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ROFILE
By Andrea Downing Peck
Love Affair
Asheville resident Robert K. Morgan’s love runs deep for the
most famous lady of World War II, the Memphis Belle.
three inonlhs," Morgan says. “You c an see
ihc odds weren't very much in our favor."
Morgan has questioned why the Mem¬
phis Belle and her crew made it home
when so many Others — no levs skilled —
did not. He has come to one conclusion:
“I don’t think it was because we were
Robert K. Morgan in 1993 with his beloved Memphis Belle.
Not many men have had
their wartime romance
chronicled in a Hollywood
movie, two documentaries and a
nonfiction Imok.
But retired Colonel Robert k.
Morgan’s 50-year affair was with
one of the most famous ladies of
World War II. the Memphis Be lle,
а В-
1 7 Flying Fortress that became
a household word when she
became the first American bomber
to complete 25 combat missions
over Europe in 1943.
Morgan was a lanky 22-year-old
from Asheville with a newly bestowed
degree in business from the l niversity of
Pennsylvania in 1940 when the Germans
ignited an air war over England.
“I saw we were going to get into this war
eventually, so 1 thought. 'Where do you
want to be?'” remembers Morgan, now 7<i
and living in Asheville. “I didn't like swim¬
ming so much. I didn't think I'd want to
be in the Navy. I didn’t think I wanted to
crawl on the ground. That only left one
place and that was in the air. so I volun¬
teered to fiy for the Army Air Corps.”
The United States entered World War
II on December 8. 1941, one day after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, l ess
than one week later. Second Lieutenant
Morgan graduated from Army Air Corps
Cadet Flying School and Ix-gan training
to fly B-l 7 heavy bombers.
Morgan's B-l 7 training continued in
Walla Walla. Washington, where he was
inuoduced to Margaret Polk of Memphis,
the sister-in-law of the group's flight sur¬
geon.
Morgan bad yet to fly in combat, but be
bad scored a direct bit romantically. Polk
and Morgan were soon engaged to be
married.
Morgan intended to name bis plane
“Little One," his nickname for Polk, but
Hollywood intervened shortly before Mor¬
gan was to join the United States 8th Air
Force in England.
Morgan changed bis mind after he and
co-pilot James A. Verinissaw the movie “A
Lady for a Night." The film featured Joan
Blondell as the queen of a Mississippi
gambling boat named the Memphis Belle.
In the movie, Blondell is referred to as the
"Memphis belle." Pilot and co-pilot quick¬
ly decided the moniker was a lining trib¬
ute to Morgan’s Memphis fiancee.
The Memphis Belle’s famous nose art
was based on a pinup by artist George
Petty, who created a series of "Petty Girls"
for magazines such as Esquire. Corporal
Tony Starcer painted the life-size bathing
beauty on the Belle’s nosecone. Starcer
also became well-known for bis portrait of
General Dwight D. Eisenhower on anoth¬
er B-l 7.
Morgan and his nine-member crew
arrived in Bassingbotirn. England, in
October 1942. On November 7. they flew
their first mission — an attack on Gentian
submarine pens in Brest, France.
When the Memphis Belle joined the
324th Bomb Squadron's 91st Bombard¬
ment Group, she became the 48th heavy
bomber in the group. Seven months later,
only four of those original IV 1 7s were still
flying.
The B-l 7s’ sorties — flying daylight
bombing raids over Europe without long-
range lighter plane escort — had weak¬
ened Germany's defenses. But the price
had been severe.
”We actually lost 80 percent of our orig¬
inal crews that went over there the first
any better trained or any better
crew or anything of that nature."
he says. "I've bad a lot of time to
think about it. I feel we’re just
very. very. very, very lucky. We
happened to be in the right place
at the right time rather than the
wrong place at the wrong time.
“When you lose your right
wingman. as I did a couple of
times, and my left wingman a
couple ol times — and you get
bit and still come back — you
can’t explain that fully."
Between Noventbei 7. 1942.
and May 17. 1943, the Memphis
Belle flew 25 missions, dropping more
than 60 tons of bomlrs on targets in Ger-
many. France and Belgium.
The Belle herself was often battered but
never beaten. German guns destroyed
part of a wing, five engines, most of bet
tail and shot the fuselage to pieces. But
the Memphis Belle never failed to make
it back to England, and she never was out
of commission for more than live con¬
secutive days.
The passage of time has not dulled
Morgan's memories, but it has added a
sense ol wonderment to bis recollections.
"We were just kids." Morgan recalls.
“Young people, gung-ho and all that sort
ol thing. Me. personally. I look at and read
about some of the things we did and I
think, 'Did we really do that?' You won¬
der. 'Was that a dream or something
true?'"
“I have some good memories and I have
some memories that stick out of a mission
or two that are kind of horrifying," he
explains. “All in all. it was just a job and a
task that the American public was behind.
It needed to Ik* done and we just did our
part."
But whatever the reasons — luck, skill
or fate — the Memphis Belle and her crew
had accomplished a milestone by becom¬
ing the first bomber in the 8tb Air Force
to complete 25 missions. Twenty-five com¬
bat missions then became the crew stan¬
dard for release- from European duty until
ftolo««iV.>o(BnbcnK Mocfan
The State/February 1995
33
