MEMPHIS BELLE

The Memphis Belle might have been one of the hundreds of B-17 Flying Fortresses flown by the US 8th Air Force in the daylight bombing of Hitler’s military and industrial heartland, but she became something very special: the most famous B-17 of them all, because her skipper Colonel Bob Morgan and his crew were the first crew to complete a full tour intact. Twenty-five times they flew the Memphis Belle into the hellish flak that all bombers had to contend with, and twenty-five times they ran the gauntlet of attack from the Luftwaffe’s deadly force of Bf109s and Fw190s.

This was one of Robert Taylor’s early pieces, first published in 1980 when the artist was honing his craft. But what makes this rendition of the Memphis Belle so special is that not only did Bob Morgan personally sign the prints, but he was so impressed with the budding young artist’s potential skills that he readily agreed to meet Robert Taylor and help with the technical details of his famous bomber. They got on so well that the two men remained in contact until Colonel Morgan sadly passed away.

The story of the Memphis Belle, her remarkable skipper and his crew, made this a readily collectible aviation art print worthy of any collection and although it is difficult to source copies in mint condition we do sometimes acquire such copies.