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Memphis Belle Memorial Association
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| WWII Stories |
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| On the morning of July 18th Flight Officer John C. Morgan was just another Co-Pilot in the 92nd Bomb Group. That mission earned him our nations highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor. Read his story in Accounts of WW II. |
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| Memphis Belle - Dispelling the Myths |
The story of the men, the women and an aircraft that has become an all-American icon.
2008 is the 65th anniversary of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress, completing her 25th officially credited combat mission. It is the same anniversary year of the aircraft and crew's massive 76-day War Bond Tour that criss-crossed the mainland USA and was seen by millions - the launch of this book has been timed to perfection. This in-depth book - which has taken 30 years to research and 3 years to write - is not only groundbreaking in its content, but it takes historical and aviation research compiling to a completely new level. Click Here to Order Now! Visit the Tower Museum Bassingborn website click here There is no better place to launch such a work than at Bassingbourn Barracks (formerly Station 121 of the United States Army Air Force 1942-45) on the Cambridgeshire - Hertfordshire border, for this was the wartime and is forever the spiritual home of the Memphis Belle.
Having stripped away all that has been said and written about the Belle in the past, the authors have gone back to contemporary primary research documentation dating from 1942 and located on two continents, and have set about re-telling the story of the Memphis Belle from the ground up, using facts not lies, evidence not myths and truths not legends - this book is sure to attract world-wide attention!
History shows that the isolationists in the USA did not support or see why American’s should fight in what was a European conflict. To sway public opinion in favour of US involvement in the European air war, two plans were put into motion to keep the American public on the side of the Army Air Force. One was the war-bond tour that the aircraft and crew undertook, showing the battle-scarred bomber, her cute Petty-girl nose-art and clean-cut all-American crew to the millions working so hard on the war effort. The other plan was to make a propaganda film that would gain support for what the USAAF were doing in Europe. Thus the whole Memphis Belle story was born. It was these two aspects that makes the story of the Memphis Belle so important. The war-bond tour was nationally successful beyond the planners wildest dreams and the aircraft and crew were later catapulted to even greater worldwide fame by Oscar-winning Hollywood director William Wyler’s colour combat documentary “Memphis Belle” released in 1944. The film and the War Bond tour changed the way a whole nation viewed the American participation in the European air war. The Memphis Belle was, without doubt, THE most important aircraft of World War Two, as is proven in the authors book. It may be an all-American story, with all-American participants, but without what happened here - at Army Air Force Station 121 Bassingbourn (known today as Bassingbourn Barracks) England - there would be no story! Further InformationAbout the Authors:Graham Simons Graham has written numerous aeronautical books, including De Havilland Dragon Rapide for Ian Allen Ltd, De Havilland Mosquito, the Original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft for Arms and Armour Press and a trio of airline histories written with the support of a number of their directors, The Spirit of Dan-Air, Colours in the Sky - the story of Autair and Court Line and It Was Nice To Fly With Friends - the Air Europe Story. He has also worked with representatives of the Royal Air Force, the German Air Force, the Italian Air Force and the United States Air Force overseeing the research, compilation, preparation and production of a large number of specially commissioned hardback and softback titles. Dr Harry Friedman While in high school, he joined the US Army Reserve. His Medical Training during that time resulted in certification in Neurological Surgery. In 1986, he affiliated with the US Navy Reserve for nearly twenty years, attaining the rank of Captain. He served a tour of active duty during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 being stationed with Fleet Hospital 6 in Bahrain and in 2003, served another tour at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland. Harry joined the Memphis Belle Memorial Association, Inc in 1977, and has held several offices including President. It was Harry who was in charge of the Memphis Belle's 1986-87 restoration. At the time of writing, he is Memphis Belle Memorial Association Archivist. Since 1986, he has worked closely with the B-17 Co-Op, a group of B-17 owners, current pilots and restoration people. Signing dayThe Tower Museum will be hosting the authors, Graham Simons and Dr Harry Friedman on Saturday 30 August 2008 from 11.00-14.00hrs for a signing day, where members of the public will be able to visit the Museum and obtain signed copies of the book. Click Here to Order Now! |
The authors have looked at all the legends, the lies and the misrepresentations surrounding the Memphis Belle and her crew, and have dispensed with them all in search for the truth behind the all-American icon and without a doubt, the most important aircraft of World War 2. 
To many the story of the Memphis Belle is about one B17 and her ten-man crew being the first bomber and crew in the USAAF 8th Air Force to complete 25 bombing missions over occupied Europe during World War Two; however, this is only a small fragment of the story, and is highly debatable whether that perception is true in the first place! The story is far more complicated and much more important than which bomber and crew were the first to complete the 25-mission tally.