RAF B-25 Mitchell III - 226 Squadron

[SilverArrows]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction for information about B-25 Mitchell III that were flow by 226 Squadron. Specifically I'm after specific aircraft details for any aircraft flown by New Zealander FLT/LT ER (Dick) Brunton RNZAF who flew with 226 Squadron. I try and build aircraft with a New Zealand connection so if I can find details about Brunton's aircraft I have the excuse I need to purchase the new HK Models B-25.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Blair M.

 

[Airframes]

It's difficult to track down such information, without having access to Log Book details, or perhaps a photo showing his use of a specific aircraft, more so with the Mitchell in RAF service in general, and the MkIII in particular.
I've been studying Mitchell squadrons, and planning to do a 1/48th scale MkIII, and have probably seen most published photos, plus some I got from the Imperial War Museum for an article 25 years ago.
The most numerous type was the MkII, in two versions, (B-25C and B-25D), and by the time the MkIII came in to squadron service, the Mitchell squadrons had moved to the Continent, in September 1944, and were based mainly at Melsbroek, near Brussels, with a mix of Mitchell MkII and MkIII aircraft.
The MkIII tended to be somewhat cleaner in appearance, compared to the earlier ones which had seen much service, and were delivered without 'Invasion' stripes, which were not applied in the field either, as it was thought not worth the effort, with camouflage being the standard Olive Drab (or equivalent colour Dark Green, a paint close to OD) over Neutral Gray, with Dull Red codes, those for 226 Sqn being MQ, and the individual letter was carried on the nose.
An example of a Mitchell III from the Squadron is serial number KJ561, codes MQ-Y
Not much, but hope it helps.
EDIT: Forgot to add - contrary to common belief, a crew did not always use the same aircraft all of the time, although 'senior' crews, particularly higher-ranking members such as Flight Commanders or Squadron COs, tended to do so. A crew might fly the same aircraft on a number of Ops,and might have a preference for, and try to 'stick' with a particular one, but generally, it would be the aircraft assigned for a particular operation.

 

[SilverArrows]

Thank you so much for the information – I have managed to track down a book written by Dick Brunton (My War 1939) which I have ordered. Hopefully I'll be able to gather some more detailed information from that and if so I'll added it here.
I build aircraft with a New Zealand connection and seeing the new HK Models B-25 I decided to see if I could find one flown by a Kiwi. I don't think the B-25 on the cover of Dick's book is a Mitchell III, I think it's a Mitchell II.
Hopefully Dick flew the Mitchell III and if so I'll be ordering the B-25J Mitchell to model as Dick's aircraft. All I need to do now is finish my Tamiya P-51 flown by Jack Cleland (RNZAF) when he was on secondment to the USAAF 363rd FS 357th FG.

 

[Airframes]

Glad to help out. The HK Models kit was originally going to be from Wings XL, and they also have (or had) the B-25 C/D (Mitchell II) announced as a future release. I'm assuming it will appear at some date.