Royce Special Mission to Mindanao The Royce special mission back to the Philippines consisted of 10 B-25s and three B-17s, which took off from Darwin, Australia, on April 11, 1942, for the 1,500 mile flight to Mindanao. After arriving at their forward airfields, the planes flew bombing missions against Japanese ships, airfields and harbor facilities in the Philippines. One B-17 was destroyed when it was bombed while parked on the airfield, but the other two B-17s and all the B-25s returned safely to Australia after two days of operations. Click here to return to the Retreat in the Pacific Overview. Find Out More Related Fact Sheets North American B-25B Mitchell Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Note: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the National Museum of the USAF, the U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense, of the external website, or the information, products or services contained therein.