345th "Air Apaches" Bomb Group B-25J Skinpack

The 345th was one of the best known Army Air Forces units in the entire Pacific theater during WWII. With their aggressive "on the deck" tactics and flamboyant paint schemes, they were a favorite for coverage in the press. That coverage was well deserved as the group had an amazing record of operations.

From the 345th Bomb Group Association website:
During the 26 months that the 345th was in combat, 58,562 combat hours on 10,609 strikes were made. 58,000 bombs with a total weight of 6340 tons were dropped and over twelve-and-a-half million rounds of ammunition were expended. They were credited with sinking 260 enemy vessels and damaging 275 others. They destroyed 260 Japanese planes on the ground and another 107 in aerial combat. Its units won four Distinguished Unit Citations, including one for an unescorted raid on Rabaul in October of 1943. This record came at a high cost, 712 men dead from all causes, 580 killed on flights. Another 111 men were killed on November 12th, 1944, when Kamikaze's attacked the SS Nelson and SS Waite in Leyte Gulf. Most of these men were ground personnel waiting for the 345th to be moved ashore to their new home in the Philippines. 177 planes were also lost. In all, the 345th participated in nine major campaigns in the Asia-Pacific Theater, these included the New Guinea, Bismark Archipelago, Northern Solomons, Southern Philippines, Luzon, Western Pacific, China Defensive, China Offensive, and Air Offensive against Japan. The 345th became one of the most decorated units of the war.

In August of 1945, the Air Apaches were given the great honor of intercepting and escorting the two Japanese Betty bombers that were transporting the peace emissaries who were to initiate the Japanese surrender. The Group was officially deactivated at Camp Stoneman, Ca., on December 29th, 1945, after just over three years of existence.

http://www.345thbombgroup.org/index.php

These skins are made to work best with the B-25J-1 plane found in the stock version of IL2. It will work with other models as found in some of the mod packs (such as the B-25J-15), although there may be some visual discrepancies.

Skins included in this pack, plus one generic per squadron:
498th Bomb Squadron
Jaunty Jo		43-36192
Miss B Havin		43-36176

499th Bomb Squadron
There are no J skins for the 499th other than the generic. This is because the 499th painted all of the noses of these planes like they did with the earlier model 'strafer' conversions. I have included skins for these planes in my J22 skin pack.

500th Bomb Squadron
Grand Slam		43-36204
Seabiscuit		43-36023

501st Bomb Squadron
Cactus Kitten		43-36041
White Wing		43-36172
Apache Princess		43-36152
Lazy Daisy Mae		43-36012
Reina del Pacifico	43-36020


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