B-25 Mitchell – The Workhorse That Conquered the World

Video from the channel Iron Wings Archive about North American B-25 Mitchell, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 57:04. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A narrated documentary covering the full history of the North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber: its origin as a response to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, its development and testing, its combat use during the Second World War, the evolution of its variants, and its long later life in secondary military, civilian, and commemorative roles.

In the late 1930s, the US Army had heavy bombers such as the B-17 and light attack aircraft such as the A-20, but lacked a versatile twin-engine medium bomber. North American Aviation, drawing on experience with the XB-21, submitted proposal NA-62 in 1939, featuring two Wright R-2600 radial engines, a high wing, and tricycle landing gear. The aircraft was named after General Billy Mitchell, an advocate of air power. According to the documentary, the prototype first flew on 19 August 1940 from Mines Field, California, and testing led to the adoption of its characteristic twin tail. Its most famous debut was the Doolittle Raid of 18 April 1942, in which 16 B-25Bs took off from the carrier USS Hornet to attack Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

The B-25 fought in the Pacific with the Fifth Air Force, where it specialized in low-level attacks and skip-bombing against ships, playing a notable role in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943; it also operated in North Africa, Italy, and the China-Burma-India theater. The documentary reviews the variants: the B-25B of the Doolittle Raid, the mass-produced C and D, the G and H with a 75 mm cannon in the nose, and the J, the most numerous with over 4,300 built. It was used, among others, by the RAF, the Soviet Union, Brazil, China, and the Dutch East Indies. After the war it served as a trainer, a test aircraft, and in civilian roles such as aerial mapping or firefighting, and several examples still fly in airshows today.