Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States (1993–2001), Senator from New York (2001–2009) and US Secretary of State (2009–2013). The Memphis Belle returned to the United States after completing 25 combat flights over Nazi-occupied Europe, according to the museum. Morgan had just begun a romance with Margaret Polk, from Memphis, Tenn., and when it came time for the bomber crews to name their planes, he thought Memphis Belle had a nice ring to it. (National Archives), When they encountered the jet stream for the first time during that mission, the bomber formations were disrupted, making accurate bombing all but impossible. Quinlan's crewmate, waist-gunner Clarence E. ``Bill'' Winchell, can chuckle at the memory now. Sweeney. A marvellous story of a wartime romance and the suspense of bomber operations. I shot over 700 rounds. We flew over Rouen, where we were attacked by about 25 German fighters. continue to use the site without a A later mission to the Japanese Home Islands, on March 9, 1945, proved much more successful. As a squadron commander, Morgan went on to fly with many different crews, racking up mission after mission. Dies geschieht in Ihren Datenschutzeinstellungen. One for the ladies seems to be the most apt description. As for Belle, she would eventually end up in the city that she was named after. Waiting on the ground was the girl he loved (Margaret Polk), the girl he was engaged to marry. “You had apprehension and concern. A cocky young man always wants to strut in front of his girl.” Morgan and Polk never quite made it to the altar, but they remained lifelong friends after their romance ended. On her return flight to the States, she plunged into the Pacific. He flew in a B-29 dubbed Dauntless Dotty (named after Dorothy Johnson, the woman Morgan did marry, just before shipping out for the Pacific War). The members of Belle‘s crew first set eyes on their brand new B-17F-10-BO at Bangor, Maine, in September 1942. Morgan has a grim and graphic explanation of what those devastating losses meant to the surviving crews: “Eighty-percent losses means you have breakfast with 10 men and dinner with only two of them.” During public appearances he is frequently asked, “Weren’t you scared to death?” “Scared is not the word,” he generally answers. Her picture remained in the cockpit through those 25 missions. It's 47 years later. We were shot at on the way to the target, over the target and then on the way out. When they fire at you head-on, it looks as if the whole plane is exploding.”. A B-17 was supposed to have certain limitations. With amazing accuracy—thanks in no small part to the sterling work of bombardier Vincent B. Evans—Belle‘s crew blasted the Focke Wulf plant at Bremen, locks at St. Nazaire and Brest, docks and shipbuilding installations at Wilhelmshaven, railroad yards at Rouen, submarine pens and powerhouses at Lorient and aircraft factories at Antwerp. Charles William Post, food manufacturer, creator of "Grape Nuts" and "Post Toasties.". He and I are standing under the wing of the Memphis Belle, now grounded under a protective canopy in an outdoor pavilion at Mud Island, Tenn., near Memphis. Your subscription to Movie director William Wyler used one of the squadron’s B-17s, “The Bad Penny,” as a camera ship for his award-winning documentary about “Memphis Belle.” He placed cameras at a number of gun stations on the bomber and flew five missions in order to get his footage. Its final mission was on May 17, 1943. Belle participated in some of the most hazardous raids of the war, when the Luftwaffe still had a commanding fighter superiority and defenses of the Nazi regime were strong. If you have questions about your account, please Once more someone mentioned a court-martial for the pilot, this time a high-ranking military officer. Somehow we managed to get down safely.” In later years one of Belle‘s former crewmen summed up Morgan’s flying skills: “He’s a damn good pilot. That way, “We were able to put out an amazing amount of firepower,” he said. The longest period the storied plane was out of service was five days, when transportation difficulties delayed a wing replacement. “One of us had to move,” Morgan recalled. Few know more about real aerial combat than Morgan—although moviegoers are pretty well versed about Morgan’s career with Memphis Belle, thanks to a spate of films and documentaries that immortalized the famous B-17’s story. Downs, who had served as a pilot in World War II, interviewed both Morgan and Colonel Richard Uppstrom, director of the Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio. The whole tail is leaving the plane!” After what seemed an eternity, Quinlan’s voice came through again: “Chief, it’s still on fire. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today! This time 302 B-29s participated, with 270 arriving over the target. Yahoo ist Teil von Verizon Media. Wir und unsere Partner nutzen Cookies und ähnliche Technik, um Daten auf Ihrem Gerät zu speichern und/oder darauf zuzugreifen, für folgende Zwecke: um personalisierte Werbung und Inhalte zu zeigen, zur Messung von Anzeigen und Inhalten, um mehr über die Zielgruppe zu erfahren sowie für die Entwicklung von Produkten. It is there now. Each of the crew received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. "Belle's" crewmen celebrate the completion of their 25th mission. I also feel there was a bit of divine intervention for the crew.”. I am wilting. After her public relations tour, Belle had been assigned for a time to a training command. They're flying straight from hell./ They come to bomb the Fatherland. Can Memphis keep MLK's crusade for economic justice alive. Keith Strickland, songwriter, musician; guitarist with The B-52s. Directed by Michael Caton-Jones. My present wife and her were good friends.''. ``She was a tough one,'' Winchell continues. That three-month mission during the summer of 1943 took the crew to 31 cities, including Washington, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Wichita and Mobile. ``Just like Elvis,'' he grins. You can renew your subscription or We wrecked 100 German fighter planes on the ground, and we hit a German officers’ mess at lunchtime. Sie können Ihre Einstellungen jederzeit ändern. “Memphis Belle's" iconic nose art was based on an “Esquire” magazine illustration by well-known artist George Petty. In 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in UK prepares for its 25th and last bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA. He told an interviewer that Wyler gave out 16mm cameras to crew members. I couldn’t do this because another group was below us, so I pulled up straight. You don’t have a Christian Science Monitor You’ve been extraordinarily lucky to complete 50 missions, and I think it’s time for you to go home.” After he arrived back in the States, Morgan continued to serve in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 1965 as a full bird colonel. Count Helmuth Karl Von Moltke, a Prussian Field Marshal, whose reorganization of the Prussian Army lead to military victories which allowed the unification of Germany. On April 14, General O’Donnell suggested that it was about time for him to quit risking his life, saying: “Don’t you think it’s time to retire from combat? Three members of that original crew - Winchell, pilot Robert Morgan, and co-pilot James Verenis - came back to Memphis in late August to revisit the plane on the occasion of a press premi`ere of the new movie ``Memphis Belle. ``She took quite a few machine-gun holes right here one time'' - he pats the letter ``A'' inscribed on the fuselage just below the waist-gun window - ``and a couple of feet over and I would have been cut in half.'' It's 47 years later. The flight was commanded by General Emmett Rosy O’Donnell, flying with Morgan in Dotty. Each of the 10 guys had a job to do. Although General Henry H. “Hap” Arnold had given Morgan permission to fly the B-17 as low as he pleased during their tour, it’s almost certain that the general hadn’t meant for the bomber to buzz rooftops as she made her way across the nation. She was bullet-ridden, flak-battered and on five separate occasions had one of her engines shot out. The U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17F, destined to become the most famous Flying Fortress in history, had approached the submarine base at Lorient flying in formation, amid one of four groups of bombers that had targeted the sub pens. The whole back end is shot off! “That, and the Norden bombsight, which made us extremely accurate at high altitudes. Thousands of city residents flocked to the island to see the largest formation of B-17s assembled since World War II roar across the sky in tribute. log out. But our pilot, Bob Morgan, could fly it like a fighter. Captain Morgan contacted Petty and gained permission to re-create the curvaceous cutie, and Corporal Tony Starcer painted her on the bomber’s nose. We went into a steep dive, but the engines were able to `catch' again, and Bob pulled us out of it. THEY say that staff sergeant Johnny Quinlan, tail gunner on the legendary B-17 bomber the Memphis Belle, used to sing his own version of ``The Wabash Cannonball'' during bombing runs over Germany. The broad Tennessee sun overhead does not blink. I saw two B-17s go down in front of us. He is quietly matter-of-fact about it all but admits with obvious pleasure that whenever he returns to Memphis, he gets the keys to the city. For a time the famous B-17 rested outside Memphis’ National Guard armory, mounted on a concrete base. Among those present on the stage were Polk, Morgan, Donofrio and Archer. Your session to The Christian Dauntless Dotty flew 53 combat missions but failed to survive the war. Dazu gehört der Widerspruch gegen die Verarbeitung Ihrer Daten durch Partner für deren berechtigte Interessen. Although Belle‘s crew members earned 51 decorations, only one Purple Heart was awarded—to tail gunner John Quinlan, who described his wound as a pin scratch on the leg. In Belle‘s first three months of sorties from Bassingbourn, 80 percent of the bomb group she was part of was shot down. (National Archives), 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.

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