 The first 497th Superfort arrived there on 17 September.The group began operations in October 1944 with work up attacks against Iwo Jima and the Truk Islands.Captain Robert K. Morgan (31 July 1918 – 15 May 2004), of Asheville, North Carolina, had been the pilot on the majority of the missions flown by the B-17 Flying Fortress, "Memphis Belle", when it was designated the official "first" bomber to complete 25 operations, while flying with the 91st Bomb Group, VIII Bomber Command, in the European Theatre of Operations.