[Tallguy]

I recall reading a book about field modified variants flying out of Australia, no bombs, no bombardier, but they mounted 14 (that's right, fourteen) .50 cal M2 machine guns, all firing forward, controlled by the pilot. Sort of like a big fighter.

A friend of the family was a radio operator on a 'field-modified' B25 Mitchell. His had the 75-mm nose cannon & the .50 cal blisters on the sides of the fuselage. They flew mostly out of New Guinea looking for Japanese troop ships. He said that the plane seemed to stop momentarily when the gun was fired.

Legend has it that the engineers from North American refused to build planes with the nose cannon until they saw it with their own eyes. Their calculations told them that the plane would stall, I guess.

[Oatka]

Interesting tales [B-25 nose armament].

I remember reading that the pilot and co-pilot stated that the gun lay between them and that the plane seemed to "hesitate" when it fired. They could see the gun recoil right beside them. I guess the bombardier fed the shells into the breech.

I'd also guess that when the 3-inch wing mounted rockets appeared, this "upgrade" was obsolete.