5. The Versatile B-25
The B-25 was a versatile airplane, which allowed it to perform a variety of roles such as interdiction, close air support, and especially in Burma, battlefield isolation and destruction of communication links. Mitchells were initially intended for medium-altitude level bombing, but turned out to be ineffective over the dense vegetation of Asia and the Pacific. So the B-25s came down, and ended up performing superbly in low-level attacks with parachute-retarded bombs that slowed their descent, and thus allowed the Mitchells to exit the blast zone before detonation. Ground attack versions equipped with up to 18 forward-firing .50 caliber machine guns were also employed in strafing runs that shredded their targets.
B-25s were just as versatile at sea, where they proved lethal against Japanese shipping in skip-bombing attacks. On those missions, Mitchells skimmed the waves before releasing their bombs to skip over the water’s surface – just like a skipping stone – to their targets. In North Africa and the Mediterranean, B-25s were used in ground support, and in the Italian Campaign, they were employed in severing the enemy’s rail and road links. The US Army Air Force did not use B-25s in France and Northwestern Europe, but the RAF received 900 Mitchells through Lend-Lease and put them to good use in ground support roles, as did the Free French.
