#3574192 - 05/17/12 04:00 AM
This Date in History : May 17th.1943
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Skylark
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This Date in History : May 17th.1943 B-17 Memphis Belle's 25th MissionThe 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
Last edited by Skylark; 05/17/12 04:01 AM.
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#3574759 - 05/18/12 05:19 AM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
wheelsup_cavu
Lifer
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Lifer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
Corona, California
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This Date in History : May 17th.1943 B-17 Memphis Belle's 25th MissionThe 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 The Memphis Belle is no longer in Memphis. The Air force confiscated it and moved it to Dayton for a full restoration. http://www.memphis-belle.com/The Memphis Belle crew was the first crew that completed the 25 mission mark. That wasn't entirely correct since there were some crew members who finished their 25 mission tour on the Memphis Belle who hadn't began their tour on the Memphis Belle. Robert Morgan addresses this in his book "The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot" Robert Morgan doesn't mention flying 29 missions over Europe in his book. He only mentions and lists 25 over Europe. He does mention flying 29 missions in the Pacific flying Dauntless Dottie though. He even had to make an emergency landing on Iwo Jima shortly after the island was taken by the Marines. Wheels
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#3574955 - 05/18/12 04:30 PM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Feb 2001
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Skylark
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Hi Wheels,Here's a listing of the Memphis Belle's ETO missions.... November 1942 - Brest, France 9 November 1942 - St. Nazaire, France 17 November 1942 - St. Nazaire 6 December 1942 - Lille, France 20 December 1942* - Romilly-sur-Seine, France 30 December 1942 - Lorient (flown by Lt. James A. Verinis) 3 January 1943 - St. Nazaire 13 January 1943 - Lille 23 January 1943 - Lorient, France 14 February 1943 - Hamm, Germany 16 February 1943 - St. Nazaire 27 February 1943* - Brest 6 March 1943 - Lorient 12 March 1943 - Rouen, France 13 March 1943 - Abbeville, France 22 March 1943 - Wilhelmshaven 28 March 1943 - Rouen 31 March 1943 - Rotterdam, Netherlands 16 April 1943 - Lorient 17 April 1943 - Bremen, Germany 1 May 1943 - St. Nazaire 13 May 1943 - Meaulte, France (flown by Lt. C.L. Anderson) 14 May 1943 - Kiel, Germany (flown by Lt. John H. Miller) 15 May 1943 - Wilhelmshaven 17 May 1943 - Lorient 19 May 1943* - Kiel (flown by Lt. Anderson) * Sources disagree on which two of these three missions the Memphis Belle received mission credits for. Morgan's crew completed the following missions in B-17s other than the Memphis Belle: 4 February 1943 - Emden, Germany (in B-17 DF-H 41-24515 Jersey Bounce) 26 February 1943 - Wilhelmshaven (in B-17 41-24515) 5 April 1943 - Antwerp, Belgium (in B-17 41-24480 Bad Penny) 4 May 1943 - Antwerp (in B-17 41-24527, The Great Speckled Bird) If this list is accurate. It would appear that the 'Belle' flow one more mission after the 17th of May. Such is the 'Fog of War'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.... The first pic above is of that B-17 that flow and completed those 25 missions. The last pic is of the crew that flow that specific last mission.... As to where she is now resides? Not sure were that may be but I hope she being taken good care of.... Cheers mate David
Last edited by Skylark; 05/18/12 04:40 PM.
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#3575408 - 05/19/12 06:03 AM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
wheelsup_cavu
Lifer
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Lifer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
Corona, California
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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.... The first B-17 to finish a combat tour was Hell's Angels. The first crew to finish was the Memphis Belle crew. In the book I referenced in my prior post Robert Morgan mentions this too. B-17 Hells Angels - http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2472 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. IMO, From a PR standpoint it makes more sense for them to play up the love angle between Margaret and Robert than it is to worry about which aircraft finished first. The PR Officer for the tour even requested that Robert and Margaret not get married before the PR tour by the crew was finished because it would play better to the audiences. As to where she is now resides? Not sure were that may be but I hope she being taken good care of.... She is definitely at the National Museum in Dayton. Wheels
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#3575566 - 05/19/12 04:52 PM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,097
Skylark
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Hi Wheels,Excellent research on your part. Thanks for all the updates and info mate Cheers David
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#3575637 - 05/19/12 07:26 PM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,248
PeterMBooth
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Pontypridd, South Wales,UK
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Hi Guys,
Interesting. I always understood i was named after Morgan's mother but having seen the artwork I guess that was wrong!
Pete
With increasing age should come wisdom and tolerance, but as the saying goes, "there is no fool like an old fool" as I prove regularly!
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#3575653 - 05/19/12 07:40 PM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,097
Skylark
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Joined: Feb 2001
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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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
Last edited by Skylark; 05/19/12 07:43 PM.
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#3576447 - 05/21/12 01:47 AM
Re: This Date in History : May 17th.1943
[Re: Skylark]
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
wheelsup_cavu
Lifer
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Lifer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 26,579
Corona, California
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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 George Petty Source: http://www.memphis-belle.com/belle_story.htmThe 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". This may be of interest too. Source: http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/Two_Memphis_Belles.html From the April/May 1990 issue of Air & Space/Smithsonian interview shortly before Margaret died. 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.”
*Added by me Wheels
Last edited by wheelsup_cavu; 05/23/12 03:08 AM. Reason: I fixed the second link. I had used the first link for both quotes.
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