Okla-homey
5/17/2007, 06:18 AM
May 17, 1943: The Memphis Belle completes its 25th bombing mission
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/15405/2004588730108909637_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004588730108909637)
64 years ago, on this day in 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of Army Air Force bombers based in Britain flying missions against Nazi occupied Europe, becomes the first B-17 crew to complete 25 missions.
The event was significant when placed in the proper perspective. See, the odds of a US B-17 or B-24 crew completing the required 25 combat missions were incredibly long. In fact, thousands of US bombers had been flying these missions practically daily for nine months since August 1942. The average age of the bomber crews was 24 years old.
No other crew had managed 25 missions -- which was the number required before being allowed to rotate home to the States. Instead, they usually ended up shot down and incinerated in the fireball of a mid-air explosion or crash, shot to death by the cannon of a defending Luftwaffe fighter, or captured and imprisoned in a kraut POW camp even if they managed to bail out.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/14912/2004559120835188496_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004559120835188496)
Thus, having a crew finally make the 25 mission mark was huge for morale among US airman and the morale of the folks back home.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/18001/2004569736842819261_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004569736842819261)
The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base. But before returning back home to the United States, film footage was shot of Belle's crew receiving combat medals.
This was but one part of a longer documentary on a day in the life of an American bomber, which included dramatic footage of a bomber being shot out of the sky, with most of its crew parachuting out, one by one. Another film sequence showed a bomber returning to base with its tail fin missing. What looked like damage inflicted by the enemy was, in fact, the result of a collision with another American bomber.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/18001/2004525321262179826_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004525321262179826)
The Memphis Belle documentary would not be released for another 11 months, as more footage was compiled to demonstrate the risks these pilots ran as they bombed "the enemy again and again and again-until he has had enough." The film's producer, Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler, was known for such non-military fare as The Letter, Wuthering Heights, and Jezebel.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/15138/2004564925218872023_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004564925218872023)
Upon its return, pilot Robert K. Morgan "buzzed" his home field of Bassingbourne, England in celebration of this heroic accomplishment.
THE CREW
Capt. Robert K. Morgan - Pilot
Capt. James Verinis - Copilot (Died 2003)
Capt. Vincent B. Evans - Bombardier (Died 1980)
Capt. Charles B. Leighton - Navigator (Died 1991)
T/Sgt. Harold P. Loch - Engineer/Top Gunner
T/Sgt. Robert Hanson - Radio Operator
S/Sgt. John P. Quinlan - Tail Gunner (Died 2002)
S/Sgt. Cecil H. Scott - Ball Turret Gunner (Died 1979)
S/Sgt. Clarence E. Winchell - L Waist Gunner (Died 1994)
S/Sgt. Casimer "Tony" Nastal - R Waist Gunner
Joe Giambrone - Crew Chief (Died 1992) - Who replaced 9 engines, both wings, two tails, and both main landing gear
Ms. Margaret Polk - The Memphis Belle (Died 1990)
Scotty Dog "Stuka" - Mascot
After his history-making tour with the "Belle", Capt. Morgan continued to serve. He later piloted the B-29 Superfortress "Dauntless Dotty" and led the first B-29 raid on Tokyo. In 1965 Morgan retired from the Air Force as a colonel.
The Belle herself is part of the collection of the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. She is now undergoing restoration after her years on open air display in Memphis.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/18047/2004537008106761844_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004537008106761844)
A fictional film about the B-17, called Memphis Belle, was released in 1990, starring John Lithgow as William Wyler, Matthew Modine, Harry Connick, Jr. and Eric Stoltz. As an aside, Stoltz played the grotesque kid in The Mask and the heroin dealer who hooked up John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/15405/2004588730108909637_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004588730108909637)
64 years ago, on this day in 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of Army Air Force bombers based in Britain flying missions against Nazi occupied Europe, becomes the first B-17 crew to complete 25 missions.
The event was significant when placed in the proper perspective. See, the odds of a US B-17 or B-24 crew completing the required 25 combat missions were incredibly long. In fact, thousands of US bombers had been flying these missions practically daily for nine months since August 1942. The average age of the bomber crews was 24 years old.
No other crew had managed 25 missions -- which was the number required before being allowed to rotate home to the States. Instead, they usually ended up shot down and incinerated in the fireball of a mid-air explosion or crash, shot to death by the cannon of a defending Luftwaffe fighter, or captured and imprisoned in a kraut POW camp even if they managed to bail out.
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/14912/2004559120835188496_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004559120835188496)
Thus, having a crew finally make the 25 mission mark was huge for morale among US airman and the morale of the folks back home.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/18001/2004569736842819261_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004569736842819261)
The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base. But before returning back home to the United States, film footage was shot of Belle's crew receiving combat medals.
This was but one part of a longer documentary on a day in the life of an American bomber, which included dramatic footage of a bomber being shot out of the sky, with most of its crew parachuting out, one by one. Another film sequence showed a bomber returning to base with its tail fin missing. What looked like damage inflicted by the enemy was, in fact, the result of a collision with another American bomber.
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/18001/2004525321262179826_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004525321262179826)
The Memphis Belle documentary would not be released for another 11 months, as more footage was compiled to demonstrate the risks these pilots ran as they bombed "the enemy again and again and again-until he has had enough." The film's producer, Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler, was known for such non-military fare as The Letter, Wuthering Heights, and Jezebel.
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/15138/2004564925218872023_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004564925218872023)
Upon its return, pilot Robert K. Morgan "buzzed" his home field of Bassingbourne, England in celebration of this heroic accomplishment.
THE CREW
Capt. Robert K. Morgan - Pilot
Capt. James Verinis - Copilot (Died 2003)
Capt. Vincent B. Evans - Bombardier (Died 1980)
Capt. Charles B. Leighton - Navigator (Died 1991)
T/Sgt. Harold P. Loch - Engineer/Top Gunner
T/Sgt. Robert Hanson - Radio Operator
S/Sgt. John P. Quinlan - Tail Gunner (Died 2002)
S/Sgt. Cecil H. Scott - Ball Turret Gunner (Died 1979)
S/Sgt. Clarence E. Winchell - L Waist Gunner (Died 1994)
S/Sgt. Casimer "Tony" Nastal - R Waist Gunner
Joe Giambrone - Crew Chief (Died 1992) - Who replaced 9 engines, both wings, two tails, and both main landing gear
Ms. Margaret Polk - The Memphis Belle (Died 1990)
Scotty Dog "Stuka" - Mascot
After his history-making tour with the "Belle", Capt. Morgan continued to serve. He later piloted the B-29 Superfortress "Dauntless Dotty" and led the first B-29 raid on Tokyo. In 1965 Morgan retired from the Air Force as a colonel.
The Belle herself is part of the collection of the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. She is now undergoing restoration after her years on open air display in Memphis.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/18047/2004537008106761844_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004537008106761844)
A fictional film about the B-17, called Memphis Belle, was released in 1990, starring John Lithgow as William Wyler, Matthew Modine, Harry Connick, Jr. and Eric Stoltz. As an aside, Stoltz played the grotesque kid in The Mask and the heroin dealer who hooked up John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.