Corgi AA35303 North American B-25J Mitchell United States Army Air Force 44-29600 Named Bats Outa Hell 499th BS/345th BG, 5th Air Force, new Guinea, 1943

Assigned to the 5th Air Force, the 345th entered combat on June 30, 1943 from New Guinea. Missions flown were: Bombing/strafing airfields and installations, attacking shipping, supporting ground forces, dropping supplies and flying courier and reconnaissance missions. The 499th Bombardment Squadron were commonly known as GÇÿBats outsGÇÖ HellGÇÖ due to their brightly painted nose scheme depicting a bats head. Seen here in the less common bare metal finish, this was one of the most famous and intimidating nose art schemes of the Second World War.