Corgi 1/72 World War II Die-Cast Boeing B-17F - Memphis Belle AA33301

Corgi 1/72 World War II Die-Cast Boeing B-17F - Memphis Belle AA33301 with display stand (Olive Drab finish)

Flying Fortress of 324th BS, 91ST BG

Wingspan of model: 435mm

Memphis Belle was delivered on 15th July 1942 and assigned to Lt. Robert K. Morgan of the 324th BS, 91st BG. Named after Morgan's fiancee Margaret Polk, she was to become the most famous of all Flying Fortresses. Fate stepped in when Academy-Award winning film director William Wyler came to England in late 1942. He wanted to make a film which would show the kind of war the 8th Air Force was fighting and what it hoped to achieve. Wyler had decided to build his story around one aircraft and one crew completing their combat tour of 25 missions, a feat that was already steeped in folklore due to its rarity.

With no staging and no script there was always the chance that the Memphis Belle wouldn't make it, but in dramatic and morale-boosting style the mission was completed and the aircraft was flown home to raise money in the Sixth War Bond Drive and tour US training bases. The final mission was an attack on the U-Boat yards at Kiel on the 19th May 1943, piloted by Lt. C. L. Anderson. During her seven months of combat she had aborted three times for mechanical reasons but otherwise had completed every mission. In 1972 a committee led by Frank Donofrio began a crusade to save the B-17 and fifteen years later the restored aircraft was on permanent display at a specially built museum.