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KF5JRV > TODAY 17.05.24 14:29l 28 Lines 1443 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 39_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - May 17
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<N2NOV<K5DAT<PA8F<VE3CGR<KF5JRV
Sent: 240517/1223Z 39@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.24
On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes one of the
first B-17 crews 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.
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.
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.ö
The film’s producer, Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler, was known for such non-military fare as The Letter, Wuthering
Heights and Jezebel.
A fictional film about the B-17, called Memphis Belle, was released in 1990, starring John Lithgow, Matthew Modine and
Eric Stoltz.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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