Customer Reviews

B-25 Mitchell Units of the MTO

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The ubiquitous North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber saw service on all war fronts in World War II, serving with various American and Allied units. Steve Pace kicks off a four-volume set on the B-25 from Osprey Publishing with this volume on B-25 ops in the Mediterranean Theater.

Five bomb groups utilized the B-25 in the MTO, being assigned to the 9th and 12th Air Forces. Whether carrying out high-altitude bombing missions or low-level strafing runs, these five groups - the 12th, 310th, 319th, 321st and 340th - compiled an enviable combat record from August 1942 to war's end.

Pace devotes single chapters to each group along with a shorter section on the 58th BW. Each chapter is chock-full of combat accounts by B-25 pilots and crewmen along with many fine photos of aircraft, aircrew, in-flight combat scenes, crashes, etc. The book has over 90 black & white and 11 color photos along with 12 pages of color sideviews by Jim Laurier. MTO B-25s carried a great variety of paint schemes which are nicely illustrated by Laurier including two pages of marvelous nose art views.

B-25 MITCHELL UNITS OF THE MTO is a nicely done overview of those five bomb groups, an entertaining mix of exciting combat accounts, interesting photos and first-rate artwork. Here's hoping the next three volumes are as equally well done as this one.

I have a B-17 book that lists the crews of each plane and what happened to the plane and crew. I thought this might be similar to that book, but it isn't. That comment aside, the book does describe B25 missions and their importance. The book provides depictions of tail markings and some nose art.