The bombing accuracy was fair to good. All aircraft returned safely at 18:45 hours (6:45 p.m.) after 5 hours in the air. The 8^th Air Force sent out 328 heavy bombers for the day to seven different targets of which 3 were M.I.A. along with the loss of 3 of our escort fighters.

This was the 17^th straight day of the pre-invasion aerial offensive. General Doolittle announced that more than 24,000 tons of bombs were dropped on German targets by U. S. heavies in April.

There was considerable debate of using heavy bombers on rail targets. One school of thought said light bombers and fighter bombers should be used in order to save the B-24's and B-17's for more strategic objectives. Also there were concerns for the civilian population in the occupied countries. In the light of 20/20 hindsight, we now know we followed the correct course. One change was made in the bomber formation, however, instead of large groups, a six plane formation was used. Raids such as on my 2^nd mission to Chalon-Sur-Marne, large numbers of planes were required but later such as my 28^th mission to a road junction near Rouen it would have been utter folly to have used more than six planes in any one formation.