On this day ..... 1943

[Flying Lawyer]

Dambusters (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/17/newsid_3623000/3623223.stm)

[AirportsEd]

Also on this day in 1943, B-17 Memphis Belle flew her 25th and last mission of the war.
Now which was the better film....?

[Max Tow]

That's an interesting BBC link. Hadn't realised that of 1433 killed, majority (749POW plus 133 aircrew) were on Allied side. That,together with the apparent lack of any real damage to the German war machine (contra to the movie scenes of factories being washed away) doesn't detract from the bravery of these incredible pilots and their crews but does make one wonder at the quality of those in high places.

[ZH875]

Also on this day in 1943, B-17 Memphis Belle flew her 25th and last mission of the war.
Now which was the better film....?

Interesting, as the following link to the Memphis Belle lists the 26th Mission on May 14 1943http://www.inthemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/Calcium-3.0?CalendarName=Memphis_Belle&Date=2006%2F5%2F1&Op=ShowIt&Amount=Month&NavType=Absolute&Type=Block

The target & Sortie details are:

26th Mission
May 14th, 1943
Shipyards at Kiel, Germany The pilot of the "Belle" was J.H. Miller. 27 B-17's from station 121 (Bassingbourn) were launched with just a single abort. Intense fighter opposition from 125 enemy planes. No 91st losses.
Results classified as excellent.


So it looks like the Belle did more missions whilst waiting for her 25 Op crew to take her home.

As to which is the better film, depends on whether you like real bombers, or big 4 engined fighters with a small bomb load.

[AirportsEd]

Real bombers...:ok: