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Clark Gable

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Captain Clark Gable

Hollywood movie star Captain Clark Gable was photographed after returning from a 303rd BG mission to Antwerp on 4 May 1943 in 359th B-17F #41-24635 The 8 Ball Mk II. In October 1942, Gable had graduated from Officers' Candidate School in Miami as a Second Lieutenant. He attended aerial gunnery school until February 1943. On the personal insistence of General Hap Arnold, Chief of the American Air Staff, he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group to make a motion picture of gunners in action. Gable flew a handful of combat missions and competed some footage for the film, Combat America. The 8 Ball Mk II survived the war also, finishing its days at Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1945.

[photo from the 303rdBGA Archives]
[text by 303rdBGA Historian Harry D. Gobrecht]