Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress

Here's a video that I found fascinating last weekend while I fed and burped Blake. It's a documentary/propaganda piece released in March of 1944 featuring the Memphis Belle and the war effort around it.

What is particularly interesting is how our information of the war effort is shaped by the film. It's telling that, for all the effort, our understanding of the effect of the war was summarized by a few pictures of the aftermath of the bombardments and that's it. That's all they had and certainly all they would release to the public.

To put it in perspective, these were the dark days of the aerial strategic bombing campaign. The 8th Airforce alone would account for 6% (26,000 men) of all the dead soldiers for American forces. The loss rate of any mission was around 5% and up until the Memphis Belle ('43) no bomber air crew could complete a tour of duty.

They all died.

And the year before this film was release was the worst ever for American airmen. Such was the casualties, over a third of all participating aircraft, in the Schweinfurt ball bearing plant raid that the campaign halted temporarily and the entire campaign's purpose was reconsidered.
But things were turning around in March of '44. Long range fighter escorts had begun paving the way for allied bombers and cleaning up in earnest.
Despite it, public support was faltering. And with the death toll its easy to see why.

We didn't have boots on the ground nor certainly the hind sight we have now. They didn't know much of what effect the strategic bombing was having. And with the incredible cost in lives for a unknown or questionable effect, this film had to really sell home that it was worth it. It can't do it with raw data for a variety of reasons. So naturally it works like good propaganda, it appeals to a more poetic or theoretical nature by dramatizing and extrapolating a potential, but completely unconfirmed, result.

The color combat footage really helps empathize with just what is going on as well. Otherwise, the deaths of countless crewmen would come across as a horrendous statistic back home and bring up the question of competency regarding military command.

The additional filming and release of some of the more horrifying moments says a lot about the attitude toward death then. Our military's public relations would throw a fit if there was a movie with 10 minutes of exploding hummers and burning wrecks- much less one released by the government itself. We can thank the callous and irresponsible reporting during Vietnam for that.

And regarding what happened then, I don't really blame them for being reserved now. Our society has somewhat of a weaker stomach for death and that's not entirely a bad thing.