345th "Air Apaches" Bomb Group B-25D 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-25D-5 plane found in modded versions of IL2. It will work with other models like the B-25C-25 and B-25D-20, but they will not look 100% "right". 

Skins included in this pack, plus one generic per squadron:
498th Bomb Squadron
Crabb 2nd	41-30517
Near Miss	41-30026
Red Wrath	41-30024
Old Baldy	41-30036

499th Bomb Squadron
Flying Ginny	41-30017
Hell's Belles	41-30019
Doodle	Bat	41-30015
Lil Shifless	41-30340
Dirty Dora	41-12971


500th Bomb Squadron
Boom-Boom	41-30051
Hell's Fire	41-30278
Tondelayo	41-30669
Rita's Wagon	41-30055
Mexican Spitfire 41-30592
Tin Liz		41-30074


501st Bomb Squadron
Quitch		41-30518
Meany		41-30082
The Gay Mare	41-30089
Little Thumper	41-30437



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