page_title: 91st Bombardment Group
section_title: 91st Bomb Group B-17's on exhibit
hierarchical_section_title: 91st Bombardment Group / 91st Bomb Group B-17's on exhibit
caption_attribution_description: English: Boeing B-17F Memphis Belle fully restored
context_page_description: The 91st Bomb Group was an air combat unit of the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. Classified as a heavy bombardment group, the 91st operated B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft and was known unofficially as "The Ragged Irregulars" or as "Wray's Ragged Irregulars", after the commander who took the group to England. During its service in World War II the unit consisted of the 322nd, 323rd, 324th, and 401st Bomb Squadrons. The 91st Bomb Group is most noted as the unit in which the bomber Memphis Belle flew, and for having suffered the greatest number of losses of any heavy bomb group in World War II.
  The 91st Bomb Group conducted 340 bombing missions with the Eighth Air Force over Europe, operating out of RAF Bassingbourn. Inactivated at the end of the war, the group was brought back in 1947 as a reconnaissance group of the United States Air Force, and then had its lineage and honors bestowed on like-numbered wings of the Strategic Air Command, the Air Force Space Command and the Air Force Global Strike Command.
context_section_description: Two 91st B-17's survive, both currently at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio.
  B-17F serial 41-24485-10-BO, 324th BS, marked DF A, Memphis Belle, combat 7 November 1942 to 19 May 1943. Returned to United States to sell war bonds on 8 June 1943. First placed on outdoor display at National Guard in Memphis in 1949, where it slowly deteriorated from weather and vandalism. Moved to Mud Island in 1987, but was still exposed to the elements. Disassembled and taken to Naval Air Station Memphis in 2003 for restoration. Acquired by the National Museum of the United States Air Force in mid-October 2005. There it underwent full restoration and was unveiled at the museum on 17 May 2018. It appears as it did shortly after completing its 25th mission.
  B-17G serial 42-32076-35-BO, 401st BS, marked LL E, Shoo Shoo Baby, in combat 24 March 1944 to 29 May 1944, crash-landed Malmö Airport, Sweden. Repaired in Sweden, it had been used as a civilian transport and recovered in 1972, where it was dismantled, taken to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, for restoration, and turned over to the museum on 13 October 1988. Due to the amount of skin work required to restore its wartime appearance, it is finished in olive drab and grey, instead of bare-metal as it was during its USAAF service, and has been restored to its original name, Shoo Shoo Baby. It was replaced by Memphis Belle in 2018, and is now in storage.
caption: Memphis Belle at the National Museum of the United States Air Force after its restoration was completed
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