B-25 Mitchell gunship aerial victories

[bearoutwest]

Are there any details of any pilots scoring front-gun kills with the B-25 Mitchell strafer/gunships?

Regards,
...geoff

[Adriano Baumgartner]

Hello,
The book “Flying Scoreboards: Aircraft Mission and Kill Markings” by Ernest R. McDowell (Schiffer) do have some nice nose arts of some of the machines you are looking for, however the claims seems to have been made by the gunners, not by the pilot with the frontal and lateral guns.

https://www.amazon.com.br/Flying-Sco.../dp/0897473051

S/Sgt John A. Murphy, from “Tondelayo” for instance, was credited with 5 aerial victories during an engagement that resulted in 4 more Japanese fighters being credited to the crew, on the 18th October 1943. This seems certainly a record for a single combat sortie and single gunner. (354th BG)

Most humbly yours

Adriano

[knusel]

Hi guys,

this is a fascinating topic but I think "Tondelayo" belonged to the 345. Bombardment Group.

Have a good start into the weekend,

Michael

[keith A]

If I remember correctly apparently the Japanese only lost one aircraft in the Tondelayo engagement - whoever fired the fatal shots.

[Edward]

Geoff,

Several 3rd and 38th BG B-25 strafer pilots claimed Japanese fighters and floatplane kills while flying low level missions over the Wewak airdrome complex in 1943. I will be covering the 3rd BG pilots in volume 2 of Harvest of the Grim Reapers (late 2023).

Edward

[R Leonard]

If the planes were shot up while on the ground, by the AAF's own rules, those were not victories, rather mere targets destroyed.

[Edward]

I'm talking about air-to-air kills which is the subject of this thread.

[bearoutwest]

Thank you for the quick responses, gents.

I've been doing background research on the air war over New Guinea, and as usual got totally sidetracked at the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, by random thoughts about the A-20s, Beaufighters and B-25 "gunships". Whereas the A-20s (and P-70s) and the Beaufighters receive a fair amount of coverage in air-to-air and airfield attacks, the B-25 gets much less "page-time". Hence, the question. I gather it's more due to slightly different roles played by the B-25, with its more useful bomb-load at range.

My interest is more with the pilot operated front-gun/side-packet-gun actions, and whether there were defensive fights where the pilots let rip, or night intruder missions where the pilot actively hunted aerial targets. I also wondered if there were any aerial encounters between groups of passing bombers where the B-25 might have jumped at a chance to play interceptor (though that might remain the realm of the comic book).

Edward,
I don't think I really needed another excuse to buy Volume 2! Slowly going back and absorbing Volume 1 after hurriedly scanning through it for mention of RAAF secondees in the early USAAF bomber squadrons. As you said, no mention (sadly) of Roy Goon by name. (By the way, my article on his wartime career in the RAAF was published in The Aviation Historian Issue 42.)

Thanks again, one and all.
...geoff

[knusel]

Good morning,

the Marines flew 8390 missions with B-25's designated as PBJ but curiously they scored of kills at all.

Best greetings from Switzerland,

Michael

[bearoutwest]

A few snippets of info from Jerry Scutts' "Marine Mitchells in WW2" on USMC PBJ air-to-air actions:

22 Mar 1944 (around dusk), Maj JK Smith (VMB-413) shot down by 4x A6Ms of 253rd Kokutai.

9 Jun 1944 Lt WJ Hopper (VMB-423) attacked over Rabaul by 2x A6M2. Despite 4 attacking passes, neither IJN or USMC aircraft suffered any damage.

(VMB-612)
8 Feb 1945 VMB-612 PBJ intercepted by unidentified Japanese aircraft near Iwo Jima, but evaded successfully at low level.

23/24 May 1945, VMB-612 makes night shipping raids off coast of Japan, encountering and shaking off two Japanese night-fighters.

(VMB-612 Detachment Philippines)
3 May 1945, Lt Bennett, searching for a downed PBJ, encounters and chases a Ki-21 Sally. The Sally manages to land on Tagoloan airfield before the Mitchell destroys it on the ground. (This is the closest to a recorded air-to-air victory for the PBJs.)


There were a number of undetailed night losses for the PBJs which may (or not) have been from aerial encounters.


...geoff