Osprey Combat Aircraft 32 : B-25 Mitchell Units of the MTO

From November 1942 through to May 1945, the backbone of the USAAF's medium bomber force was provided by the clutch of bomb groups equipped with the B-25 Mitchell. First seeing action in North Africa in the wake of Operation Torch, and in the Battle of El Alamein, the 'bombing twin' proved to one of the most successful allied combat types in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations (MTO). Possessing a greater bombload, better range and higher top speed than the previous generation of British and American medium bombers that had struggled to defeat the axis powers in-theatre since 1940, the B-25 was to equip five USAAF bomb groups. From low-altitude ship strafing over the Mediterranean to high-altitude bombing runs on the Po River Valley, the B-25s in the MTO proved themselves to be a most successful brood of combat aircraft. The first of four books planned for the Combat Aircraft series on the Mitchell, this book includes first-hand accounts, 30 colour profiles and more than 100 colour and black and white photographs of the B-25 in the MTO. Text by Steve Pace with illustrations by Iain Wyllie.

Contents

• The Twelfth Air Force
• 12th Airforce B-25 Mitchell Units in the MTO
• The 12th Bomb Group (Medium) - The Earthquakers
• The 310th Group (Medium)
• The 319th Group (Medium)
• The 321st Group (Medium)
• The 340th Group (Medium)
• Appendices
• Colour Plates Commentary