Along the lines of the brutality and war crimes, there were some mentions of captured B-25 crews by the Japs between 1943-1945. The book I read was "Warpath Across The Pacific", about the 345th Bomb group from inception through the end of the war.
If a crew was attacking an island or base along the ocean and was shot up, they flew as far out to sea as possible to attempt to avoid capture.
The 345th were called the "Apaches" thus the reference to Warpath in the title of the book. Anyway there were several accounts of captured crews held and brutalized during captivity.
When the first A-bomb was dropped the Japanese did not surrender. After the second one it took them a few days still to decide the right course of action. When word got to this one Jap base where some U.S. crews were held that Japan had surrendered, the guy in charge was so mad they surrendered, that they executed all 12 of the U.S. crews from the 345th, but beheading them. This was technically after the war ended. Those guys were caught and tried for war crimes though.
Speaking of the 345th, they flew missions during this entire time, and several planes were lost, including one on the last day of the war.
Many of these B-25's were modified with nose guns and were strafers as well as bombers. They were a very versatile aircraft. Also these aircraft did quite well in water landings. Thats because the bombay was a self-contained area which usually created a little air pocket. This gave crews a chance to get out before the rest of the plane filled up with water. Also on top of the fuselage was a compartment with a raft that could be pulled out for the crews. If the plane went down like this some of the other B-25's would circle around awhile for cover, and maybe drop an extra raft if needed, then radio subs in the area the location of the crews. All interesting stuff, and this book was so detailed on each mission, crew, and aircraft. A recommended read if you can find a used copy someplace(Amazon, etc).
Greg
