[World War II – Memphis Belle]....

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[World War II - Memphis Belle]. Col. Robert K. Morgan's personal World War II military records as command pilot of the B-17 Memphis Belle over Europe and B-29 Dauntless Dotty over Japan. Comprising 135 documents, letters, and other papers, including 16 signed by Morgan and Morgan's Individual Flight Records on monthly sheets from May 1941 to September 1945, including those on Memphis Belle and Dauntless Dottie - and an engraved vintage Bulova wristwatch presented to him by Ardé Bulova. Engraved on the back watch case: "FOR VALOR CAPT. ROBERT K. MORGAN PILOT OF THE 'MEMPHIS BELLE' JULY 1943 A TRIBUTE FROM ARDÉ BULOVA". Ardé Bulova (1889-1958) was Chairman of the Board of the Bulova Watch Company from 1930-1958. A newer replacement watchband has been installed. Mechanicals of watch are untested. Colonel Robert K. Morgan's personal military records as command pilot of the legendary B-17 bomber Memphis Belle over Europe and B-29 Dauntless Dottie over Japan - includes an engraved Bulova watch presented by Ardé Bulova for Morgan's valor. Col. Robert K. Morgan's collection of over 130 documents, letters, and other papers (in page protectors in his binder) include 12 personally signed "Robert K. Morgan " and a typed letter signed "Ira C. Eaker" as Major General to Major Morgan, 10 August 1943, commending him - "you and your boys are carrying out perfectly the mission we charged you with and creating the most favorable impression..." Also included in the above total are 55 monthly sheets, each titled "Individual Flight Record," of Robert K. Morgan from May 1941 (as Army Aviation Cadet) to September 1945 (Lieutenant Colonel). Dates of each month's flights on aircraft piloted by Morgan, including Memphis Belle (B-17F) and Dauntless Dottie (B-29), are listed. Mission dates do not include site of mission. Memphis Belle dates include 7 November 1942 (Brest, Brittany), 6 December 1942 (Lille, France), 14 February 1943 (Hamm, Germany), 22 March 1943 (Wilhelmshaven, Germany), 17 April 1943 (Bremen, Germany), 17 May 1943, (Lorient, Brittany) and 15 other missions of his 25 over enemy occupied Continental Europe. Morgan has noted that the 17 May 1943 mission was the "Last Raid" of "Memphis Belle." Dauntless Dottie dates include 24 November 1944, the first attack on Tokyo since Doolittle's raid on April 18,1942. On the Individual Flight Record for November 1944, aircraft "B-29," on the line typed "24" (the day of the month) "Tokyo" is written in pencil- probably by Morgan who has also written "Tokyo" in black ink on the page protector over the pencil. Also included are Morgan's Personnel Orders dated 12 December 1941, five days after Pearl Harbor, notifying him that he and others listed "are rated PILOTS effective this date"; Names of soldiers Missing In Action and names and addresses of next of kin; U.S. Treasury check to Robert K. Morgan for 33¢, dated 15 May 1941 (never cashed); Flying Qualifications certifications; Certificates of Proficiency; printed presidential military promotions; Personnel, General, and Special Orders; Home Addresses of Combat Crew Members and Air Echelon Officers; Physical Examination for Flying; Names and address of next of kin of officers and enlisted men of the 869th Bombardment Squadron; seven carbons of Lt. Col. Morgan's 24 April 1945, orders to return "to the continental U.S."; two 26 April 1945 Base Clearance Sheets, each signed by Morgan and eight other officers. Robert Knight Morgan was a Colonel and a command pilot in the U.S. Air Force. During World War II, while a Captain in the U.S. Army Air Forces, he was a bomber pilot with the 8th Air Force in the European theater and the aircraft commander of the B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Belle. Promoted to Major, Morgan flew a second combat tour in the Pacific Theater, commanding the 869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group of the Twentieth Air Force. Flying the B-29 Superfortress Dauntless Dotty from Isley Field, Saipan, he completed 26 missions over Japan. Memphis Belle was the name of a Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress during the Second World War that inspired the making of two motion pictures: a 1944 documentary film, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, and a 1990 Hollywood feature film, Memphis Belle. The aircraft was one of the first B-17 United States Army Air Corps heavy bombers to complete 25 combat missions with her crew intact. The aircraft and crew then returned to the United States to sell war bonds. The aircraft was the namesake of pilot Robert K. Morgan's sweetheart, Margaret Polk, a resident of Memphis, Tennessee. After Morgan and his copilot, Jim Verinis, saw the movie Lady for a Night, in which the leading character owns a riverboat named the Memphis Belle, he proposed that name to his crew. Memphis Belle flew to England in late September 1942, and departed on its first bombing mission on 7 November 1942. In the next six months, she flew missions over France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Capt. Morgan was pilot of the Memphis Belle from September 1942 to May 1943. Promoted to Major, Morgan flew a second combat tour in the Pacific Theater, commanding the 869th Bomb Squadron, 497th Bomb Group of the 20th Air Force. Flying the B-29 Superfortress Dauntless Dotty from Saipan, he completed 26 missions over Japan until sent home on 24 April 1945. Dauntless Dotty, named after his third wife, Dorothy Johnson Morgan, led the first raid on Tokyo on 24 November 1944. It was America's first attack on Tokyo since Doolittle's raid in B-25's four months after Pearl Harbor.