B-25Bs aboard USS
Hornet Asia-Pacific Most B-25s in American service were used in
the war against Japan in Asia and the Pacific. The Mitchell fought from the North to the South Pacific and the Far East. These areas included the campaigns in the
Aleutian Islands,
Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands,
New Britain, China, Burma, and the
island hopping campaign in the Central Pacific, as well as in the
Doolittle Raid. The aircraft's potential as a ground-
attack aircraft emerged during the Pacific war. The jungle environment reduced the usefulness of medium-level bombing, and made low-level attack the best tactic. Using similar
mast height level tactics and
skip bombing, the B-25 proved itself to be a capable anti-shipping weapon and sank many enemy sea vessels. An ever-increasing number of forward firing guns made the B-25 a formidable
strafing aircraft for island warfare. The
Paul Gunn and Jack Fox modified strafer models with four .50 caliber guns were the B-25C1/D1, while the factory B-25J was equipped with a factory made eight gun strafer nose. Operations there against Axis airfields and motorized-vehicle columns supported the ground actions of the
Second Battle of El Alamein. Thereafter, the aircraft took part in the rest of the
campaign in North Africa, the
invasion of Sicily, and the
advance up Italy. In the Strait of Messina to the Aegean Sea, the B-25 conducted sea sweeps as part of the coastal air forces. In Italy, the B-25 was used in the
ground attack role, concentrating on attacks against road and rail links in Italy, Austria, and the Balkans. The B-25 had a longer range than the
Douglas A-20 Havoc and
Douglas A-26 Invader, allowing it to reach further into occupied Europe. The five bombardment groups – 20 squadrons – of the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces that used the B-25 in the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations were the only U.S. units to employ the B-25 in Europe.
Europe In October 1943, the
Ninth Air Force 340th was transferred from the African and Mediterranean theater to England in support of the assault on Germany. In November 1944 the medium bombers eliminated the use of electric locomotives along
Brenner Pass.
Use as a gunship In antishipping operations, the USAAF had an urgent need for hard-hitting aircraft, and North American responded with the B-25G. In this series, the transparent nose and bombardier/navigator position was changed for a shorter, hatched nose with two fixed .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and a manually loaded
75 mm (2.95 in) M4 cannon. The B-25H series continued the development of the gunship version. NAA Inglewood produced 1000. The H had even more firepower; most replaced the M4 gun with the lighter
T13E1, The H series normally came from the factory mounting four fixed, forward-firing .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose; four in a pair of under-cockpit
conformal flank-mount gun pod packages (two guns per side); two more in the manned dorsal turret, relocated forward to a position just behind the cockpit (which became standard for the J-model); one each in a pair of new waist positions, introduced simultaneously with the forward-relocated dorsal turret; and lastly, a pair of guns in a new tail-gunner's position. Company promotional material bragged that the B-25H could "bring to bear 10 machine guns coming and four going, in addition to the 75 mm cannon, eight
rockets, and 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) of bombs." The H had a modified cockpit with single flight controls operated by the pilot. The co-pilot's station and controls were removed and replaced by a smaller seat used by the navigator/cannoneer, The radio operator crew position was aft of the bomb bay with access to the waist guns. Factory production totals were 405 B-25Gs and 1,000 B-25Hs, with 248 of the latter being used by the Navy as PBJ-1Hs.
Return to medium bomber for World War II Weekend 2015 in
Reading, Pennsylvania The final, and most numerous, series of the Mitchell, the
B-25J, looked less like earlier series apart from the well-glazed bombardier's nose of nearly identical appearance to the earliest B-25 subtypes. was flown to
Eglin AFB, Florida, from
Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, on 21 May 1960, the last flight by a USAF B-25. It was presented by Brigadier General A. J. Russell, Commander of
SAC's
822d Air Division at Turner AFB, to the Air Proving Ground Center Commander, Brigadier General Robert H. Warren. He in turn presented the bomber to
Valparaiso, Florida, Mayor Randall Roberts on behalf of the Niceville-Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce. Four of the original
Tokyo Raiders were present for the ceremony, Colonel (later Major General)
David Jones, Colonel Jack Simms, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Manske, and retired Master Sergeant Edwin W. Horton. It was donated back to the
Air Force Armament Museum around 1974 and marked as Doolittle's
40-2344.
U.S. Navy and USMC The U.S. Navy designation for the Mitchell B-25 was the PBJ-1, similarly the PBJ-1C and PBJ-1D reflected their AAF counterparts. Night search PBJs incorporated a retractable
APS-3 radome scope. Under the pre-1962 USN/USMC/USCG aircraft designation system, PBJ-1 stood for Patrol (P) Bomber (B) built by North American Aviation (J), first variant (-1) under the
existing American naval aircraft designation system of the era. In early 1943, the Navy took delivery of an initial 706 B-25s, assigned to the Marine Corps for patrol and anti-submarine duties initially, but then transitioning into an attack aircraft with bombs, torpedoes and radar directed rockets. The PBJ had its origin in an inter-service agreement of mid-1942 between the Navy and the USAAF exchanging the Boeing Renton plant for the Kansas plant for
B-29 Superfortress production. The
Boeing XPBB Sea Ranger flying boat, competing for B-29 engines, was cancelled in exchange for part of the Kansas City Mitchell production. On 1 March 1943, VMB-413 was the first of sixteen USMC squadrons equipped with PBJs, all commissioned at
MCAS Cherry Point. The large quantities of B-25H and J series became known as PBJ-1H and PBJ-1J, respectively.
Royal Air Force Great Britain received 910 B-25s during WWII, but many were returned afterwards. No 418 (Auxiliary) Squadron received its first Mitchell IIs in January 1947. It was followed by No 406 (auxiliary), which flew Mitchell IIs and IIIs from April 1947 to June 1958. No 418 operated a mix of IIs and IIIs until March 1958. No 12 Squadron of Air Transport Command also flew Mitchell IIIs along with other types from September 1956 to November 1960. In 1951, the RCAF received an additional 75 B-25Js from USAF stocks to make up for attrition and to equip various second-line units.
Royal Australian Air Force The Australians received Mitchells by the spring of 1944. The joint Australian-Dutch
No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF had more than enough Mitchells for one squadron, so the surplus went to re-equip the RAAF's
No. 2 Squadron, replacing their
Beauforts.
Dutch Air Force in 1943 During World War II, the Mitchell served in fairly large numbers with the Air Force of the Dutch government-in-exile. They participated in combat in the
East Indies, as well as on the European front. On 30 June 1941, the Netherlands Purchasing Commission, acting on behalf of the Dutch government-in-exile in London, signed a contract with North American Aviation for 162 B-25C aircraft. The bombers were to be delivered to the
Netherlands East Indies to help deter any Japanese threatened expansion into the region. via the Alaska–Siberia
ALSIB ferry route. A total of 870 B-25s were sent to the Soviets, meaning that 8 aircraft were lost during transportation. Other damaged B-25s arrived or crashed in the Far East of Russia, and one Doolittle Raid aircraft landed there short of fuel after attacking Japan. This lone airworthy Doolittle Raid aircraft to reach the Soviet Union was lost in a hangar fire in the early 1950s while undergoing routine maintenance. In general, the B-25 was operated as a ground-support and tactical
day bomber (as similar Douglas A-20 Havocs were used). It saw action in fights from Stalingrad (with B/C/D models) to the German surrender during May 1945 (with G/J types). The B-25s that remained in Soviet Air Force service after the war were assigned the
NATO reporting name "Bank".
China Well over 100 B-25Cs and Ds were supplied to the
Nationalist Chinese during the
Second Sino-Japanese War. An unknown number were abandoned with the retreat to Formosa.
Indonesia Indonesian Air Force received 25 ex-Dutch B-25 Mitchells after the end of
Indonesian National Revolution in 1950, consisting of 5 B-25C photo-reconnaissance, 1 B-25C transport, 10 B-25J bombers and 9 B-25J gunship/strafer variants. A pair of B-25J were used to attack a radio station in
Ambon during
South Maluku rebellion in August 1950. They were used to bomb rebel targets during the
PRRI and
Permesta rebellions in 1958, where one was hit by anti-aircraft fire and three were damaged by strafing run from rebel-flown
B-26 Invader. To extend its service life, the B-25s were sent to Hong Kong for major overhaul in 1959–1960. The last Indonesian B-25s were retired in 1974. == Variants ==