Clark Gable in Uniform: Glamour Meets Grit at 30,000 Feet

A photograph of Lt. Clark Gable with a belt of linked .50-caliber machine gun cartridges.

 

The Beginning

 

It is February 1st, 1901, in Cadiz, Ohio. The weather is normally cold and dreary, but on this day the weather, while cool, was overcast with light snow and a chilly wind. On that day a son was born to an oil-well driller named William Henry "Will" Gable and his pretty wife Adeline (Hershelman) Gable. But, troubles lay ahead.

 

They named the child William Clark Gable after his father, but  he was almost always called Clark. However, his father referred to him as "kid". You see, father Will was a Protestant while his mother was a Catholic. Well, after a short (and probably testy) conversation, young six-month old Clark was baptized at a Roman Catholic Church in Dennison, Ohio. Sadly, Clark's mother passed away when Clark was only ten months old. 

 

This prompted Will to decided not to raise Clark in the Catholic faith which, in turn, created criticism within the Hershelman family. You see, Clark's father was a Sunday School teacher at the nearby Methodist Church. The dispute was finally settled when Will allowed Clark to spend time with his maternal uncle, Charles Hershelman, and his wife on their farm in Vernon Township, Pennsylvania.

 

Clark's Acting Career

 

Rather than spend a lot of time on Clark Gable's acting career, let me just give you a short version of a long and succesful career. Clark went to see the play The Bird of Paradise at the age of 17 which sparked his interest in acting. But at that time he didn't have resources to make it a career until he received his $ 300 inheritance from his mother's will at the age of 21.

 

Clark began acting touring with a number of second class stock companies in travelling tent shows. Eventually Clark found himself in Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest. There he met Josephine Dillon, a theater manager and acting coach. Dillon guided Clark by having his teeth fixed, hair styled, and slowly building up his chronically undernourished body.

 

In 1924 Gable and Dillon travelled to Hollywood where she and Clark were married while she managed his career. Dillon's efforts paid off, and from 1930 through 1942 his fame grew as he made movies and became a ladies leading man. In 1939 he made the movie Gone With The Wind where he uttered the famous line "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".

 

Clark Gable and his wife Carole Lombard.

 

On March 29, 1939 Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were married, and by all accounts it was a very good marriage, but on January 16, 1942, Carole Lombard and all those aboard TWA Flight 3, a Douglas DC-3, were killed when the aircraft crashed into a sheer cliff on Potosi Mountain, 32 miles SW of Las Vegas.

 

The crash site of TWA FLight 3 on 1-16-42, killing actress Carole Lombard, wife of Clark Gable.

 

Clark Gable was devastated.  He had been very proud of this wife who had raised more thatn $ 2 million in wae bonds while she was on a tour to raise money for the war effort.

 

Clark Gable by that time was a world famous Hollywood star when two events altered his life forever. The first was the attack on Pearl Harbor on 12-6-41, bringing the United States into the Second World War. The second was the death of his beloved wife Carole Lombard.

 

Gable and his wife had been working hard to raise money for the war through war bonds, but now he felt that was not a significant enough contribution to the war effort. By this time he was too old for military service, but that didn't dissuade Clark from wanting to serve. He sent a letter to President Roosevelt asking for a role in the war effort. The president replied saying "STAY WHERE YOU ARE".

 

Gable Joins The Army

 

Ignoring the president's letter, Clark Gable enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 12, 1942, deciding to start at the bottom rather than just be given a commission. However, Gabel contacted Lt. General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and agreed to make recruiting movies for the USAAF. 

 

Gable did not have a high school diploma, but after testing was sent to the course USAAF OCS (Office Candidate School) class 42-E at Miami Beach, Florida. Gable graduated with high marks and upon graduation he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on October 28, 1942.

 

Gable was then given a special assignment to make recruitment films in combat with the 8th Air Force to recruit aerial gunners. Gable was then trained as an aerial gunner, which was highly unusual, because aerial gunners were usually enlisted soldiers. But, he was very good at it. He was assigned to the Tindell Air Force Base flexible gunner school in Florida followed by a photography course at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington. 

 

Upon graduation Gable was promoted to 1st. Lieutenant. On January 27, 1943 Gbael reported to Biggs Army Air Field, Texas to train with the 351st Bomb group headed to RAF (Royal Air Force) Polebrook in England with Gable at the head of a 6-man group to make recruitment movies. Gable had free rein and answered only to General Hap Arnold.

 

He continued training with the 351st and as the leader of the group was promoted to Captain while he was with the 351st Bomb Group at Pueblo Army Air Base in Colorado. When he arrived in England he was invited to every large party being thrown, but he rarely attended. He was dedicated to his work.

 

American Bomber Doctrine Relied on Aerial Gunners

 

Early in the war the British had tried strategic daylight bombing against Germany, but they suffered terrible loses and decided to abandon daylight bombing in favor of nighttime bombing raids instead.

 

But, the US Army Air Corps had trained for daylight bombing which required clear target visibility. So, it was either daylight bombing or no bombing at all. The Americans were convinced that their bombers were more robust and more heavily armed than RAF bombers. They believed that they could successfully fend of German fighters, in particular because they would fly in tight formations.

 

This meant that the aerial gunners were crucial in protecting the aircraft. While under attack the aerial gunners had only seconds to figure out the attacking aircraft's speed, range, angle of attack, and their own machine gun bullets' ballistics and tragectory. Once they figured all of that out they had to align the enemy aircraft in their sights and open up on the attackers.

 

Not an easy task, and incredibly important to the crew and aircraft.

 

A diagram of crew positions in a B-17 bomber in World War II.

 

While going through the aerial gunner school Clark was also trained to be a photographer. Because of his Hollywood connections, Clark was made a part of the FMPU (First Motion Picture Unit) located at the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CA.  

 

Jack Warner, a Hollywood producer, was chosen to lead the FMPU, and was given the rank of Lt. Colonel. The idea was for the FMPU to make recruitment films for the U.S. Army Air Forces.

 

The FMPU got its start with the production of "Winning Your Wings" in 1942. The project was so successful that the USAAF gained over 150,000 recruits, which presented a new problem: how to train all of these new pilot recruits to win the war. 

 

This film created a whole new problem: how to train all these new pilot recruits to win the war. The unit was based at "Fort Roach" (the unit's name for the Roach Studios) where the members lived and produced military classics like Jimmy Stewart in the film "Winning Your Wings" in 1942. 

 

However, Jimmy Stewart was not happy because he wanted to really fly airplanes in WWII. Click on the image below to see the video "Winning Your Wings":

 

Gable was only scheduled to fly 5 missions with a camerman aboard shooting war footage, including one mission to Germany as an observer/gunner. His first combat mission was on May 4, 1943 when Gable joined the 351st Group Commander, Lt. Col. William A. Hatcher, on a familiarization mission to bomb the Ford and General Motors plants in Antwerp. The B-17 was nicknamed "The 8 Ball".

A photograph of the B-17 from WWII named The 8 Ball.

 

On July 24, 1943, on Gable's third combat mission, to bomb the Norse hydrochemical plant in Herura, Norway, part of Hitler's heavy water program to build an atomic bomb. On August 12, 1943, Gabel's fourth mission was to bomb a synthetic oil plant at Gellzen in the Ruhr. Bombing Bokeh, Germany was a target of opportunity in bad weather.

 

This was the most dangerous mission to date with 23 of the missions 330 B-17s shot down, and two more scrapped when the returned to RAF Polebrook. Gable's B-17 was damaged by flak and was attacked by fighters who shop out one of the engines and the vertical stabilizer. 

 

The flak came up and a shell blew up killing one man with two others severely wounded. Gable helped the two wounded as best he could until the fighters returned on the return flight to Polebrook. On this attack an explosive 20mm shell came up through the flight deck and tore the heel from Gable's boot and exited just above his head without exploding.

 

Gable's final flight was on September 23, 1943, to bomb the port area of Nance, France. One half of the group failed to assemble due to bad weather, and intercepting fighter inflicted heavy damage on the other half, damaging 16 B-17s but no bombers were lost.

 

Gable left his film crew in the waist of the bomber and manned a gun in the nose of the aircraft. But Gable had been secretly flying far more missions were not authorized and these were never recorded in his log book.

A portrait of a B-17G Flying Fortress of the 351st Bombardment Group taken by Clark Gabel on a mission.

 

Gable had attracted the attention of Adolph Hitler who offered a bounty for anyone who could "get that gunner". Below is a link to a video which will explain things more fully about Gabel's time in the USAAF flying missions out of Britain. Just click on the image to see the video.

Wanted! Why did Adolph Hitler Put A Bounty On This B-17 Gunner?

 

Gable was relieved from active duty as a Major on June 12, 1944, at his request because he was over the age limit for combat missions. Because his motion picture production schedule made it impossible for him to fulfill reserve officer duties, he resigned his commission on September 26, 1947, a week after the Air Force became an independent service branch.

 

His discharge papers were signed by non other than Capt. Ronald Regan! Clark Gable passed away on November 16, 1960.

 

I hope you enjoyed this trip through some of the history of aviation. If you enjoyed this trip, and if you are new to this newsletter, sign up to receive your own weekly newsletter here: Subscribe here!

 

Until next time, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you, Hersch!