The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle: Memoir of a WWII Bomber Pilot

by Robert Morgan

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Publication

NAL Trade (2002), 400 pages

Description

As a young man growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, Robert Morgan was a fast-driving party boy-a hell-raiser. But when his mothercommitted suicide upon learning she had inoperable brain cancer, Morgan's life changed dramatically. He was no longer a carefree playboy; he was a man searching for meaning. He found that meaning at the controls of an airplane, and in the flak-and fighter-filled skies over Occupied France and Nazi Germany. The plane was a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Morgan named her the Memphis Belle in honor of his fiancĂ©e, a Memphis beauty named Margaret Polk. He and his crew flew 25 successful daylight missions over Europe in the Belle, and wereimmortalized by Hollywood director William Wyler in a 1944 documentary called The Memphis Belle. In those 25 harrowing missions, Morgan never lost a crew member. The only casualty associated with the Belle was Morgan's engagement to the plane's namesake; it simply couldn't survive the War Department's publicity demands. A powerful chronicle of loyalty, love, and astonishing bravery, The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle takes you into the heart of the war above 20,000 feet, and into the unforgettable life of one of America's greatest World War II heroes.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member lamour
If you wish to know what it was like to fly a bomber over Occupied Europe in WW II, this is the book for you. Morgan's vivid descriptions of the constant terror, the technical skills required to fly the plane, navigating to the target and fight off the attacking fighters are some of the best I have
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read. The bonus is after his tour of duty over Europe ended, he flew B-29's over Japan including leading the first bombing of Tokyo since the Doolittle raid. Included as well is his descriptions of life in England between raids and the US war bond tour he embarked on after Europe. For those of you who have seen the 1944 documentary film, Memphis Belle, Morgan takes you behind the scenes to illustrate how the film was made including stories about the cameramen who actually flew missions over Europe in the Belle & other bombers to get the necessary film footage. Great stuff.
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Language

Original language

English
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