As a starter to the conference, the original, uncut movie "Memphis Belle" of William Wyler, a famous Hollywood director enlisted in the American Air Force to shoot documentaries on the day-to-day life in the armed forces.
The M-17 "Memphis Belle" Bomber was one of the 12.750 B-17 build by the Boeing Company. It is the most famous of all Flying Fortresses, since her crew was the first to accomplish 25 successful missions over Germany between November 1942 and may 1943, in a period when 80% of these aircrafts were shot down during the first three months of combat. In order to lift the spirits of the soldiers, the American Forces General Command decided to take home all crews who succeeded in accomplishing 25 missions.
As a result, the 26 th mission of the "Memphis Bell" was to be of pacific nature, as the airplane toured 32 cities in the US during the summer 1943 to thank the American people supportive of the war effort.
In 1990, Michael Caton-Jones did a film on the "Memphis Belle".
