DAYTON, Ohio — One of the most recognizable symbols of World War II will once again report for duty exactly 75 years after its crew finished their last mission in the war against Nazi Germany on May 17, 1943.
The B-17F Memphis Belle – the first U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States – will be placed on public display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on May 17, 2018.
Pilot Robert Morgan named the aircraft after his wartime girlfriend, Margaret Polk, of Memphis, Tenn. Morgan chose the now famous artwork from a 1941 George Petty illustration in Esquire magazine.
After returning to the United States in June 1943, its crew flew the aircraft across the country on a three-month war bond and morale boosting tour.
With the bond tour and the 1944 William Wyler documentary color film titled “The Memphis Belle” – which contained actual combat footage – the aircraft and its crew became widely known and celebrated.
In 1990 a major motion picture of the same name added to their fame.
Following decades of display in Memphis, the historic aircraft came to the museum in October 2005, when work began on a multi-year conservation and restoration effort, including corrosion treatment and the full outfitting of missing equipment, which continues today.
According to National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Curator Jeff Duford, the Memphis Belle is a national treasure, and will soon be the centerpiece of a new major exhibit in the museum’s WWII Gallery.
“The B-17F Memphis Belle is an icon that represents the thousands of bomber crews, maintainers, and others supporting the bomber mission, whose service and sacrifice helped win World War II,” said Duford. “Work is underway to showcase the aircraft in the WWII Gallery, and the surrounding exhibit will include interactive displays, rare archival film footage and many personal artifacts which have never been seen before by our visitors.”
Visitors can currently see the Memphis Belle as it undergoes the final stages of restoration by participating in the museum’s Behind the Scenes Tours, which are offered nearly every Friday (some exceptions). More information and registration for those tours is available here.
For more information, photos and videos of the Memphis Belle, click here.
I have lived in the Memphis area since 1962. I know Warren Webb, and we shared the same opinion as to the wonderful history of the Memphis Belle. The City Of Memphis made several half hearted attempts to restore the Belle, none of which were successful. It was left to the elements, other then one display under roof on the Mississippi river front. Memphis received fair warning to either live up to its obligation of restoration, or lose the aircraft. What happened is obvious. We lost a valuable monument to our country’s valiant fight to retain our freedom during the World War 2. Mr. Webb and I are both pilots and fully appreciate the importance of the symbolic part this historic aircraft played in our history. I am extremely pleased to know it is now receiving the attention it so richly deserves.
Brings back many memories. I used to live in mid-town Memphis and drove by the Memphis Belle displayed at the fairgrounds on Central Ave countless times. She looks amazing and I hope to visit the museum.
I saw her in Sept 2015 during a behind the scenes tour. The Air Force Museum restoration standard is “airworthy but we won’t actually fly her”. It is painstaking work. Not mentioned in the story – when the paint was stripped her skin was found to be scratched with hundreds of names, cities and states. The supposition was that during her war bond tours – if you bought bonds you got to scratch your name in her skin. It was all being photographed to see if the locations of the names made any sort of sense to where she toured and to see if anyone who scratched their name (or their descendants) could be traced.