Message:22489 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Sun, 17 May 26 10:24:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - May 17
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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 r
eturning 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 it
s tail fin missing. What looked like damage inflicted by the enemy was, in fact, the result of a collision with another America
n bomber.
The Memphis Belle documentary would not be released for another 11 months, as more footage was compiled to demonstrate the risk
s these pilots ran as they bombed “the enemy again and again and again—until he has had enough.” The film’s producer, L
ieutenant 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 Sto
ltz.
73 de Scott KF5JRVPmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NAEmail KF5JRV@gmail.com
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