Good books on the A-20 or B-25 ?

[Icemaster109]

Hello

I wanted to know if there was any good books about the A-20 Havoc/DB-7 Boston or about the B-25 Mitchell?

I have always loved those planes, and wanted to know more about them in detail. Any and all recommendations are welcome.

PS. I am also interested in the A-26 as well.

Thanks

 

[evangilder]

The "In Action" books are great materials for information and photos. I own the B-25 one and it is very good:

Amazon.com: B-25 Mitchell in Action - Aircraft No. 34 (9780897470339): Ernest R. McDowell, Don Greer: Books

There is also one on the A-20
Amazon.com: A-20 Havoc in action - Aircraft No. 144 (9780897473170): Jim Mesko, Joe Sewell, Don Greer: Books

 

[RabidAlien]

My standby book right now (I always carry two with me...nothing worse than getting five minutes into an hour lunch break and realize that the last third of the book you're reading is just source references) is called "Wreaking Havoc: A Year in an A-20" by Joseph W. Rutter. Haven't started it yet, so I can't speak from having personal experience with the book yet, but it looks interesting.

Amazon.com: Wreaking Havoc: A Year in an A-20 (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) (9781585442898): Joseph W. Rutter: Books

 

[cptsmith]

The book "Flying Buccaneers" has alot of B-25 and A-20 info. It's about the air war in the Pacific. It's an older book and is probably out of print but a great read if you can find it.

 

[JoeB]

"Wreaking Havoc: A Year in an A-20" by Joseph W. Rutter. Haven't started it yet, so I can't speak from having personal experience with the book yet, but it looks interesting.

If you have it, I'd read it, it's well written. For those who don't have it, I'd note that the guy's unit (312th BG) didn't see *that* intense combat action when he was flying, enemy fighters never appear in the book, for example. He did his duty and again, he wrote of it well. And it gives a good idea the pilots' perspective of the A-20. If you're a real A-20 fan I'd get it, if you want a really gripping first hand WWII air combat saga, maybe not.

The books put out by this publisher are fantastic. "Warpath Across the Pacific" is about 345th BG, B-25, whole story from '43-35 with action pictures you have to see to believe, one after another. I haven't yet bought "Rampage of the Roaring 20's" 312th BG (which Rutter flew with) A-20's but another B-24 unit book I have of theirs is even better than Warpath as a book (though hard to beat those photo's) as in recent years they've done more research on the Japanese side of things.
http://airwar-worldwar2.com/

Joe

 

[Icemaster109]

Wow, Warpath Across the Pacific looks awesome. Its very expensive though? Is it out of print? If so are they going to reprint it? Or are there any other books out there about the 345th BG? or other strafing/skip bombing type units?

 

[frogg]

"Warpath across the Pacific" isn't out of print, it's just expensive. Even at double the cost it would be worth it though - it's that good!

A good memoir by a B-25 pilot is "Air Combat At 20 Feet" by Garrett Middlebrook.

 

[Violator]

Hi Icemaster — Warpath Across the Pacific IS awesome and worth every penny. The number of high-quality photos from strafing runs is staggering—we're talking about being able to see Japanese sailors bobbing in the water next to their belly-up ship and soldiers hunkering down in their AA pits. It also contains tons of great nose-art photos and is a superbly researched book.

As far as A-20s go, the same publisher offers Rampage of the Roarin' 20s, a book about the 312th BG. It is virtually identical in format to the previously mentioned book and again, well worth the money.

If you want to go into extreme technical detail about the B-25, check out B-25 Mitchell The Ultimate Look by William Wolf. He literally covers everything from rivets and fasteners to oil and fuel pumps, rescue equipment, radios, armament, and on and on.

Osprey Publishing is scheduled to release A-26 Invader Units of WW2 this October.

 

[RabidAlien]

I'm about done with "Wreaking Havoc", and have to say that its been a rather good read so far. Not too much technical detail, its the pilot's (Joe Rutter) memoirs vs. an aircraft manual, but its good. I wasn't all that familiar with the A20 before this; now I'm more aware of the role that it played in ground attack, troop support, and low-level bombing. Its a good read.

 

[syscom3]

I have all three unit histories from that publisher. The 345th, 22nd and 312th.

They are so good, the author has set the standard for what a unit history is supposed to look like.The number of pictures, maps and information is staggering.

Of course these books are expensive. But if you want a quality work that will have in your library for decades to come, then spend the money!

World War II Air Wars - Welcome to IHRA

 

[Vahe Demirjian]

There's a spree of recent books on the A-20, A-26, and B-25 on Amazon.com.