Color Footage Of Memphis Belle During WWII • B-17 Bomber

Published on Jun 24, 2017
Historic color footage of the Memphis Belle B-17 bomber with her famous flight crew and other B-17s during WWII. Memphis Belle is the nickname of the Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress that was one of the first B-17 bombers to complete 25 combat missions with her crew intact. The aircraft and crew then returned to the United States to sell war bonds in support of the war effort. Between 1942 and 1945, film director William Wyler volunteered to serve as a major in the United States Army Air Forces and directed "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" (1944), a documentary about a Boeing B-17 and its U.S. Army Air Force crew. Wyler filmed the documentary at great personal risk, flying over enemy territory on actual bombing missions in 1943. This footage is Public Domain B-Roll from the National Archives and Records Administration.