUN – Sgt. Phillip Ruiz 39559786 (POW)
TAIL/GUN – Sgt. Earl William Butler 39569537 (POW)
PILOT – 1st Lt. Sidney Wilson Peterson 0-666810 (killed by flak)
COPILOT – 2nd Lt. Buck Wilson 0-692595 (POW)
BOMBARDIER- 2nd Lt. Harry Harvey 0-731511 (POW)
RADIO/GUN – T/Sgt. Clyde S Maddox 18105661(killed)
ENG/GUN – S/Sgt. Calvin Edgar Davis 33538179 (killed)
TAIL/GUN – S/Sgt. Earl Remick Trayes 36048056 (killed)
Documents from that mission below. Click to enlarge.
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Woodrum flew in position 1-1-5 in plane Y5-T not named.
.Read about the crash and Hank Woodrum’s escape from capture.
Click to see an excerpt from Hank Woodrum’s book Walkout
