The True Story Of The Memphis Belle

The True Story Of The Memphis Belle

Larger than Life: The True Story of the Memphis Belle
Invoice Wilson
Hollywood has never let details get in the best way of a great story. Case in point: the 1990 film Memphis Belle. The movie invents characters, occasions, and entire missions for the sake of dramatic license. After all, this by no means detracts from the storied status earned by the Belle, or from the valor of the men who flew in it.
The United States Military Air Pressure (USAAF) added the Memphis Belle to its inventory on July 15, 1942. In September of that year the aircraft arrived in Bangor Maine, the place it joined the 91st Heavy Bombardment Group. Its first combat mission occurred on November 7, 1942. The plane flew 24 additional missions, with the final one occurring on May 19, 1943.
The name Memphis Belle came from pilot Robert Okay. Morgan, who named the plane in honor of Margaret Polk, the lady he liked; she lived in Memphis Tennessee. Morgan was from Asheville, North Carolina.
The aircraft was a B-17 Flying Fortress, essentially the most celebrated plane of its sort during World War II. In early testing it beat out competing designs from both Douglas and Martin, exceeding the military's expectations in every way.
First introduced in 1935 because the Boeing Model 299, the B-17 developed via a collection of design enhancements each before and during the battle. Total bomb carrying capability expanded from 2000 to 8000 kilos, and an extra gun turret was installed underneath the chin.
In the course of the struggle, military commanders limited a crew's tour of duty to 25 missions; but the odds of a single crew surviving that lengthy were slim certainly. In 1942 and 1943, the Allies nonetheless had an extended approach to go earlier than gaining air supremacy over Europe. B-17s and their fighter aircraft escorts routinely fell victim to Axis pilots and ground-based anti-plane weapons. Casualty rates among flyers rose as excessive as 80% within the battle's early days. So, when the men of the Memphis Belle turned one of many first teams to complete their tour, they and their plane gained instantaneous celebrity status.
In 1943 the army despatched plane and crew house to the United States, the place they toured the country promoting struggle bonds. After WWII, the Memphis Belle went to the city of its namesake, the place it remained properly into the eighties. She suffered considerable injury during that point. Thieves stole just about all the interior elements, including the devices from the cockpit. Birds nested within her, leaving droppings in every single place.
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