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The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress

An interesting fact, and tribute to the confusing nature of combat, is that the Memphis Belle was not the first B-17 to make it to the required magic mission tally to rotate a crew home. It was simply the one that first made it with the attention of the generals in charge and so it was assigned to film a war documentary that cemented its legend as long as it could survive those last few missions, which it did.

The aircraft that actually first achieved the feat was not recognized, never sent home on a bond drive, and ended up scrapped after the war ended!

Ken
 
That's mostly correct Ken - the first B-17 to officially complete 25 missions, was a B-17F named "Hell's Angels", of the 358th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group. It ended its service, flying 48 missions, without ever needing to turn back. It was returned to the states, and did participate in one of the first aircraft-bond tours - covered in the signatures of members of the 358th - but not until after the Memphis Belle already had.
 
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