Memphis Bull?!? ...

[Mark Allen M]

Interesting observation,

"When Bob Morgan and Ron Powers brought out their book ‘The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle’ in 2001, we were forced to fact-check it in it’s entirety.
As one reviewer put it 'The riveting firsthand account of World War II pilot Robert Morgan, his crew, and the legendary Memphis Belle—written with Ron Powers, cowriter of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers.
We soon discovered over two hundred 'errors' when this book was put up against primary source documentation.
It is here that another ‘oddity’ occurs with Morgan/Powers. At the start of Chapter 15 - pages 234 and 235 - they make a great deal about Bob Morgan being taken privately to one side and asked if he would like to see a new, highly secret aircraft that was being kept away from prying eyes.
According to their book, he was escorted into a hangar where he was given a guided tour of one of the B-29s then under high-security test, and this it seems started him thinking about what he was going to do once the tour was over. This story is somewhat at odds with two of the pictures we have used here in this section, for Bob Morgan is recorded taxiing the Memphis Belle past Boeing-built YB-29 41- 36959 parked out on the ramp for all to see!
It all sounded very familiar; then we realised why - it is exactly the same as a scene in a 1955 Hollywood movie - substitute Bob Morgan for Jimmy Stewart and the B-29 for the B-47 and you have the exact sequence from Strategic Air Command where the Stewart character is introduced to the B-47 jet bomber!

This was decidedly strange, considering this picture taken during the Bond Tour at Wichita as the Belle taxies past the YB-29 - another picture we have shows the YB-29 on the flightline surrounded by hundreds of people... some top-secret event inside a hangar!"
... Quote from Graham Simons ...

[menards]

Remember, history is nothing more than His-story...

[Mark Allen M]

“Don’t believe what you hear or what you see”

Heard that somewhere.

[JOMiller]

I have a question for the fact checkers. Was Mobile, AL one of the cities on the 'Belle's
War Bond tour? And, if it was, what was the date and do photos exist? It is mentioned
in passing, but without a date. I have a vague memory of tracking down a Mobile Press
Register story describing the visit to Brookley AFB with a couple of grainy photos. I can't
find it in the stacks anymore, but some issues are now missing. I sure would like to
know for sure.

Help,
Owen

[JohnB]

A huge conspiracy?
Or simply a wrong memory by Morgan...
or...
The ghost writer trying to "jazz" the story up a bit?

Last edited by JohnB on Sun Oct 04, 2020 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Randy Haskin]

There's a reason there's that old joke about war stories always beginning with, "this is no-sh*t".

When I flew in the "Shock and Awe" invasion of Iraq in 2003, I kept a detailed journal of the combat missions I flew. I'd get back from a flight, and after the debriefing I'd go back to my tent and write the most detailed report of the mission and all its happenings that I could.

Just recently I was invited to speak on a podcast about that experience, so I went back to my journals to refresh my memory. I was amazed at how different my off-the-cuff recollections of events had drifted from what I'd written down in the hours immediately after the events -- and that's only with a time lapse of 17 years.

I don't know if Morgan kept any documentation of his experiences, but I can only imagine (and sympathize with) how his recollections of events and details may have unintentionally changed from the actual facts in 50 years without those anchorpoints.