Some commented that they never had seen the photo before and wondered who the "WASP" were.
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| L-R: Rosann Patterson, Shelly Mulvaine, Peg Horton, and Mia Kosicki, |
They were not WASP and their Memphis Belle was not really the Memphis Belle.
It was a posed photograph taken at the Lorain County Airport's (Ohio) annual air show, taken sometime in the early 2000s.
The Memphis Belle in the photo was the replica of the original bomber that was used as a stand-in in the 1990 motion picture, The Memphis Belle.
At the time, the original Memphis Belle was being restored at the National Museum of the Air Force Museum, near Dayton, Ohio. She had not flown since 1946.
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| Returning to base after a mission |
The Flying Fortress,
the Memphis Belle, #13, led the force of 13 B-17 bombers on a successful raid
from England to the Five Lille Locomotive Works at Lille, France on January 13,
1943.
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| Crew of the Memphis Belle, June 1943 |
She was piloted by Captain
Robert Morgan of Ashville, NC, who had named the ship for his fiancé, Margaret
Polk of Memphis, Tennessee.
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| Captain Robert Morgan |
After completing her required
25 bombing missions, the Belle returned home, arriving in the United States 16
June 1943.
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| Coming home, 9 June 1943. |
Almost immediately, the Belle
and her crew set off on a six-week tour of the country, urging support of the
war effort by buying Liberty Bonds. Before the tour ended, Captain Morgan’s
finance announced that the wedding was off “by mutual agreement.
In early October (1943), the
Memphis Belle was sent to Spokane, Washington for a major overhaul; however,
the war was winding down by the time she was ready, and the Belle was sent to the aviation graveyard
near Altus, Oklahoma, arriving August 1, 1945.
She might have stayed there,
but for the City of Memphis, which purchased here for $350 and accepted her on
the Belle’s last flight on 17 July 1946. The Army had asked $13,750 for the
bomber, but found no takers.
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| Altus, OK, aviation graveyard |
Stored outside and deteriorating,
in February 1947 the Belle finally moved into a temporary hanger. On 20 August
1950, the Memphis Belle was mounted on a cement stand and dedicated as a war
memorial in Memphis.
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| Over 50 years as a Memphis, TN War Memorial |
After 59 years since her last
flight, the Belle was reclaimed by the Air Force, disassembled, and brought to
the Air Force Museum, near Dayton, OH, for restoration. She was in bad shape,
having spent most of those 59 years weathering the elements.
It took years, but now the
Belle is proudly on display at the National Museum of the Air Force.
