Today (Thursday 6 August) IWM’s newly-repainted North American B-25J Mitchell was revealed in its new paint scheme for the first time.

The aircraft now represents North American B-25J Mitchell 43-4064, which served with the 488th Bomb Squadron of the 340th Bomb Group, 12th Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, in the latter stages of the Second World War.

The 340th Bomb Group was the inspiration for the Bomb Group represented in American author Joseph Heller’s satirical novel Catch 22. Heller served as a bombardier in the 488th Bomb Squadron. Crews were not allocated a specific aircraft in the 340th Bomb Group and personnel were interchanged between crews and aircraft. As a result, Joseph Heller flew in almost all of the aircraft operated by the 340th Bomb Group.

Missions carried out by Heller and his fellow crew members in B-25J Mitchell 43-4064 formed the inspiration for some of the events in Heller’s classic novel Catch 22.

North American B-25J Mitchell 43-4064 can be seen at IWM Duxford in the Conservation in Action hangar and will be displayed in the newly-transformed American Air Museum, at IWM Duxford, when it reopens in spring 2016.

Chris Knapp, Section Head, Industrial and Large Object Conservation, IWM Duxford, said: “The Conservation Team carried out a structural survey and then a team of three Conservation staff repainted the aircraft within a six week period. I’m really pleased with the work they have done. The only element of the repainting that we didn’t undertake in-house was the nose art as we don’t have a sign writer on our staff. We have carried out painstaking research to ensure that the aircraft matches the original 43-4064. All lines and colour changes are taken from original photographs of the aircraft during the Second World War.”

www.iwm.org.uk

Tags: 2015, August, Duxford Imperial War Museum, News