Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which provides an account of the final mission of the crew of the "Memphis Belle", a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. In May 1943 it became the first U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States. The dramatic 16 mm color film of actual battles was made by three cinematographers, including First Lieutenant Harold J. Tannenbaum. Tannenbaum, a veteran of World War I, was killed in action during the
RAF Bomber Command aircrew of World War II some air gunners were commissioned officers of which a small number were considerably older than most aircrew and even veterans of World War I. An Air Gunner wore a single-winged aircrew brevet with a wreath containing the letters AG on his tunic, above his left breast pocket denoting his trade specialization and very early in the war might also have the brass "winged bullet" qualification badge of a pre-war air gunner on his sleeve. Typically when flying operationally the following aircraft were crewed as below: Fairey Battle single-engined light bomber – most often used in daylight operations in a ground