How accurate is the Memphis Belle movie?
Memphis Belle is a fictionalization of the 1944 documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress by director William Wyler, about the 25th and last mission of an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, the Memphis Belle, based in England during World War II.
Are any of the crew members of the Memphis Belle still alive?
Robert Hanson, the last surviving crew member of the famed Memphis Belle B-17 bomber of World War Two, has died of congestive heart failure. He was 85. Hanson and his wife, Irene, had moved from Arizona to Albuquerque recently to be close to their daughter.
What was special about the Memphis Belle?
Of the 12,750 B-17s produced, Memphis Belle is famous for being the first Eighth Air Force bomber to complete 25 combat missions over occupied Europe without a crewman being killed and returning to the United States.
What Bomb Group was the Memphis Belle?
91st bomb group
The Memphis Belle flew in the 91st bomb group of the Eighth Air Force. The bomb group of Twelve o’Clock High is the 918th. During the briefing for the last Memphis Belle mission one of the planes in the mission is commanded by a pilot named Lay.
Is the Memphis Belle in a museum?
It is currently preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.
How many B-17 fly 25 missions are there?
At the start of the operations, it was remarkable to see a B-17 Flying Fortress complete 25 and later 35 missions.
Where is the crew of the Memphis Belle now?
Who was the pilot of the Memphis Belle?
Robert K. Morgan
| Robert K. Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Major Robert Morgan, was pilot of B-29 Superfortress “Dauntless Dotty” and B-17 Flying Fortress “Memphis Belle” | |
| Nickname(s) | Andy |
| Born | July 31, 1918 Asheville, North Carolina |
| Died | May 15, 2004 (aged 85) Asheville, North Carolina |
When was the last flight of the Memphis Belle?
May 17, 1943
On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes the first B-17 crew to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States. The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base.
Was the Memphis Belle damaged?
The Memphis Belle was damaged on seven of its 25 missions, but remarkably, none of the crewmembers were ever badly injured, although tail gunner John Quinlan later received the Purple Heart for wounds he sustained during a mission. The closest call came during a mission to Lorient, France, on Jan.
When was the Memphis Belle last mission?
Can the restored Memphis Belle fly?
“It was a very stable airplane,” said Hunt about the Belle. “It was a little beat up when I flew it because it had completed its war service. But it flew real nice and landed easy.” Hunt served as a ferry pilot during World War II, flying “almost everything in the [USAAF] inventory.”