North American Mitchell

Medium bomber · North American Aviation · United States

Typical crew6
Engines2 × Wright Cyclone
First flight1940
Number built9,816

Photographs

Image from an Album (AL-77) belonging to Charles Rector, who was a pilot whose career spanned several generations. Some highlights of his life include working for Tallmantz aviation on many major Hollywood Movies, and working as Mick Jagger's pilot. More info on Rector can be found here: www.dmairfield.com/people/rector_ca/index.html SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AL77A-118_(14497896136).jpgView source & full licence →
:Image title: Aircraft from world war ii flying over water :Image from Public domain images website, http://www.public-domain-image.com/full-image/vintage-photography-public-domain-images-pictures/history-photography-pictures/aircraft-from-world-war-ii-flying-over-water.jpg.html
ⓘ licence & creditHalter Leo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_from_world_war_ii_flying_over_water.jpgView source & full licence →
:Image title: Aircraft from world war ii flying over water in mission :Image from Public domain images website, http://www.public-domain-image.com/full-image/vintage-photography-public-domain-images-pictures/history-photography-pictures/aircraft-from-world-war-ii-flying-over-water-in-mission.jpg.html
ⓘ licence & creditHalter Leo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_from_world_war_ii_flying_over_water_in_mission.jpgView source & full licence →
:Image title: Aircraft from world war ii flying on sky :Image from Public domain images website, http://www.public-domain-image.com/full-image/vintage-photography-public-domain-images-pictures/history-photography-pictures/aircraft-from-world-war-ii-flying-on-sky.jpg.html
ⓘ licence & creditHalter Leo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_from_world_war_ii_flying_on_sky.jpgView source & full licence →
:Image title: Aircraft from world war ii flying on mission :Image from Public domain images website, http://www.public-domain-image.com/full-image/vintage-photography-public-domain-images-pictures/history-photography-pictures/aircraft-from-world-war-ii-flying-on-mission.jpg.html
ⓘ licence & creditHalter Leo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_from_world_war_ii_flying_on_mission.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditFotograaf Onbekend / DLC / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aankomst_op_het_vliegveld_Zuid_Bali_Generaal_Buurman_van_Vreeden_wordt_begroet_,_Bestanddeelnr_64-5-4.jpgView source & full licence →
Title: A fast, hard-hitting new A-20 [i.e., B-25] attack bomber is brought for a test hop to the flight line at the Long Beach, Calif., plant of Douglas Aircraft Company Creator(s): Palmer, Alfred T., photographer Date Created/Published: 1942 Oct. Medium: 1 transparency : color. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-fsac-1a35354 (digital file from original transparency) LC-USW361-126 (color film copy slide) Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication. Call Number: LC-USW36-126 [P&P] Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Notes: Identified as a B-25 aircraft. (Source: J. Barry, May 1995). Title from FSA or OWI agency caption. Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944. General information about the FSA/OWI Color Photographs is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsac Additional information about this photograph might be available through the Flickr Commons project at https://www.flickr
ⓘ licence & creditPalmer, Alfred T., photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_fast,_hard-hitting_new_A-20_1a35354v.jpgView source & full licence →
8th Bombardment Squadron with a B-25 Mitchell, Dobodura Airfield, New Guinea
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:8th_Bombardment_Squadron_-_Dobodura.jpgView source & full licence →
77th Bomb Squadron B-25s Shemya AAF
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:77th_Bomb_Squadron_B-25s_Shemya_AAF.jpgView source & full licence →
ARMORERS place a .50-caliber aircraft Browning machine gun M2A1 in the nose of a North American B–25 at the airfield on Betio Island (Hawkins Field (Tarawa)) as interested natives look on. This gun was considered one of the most reliable weapons of the war.
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:41st_Bombardment_Group_-_Hawkins_Field_(Tarawa).jpgView source & full licence →
B-25C Mitchell, tail number 41-12443, known as "Mortimer" flew 15 missions from Charters Towers and the crew was credited with shooting down 12 Japanese aircraft. (Photo courtesy of 3rd Wing History Office)
ⓘ licence & creditUS Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3d_Bomb_Group_B-24.jpgView source & full licence →
B-25C "Tokyo Sleeper" of the 38th Bombardment Group, World War II
ⓘ licence & creditUSAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:38thbw-tokyosleeper-b25.jpgView source & full licence →
3500th Pilot Training Wing, North American TB-25J-30-32-NC Mitchell 44-86823 — in 1959. :*This was the last World War II aircraft used for training by U.S. Air Training Command.
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3500th_Pilot_Training_Wing_North_American_TB-25J-30-32-NC_Mitchell_44-86823_1959.jpgView source & full licence →
Warships and United States bombers guard the Australian convoy massing for the invasion of the Brunei Bay area in Borneo, N.E.I. North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers of the 13th AAF "Crusaders" group supplied air power for the attacking (U.S. Air Force Number 57859AC)
ⓘ licence & creditNational Archives Catalog / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:342-FH-3A31738-57859AC.jpgView source & full licence →
Original Caption (included on image): Crew member cleaning the ashes and cinders off the wing of a North American B-25 of the 340th Bomb Group. This was caused by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on 23 March 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:340th_Bombardment_Group_B-25_Mitchell_covered_with_ash_from_Mount_Vesuvius.jpgView source & full licence →
B-25Js of the 340th Bombardment Group, 486th Bombardment Squadron
ⓘ licence & creditUSAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:340bg-2.jpgView source & full licence →
B-25J of the 489th Bombardment Squadron, 340th Bombardment Group (World War II)
ⓘ licence & creditUSAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:340bg-1.jpgView source & full licence →
N6123C Boeing B-25J Mitchell Red Bull 2007-06 25y NATO AWACS - Geilenkirchen (ETNG)
ⓘ licence & creditJim van de Burgt from Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007,_B-25J_Mitchell,_Geilenkirchen,_N6123C,_Red_Bull_-_1010656_(54042208009).jpgView source & full licence →
A B-25 and three P-40s fly over the funeral of Lt. Col. Robert Hite April 2, 2015, in Camden, Ark. Hite, 95, was one of the World War II Doolittle Toyko Raiders and died March 29, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn.
ⓘ licence & creditU.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Mercedes Muro / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:150402-F-YM511-075_Flyover_at_the_Funeral_of_Robert_Hite_(2015).jpgView source & full licence →

About

The North American Mitchell gave the RAF a modern medium bomber for its tactical campaign over north-west Europe. The American B-25 reached Britain in quantity — just over 700 were supplied — and equipped the day-bomber squadrons of No. 2 Group, replacing the obsolescent Bristol Blenheim.

The Mitchell flew its first RAF operation on 22 January 1943, when aircraft of Nos. 98 and 180 Squadrons attacked targets at Ghent. As part of the Second Tactical Air Force, squadrons including 98, 180, 226 and the Dutch-manned 320 struck airfields, marshalling yards, communications and coastal defences in France and the Low Countries, softening German positions before the Normandy invasion. After D-Day the squadrons moved to bases in France and Belgium to keep pace with the advancing armies. Reliable, well-armed and steady, the Mitchell was a mainstay of British medium-bomber operations through to the end of the war.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including North American B-25 Mitchell — historyofwar.org and North American B-25 Mitchell — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.