This Date in History : May 17th.1943
B-17 Memphis Belle's 25th Mission



The Memphis Belle, a Boeing-built B-17F-10-BO, USAAF Serial No. 41-24485,
was added to the USAAF inventory on 15 July 1942, and delivered in September 1942
to the 91st Bomb Group at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine. She deployed to Prestwick, Scotland,
on 30 September 1942, to a temporary base at RAF Kimbolton on 1 October,
and then to her permanent base at Bassingbourn, England, on 14 October.
Each side of the fuselage bore the unit identification markings of the 324th Bomb Squadron(Heavy)-'DF-A'.

Captain Robert Morgan's crew flew 29 combat missions with the 324th Bomb Squadron,
all but four in the Memphis Belle.




Named after Capt. Morgan's wartime sweetheart, Miss Margaret Polk, the "Memphis Belle"
was based at Bassingbourn, England and was the first B-17 to complete 25 combat missions
and keep her entire crew alive - this at a time when eight out of ten aircraft
were being shot down over Europe. During ten months of service the "Memphis Belle" dropped
over 60 tons of bombs on France, Belgium and Germany, shot down eight enemy fighters,
and covered over 20,000 combat miles.
The "Memphis Belle" is now on display in Memphis, Tennessee.




Returning from a raid over Lorient, France on the 17th May 1943
the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Memphis Belle" came under close attack
from Fw190s and Me109s. Fortunately no aircraft were lost and very little damage
sustained to the 91st Bomb Group aircraft during this mission -
the 25th and final one in the "Memphis Belle" for Captain Robert Morgan




The ground crews of the 91st Bomber Group stand on the field of Bassingbourn
watching the bombers return from their mission. They have particularly been anticipating
the return of one bomber, the Memphis Belle, returning from her 25th and final mission.
Upon her return Capt. Morgan makes his victory pass over the airfield, coming in so low
that he seems to “cut the grass”. As he passes the control tower he pulls the Belle up,
bringing her almost directly over the heads of the ground crews.




The crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress "Memphis Belle" is shown at an air base in England
after completing 25 missions over enemy territory on May 17, 1943.

They are, left to right: Tech. Sgt. Harold P. Loch of Green Bay, Wis., top turret gunner;
Staff Sgt. Cecil H. Scott of Altoona, Penn., ball turret gunner;
Tech. Sgt. Robert J, Hanson of Walla Walla, Wash., radio operator;
Capt. James A. Verinis, New Haven, Conn., co-pilot;
Capt. Robert K. Morgan of Ashville, N. C., pilot;
Capt. Charles B. Leighton of Lansing, Mich., navigator;
Staff Sgt. John P. Quinlan of Yonkers, N. Y., tail gunner;
Staff Sgt. Casimer A. Nastal of Detroit, Mich., waist gunner;
Capt. Vincent B. Evans of Henderson, Texas, bombardier
and Staff Sgt. Clarence E. Wichell of Oak Park, Ill., waist gunner.



Cheers mates
David

I think what history celebrates is the first B-17, in the 8thUSAAF,
that successfully completed 25 missions over the ETO.
It was more about the aircraft 'Memphis Belle' than the crew who flow her....

In addition to being the first 8th Air Force B-17 to complete 25 combat missions, Hell's Angels completed 48 missions without ever turning back from its assigned target.

As to where she is now resides?
Not sure were that may be but I hope she being taken good care of....

Giving that noseart of Memphis Belle a second look.
I'd say that the lady may have been inspired by the Pinup artist Vargas.....


Cheers mates
David

The noseart was painted on the Belle by Cpl. Tony Starcer. The famous logo was designed by the famous artist George Petty, who created a series of pin-up girls for Esquire Magazine know as the "Petty Girls".

Margaret was catapulted into the public eye when her fiancé, Captain Robert Morgan, returned to Memphis from the war in England flying “her” B-17, the Memphis Belle. Morgan had named it after Margaret, and the city dutifully adopted both the couple and the bomber. Local bigwigs were on hand when it touched down at Memphis Municipal Airport on June 19, 1943, but Margaret was oblivious to the reporters assigned to cover her. When the Memphis Belle finally landed on that summer day and Bob Morgan jumped out to sweep Margaret into his arms, the photo of their embrace made the front page of the afternoon paper.

Margaret says that was the happiest day of her life. “All I could think about was that he was coming home and we were going to get married,” she says. “But anytime the government gets involved they’ll screw things up. And they wanted a romance, not a marriage.” The wedding was postponed.

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On August 1, Margaret phoned him (Robert Morgan*) at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. “I don’t remember what made me so mad,” she says. “Some woman must have answered the telephone, or she must have come and talked to him while he was talking to me. But something happened.” Margaret broke the engagement.

“I was just devastated,” she says. “He may have tried to call the next day, but I went over to my friend’s house. I remember sitting out on her front porch just crying my heart out.”

Margaret also called her Army Air Forces contact. “He said, ‘You can’t break that engagement.’ I said, ‘Well, the hell I can’t. I’ve already done it.’ He said, ‘You hold fire now, I’ll get back to you.’ Then he called me back and said, ‘Well, don’t you get it to the newspapers. Let’s keep this under cover.’ But it was too late.”