John Quinlan

Air Classics, May 2001

John Quinlan, 81, the tail gunner of the famed B-17 Memphis Belle passed away at Albany, New York, during January. Quinlan joined the USAAF in 1941 and was assigned to the B-17 captained by Robert Morgan. The plane's ten-man crew was the first to complete 25 missions during World War Two, all with no casualties.

Their exploits became the subject of a wartime documentary and a 1990 Hollywood movie. Quinlan was credited with shooting down two German planes from his position. He also shot down three Japanese fighters after he was transferred to the Pacific. During the Memphis Belle's bombing runs, Quinlan kept up the crew's spirits by singing his own version of The Wabash Cannonball, substituting his lyrics: "You could hear those Jerries say, `They're flying straight from hell. They come to bomb the Fatherland. They fly the Memphis Belle."'