The Memphis Belle B-17 symbolizes perseverance and the spirit of optimism, stability, and the promise of a brighter future. This magnificent piece of American history is now a national treasure residing in a restoration facility at the National Museum of the Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. She will never fly the skies again; yet, she is a symbol of hope- past, present and future. A vision of beauty in the sky, yet powerful in battle, she is a legend because she was the first B-17 to complete her tour of duty during the war, and also because she brought all her crew back from every single mission safely (BBC 1). The Memphis Belle is an icon of American airpower, determination and the will to persevere, that symbolizes strength, hope, service and sacrifice to America from World War II through the present.
The advanced wartime engineering of the Memphis Belle was one of the reasons it returned home after all its missions. Culmination of years of engineering, investment, and experimentation lead to the design of the B-17F (Johnsen xi). The B-17F proto-type had been in planning and development at Boeing since 1934 (Johnsen xi). The advanced engineering investment began with the Boeing model 200 monomial, a single engine mono plane with retractable landing gear (Johnsen xi). It embodied almost all of the construction techniques that would be used in the B-17 (Johnsen xi). The B-17 nearly pushed Boeing to financial disaster (Johnsen xi). Congress wanted the cheapest bomber instead of the most advanced leaving Boeing near bankruptcy (Johnsen xii). The Boeing B-17 was also the flagship of the Air Corp's hopes and dreams, creating a must succeed attitude for strategic bombing proponents (Johnsen xii). The success of the B-17 in combat greatly contributed to winning World War II, to Boeing's success and to the success of air defense.
The Memphis Belle is one of the most glorious American bombers of World War II. It has a massive wing span of about 103.74 feet long and a hull length of about 74.74 feet long (Morgan 386). The normal bomb load it carried was 8,000 pounds (Morgan 386). It had thirteen 50 caliber machine guns protecting it which is why it is called the B-17 Flying Fortress (Morgan 386). The engines that flew this massive flying fortress were four Wright supercharged radial piston engines generating 1,200 hp each (Morgan 111). She had a maximum speed of 325 miles per hour (Morgan 14). The Memphis Belle originated in the United States and is one of the 12,731 B-17s built by Boeing (Memphis-Belle 1). It cost $314,109 (Morgan 386).
The Memphis Belle was in the 8th Air Force unit: 324th Bomb Squad, 91st Bomb Group, 1st Combat Wing, and 1st Air Division of the United States Air Force (U.S.A.A.F 1). The Belle was sent into active duty at the 8th Air Force in England and flew from November 7, 1942 until May 17, 1943 when she completed her tour of twenty five complete missions (BBC 1). The Command General stated that after twenty five combat missions crews could go home as an incentive to boost airmen morale (Memphis Belle 1). The Belle became the first American heavy bomber to complete her tour of duty of twenty five missions and brought all of her crew back safely each mission (Memphis Belle 1). During this time she flew over twenty thousand combat miles, one hundred forty eight hours, fifty minutes, and dropped over sixty tons of bombs (BBC 1). Eighty percent of all the B-17s were shot down during the first three months of service; the Memphis Belle flew around six months of combat missions (Memphis Belle 1).
The Memphis Belle's crew was one of the most famous and bravest crews in the United States Air Force. The crew consisted of a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, navigator, engineer/top turret gunner, radio operator, ball turret gunner, left waist gunner, right waist gunner, and a tail gunner (Memphis-Belle 1). Prior to joining the military the men who would become the Memphis Belle crew had been college students or young employees with skills ranging from chemistry and business to trucking and construction (Morgan 106-10). They had different personalities, temperaments, backgrounds and educations. Although there were ten crew members in the plane at a time, there were a total of thirteen members who flew with the Belle in her twenty five missions (Morgan 111). The Memphis Belle itself became an extension of its crew. Colonel Robert Morgan, USAF, retired, stated the crew's relationship turned them “into a single functioning organism of war up there in those clouds.” (Morgan 13)
Missions were flown inside a freezing, heaving, thin-skinned airplane. Dangers included flak, cannon shells, machine gun-bullets, fire, weather and mechanical failures. The ground crew chief who repaired the Memphis Bell met them on the tarmac after each mission to assess the damage (Morgan 110). The Memphis Belle was bullet ridden and flak damaged. During the six months she was in Bassingbourn, England, the ground crew replaced nine engines, both wings, two tails, both main landing gears and repaired hundreds of flak and bullet holes (Morgan 110). The cockpit and crew compartments were vulnerable parts of the B-17. It is miraculous that none of the crew was ever seriously injured.
