In the flak-filled sky over a German U-boat installation in occupied France on January 23, 1943, Memphis Belle was battling for her life. The U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17F, destined to become the most famous Flying Fortress in history, had approached the submarine base at Lorient flying in formation, amid one of four groups of bombers that had targeted the sub pens.
Nearing their goal, Captain Robert K. Morgan and the crew of Memphis Belle had to penetrate a protective screen of German fighters, then thread their way through a thick blanket of anti-aircraft fire over the sub pens. Their basic mission was straightforward: Hold steady, with no evasive maneuvers to complicate the drop, and finally “Bombs away.” Then the bomber could head home to the Eighth Air Force base at Bassingbourn, England. But they still had to get past those fighters. “Because ours was the smallest of the four groups, they concentrated on us,” Morgan later remembered. “For 22 minutes, they gave us hell.”
