The B-25 Mitchell went into service with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in 1941. It was named after Colonel 'Billy' Mitchell, the leading American advocate of air power and strategic bombing in the 1920s. B-25 production was increased after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which brought America into the war.

The aircraft first became famous when in April 1942 sixteen B-25s, led by Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, and flown from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, made a daring raid on Tokyo. The B-25 went on to become one of the most widely used aircraft of the Second World War, serving with the United States Army Air Forces, Navy, and Marine Corps, and supplied to the USSR, Great Britain and China.

B-25s operated on every major front of the war, and gained a high reputation as a tough, reliable low and medium altitude bomber with good handling characteristics. In total 9,815 were built. Twelve B-25 squadrons served the US 12th Air Force in the Mediterranean area and the 5th, 7th, 10th, 13th and 14th Air Forces had a total of 26 squadrons operating against the Japanese.