Clark Gable CAFB

8/3/2019 Clark Gable CAFB

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/clark-gable-cafb 1/7

When Hollywood Went to War and Came to Columbus AAF

By Aviation Historian, Dave Trojan

Columbus AAF Commanding Officer, Colonel L.C. Mallory meets Clark Gable,

photo courtesy Chuck Haynes via CAFB Historian

You might remember Clark Gable for his portrayal of Rhett Butler in ³Gone With the

Wind´ or as one of the great legends of the silver screen, but almost 70 years ago, hewas a real American hero both on screen and off when he flew real combat missionsduring World War II. Clark Gable, age 40, was almost twice the age of most of the other men when he volunteered for the Army Air Force in California on August 12, 1942, withthe statement to the news media: "There is a war to win, and I consider it my right tofight." Shortly after his enlistment he was sent to Miami Beach, Florida, where heentered USAAF Officers Training School Miami Beach, Class 42-E on August 17, 1942.



After completing OCS training he graduated on Oct. 28 1942 and was commissioned asa second lieutenant. General Arnold then informed Gable of his special assignment tomake recruiting films in combat with the Eighth Air Force to recruit gunners. He wasthen transferred to Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, Florida for aerial gunnerytraining.

While attending Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field Florida, Clark Gable made atraining flight to Columbus Army Flying School Mississippi, paying his first visit to thispart of the Deep South. On November 6, 1942, he flew to Columbus with anundisclosed number of Army planes on a routine training flight from Florida. Accordingto the Columbus Dispatch, He did not attract too much attention in Columbus as asoldier, but as Clark Gable the film star, ³He threw feminity into a dither and heart beatssounded like champagne corks popping´. Officially Clark Gable would say nothing for publication, stating that the War Department frowned upon interviews. He met with theCommanding Officer of Columbus AAF, Colonel L.C. Mallory before being whiskedaway into town. That evening he was entertained at the Gilmer Hotel by J.O. Slaughter,

hotel owner and one of the most civic-minded citizens. It was reported that while he wasvisiting the hotel, the telephone switchboard looked like a Christmas tree, so numerouswere calls from women, many of them students at Mississippi State College for Women.Shortly after midnight the film star sped back to the base. Hundreds of local women hadto be content to wait to see Mr. Gable on the movie screen. Within the week, thePrincess Theatre in Columbus had special showings of ³Gone With the Wind ́.

Back at Tyndall Field, Gable did well in all his classes, but had trouble with the "blinker code," used during message transmission when the radios were unusable. Like mostother students, he spent long hours learning the code. His class of 2,600 fellow students(of which, he ranked 700th in class standing) selected Gable as their graduationspeaker. Clark Gable graduated from Flexible Gunnery School at Tyndall Field, Floridaon Jan. 6, 1943. After graduation, he went to a photography course at Fort GeorgeWright, Washington and was promoted to first lieutenant upon completion. Because of his Hollywood connection, he was made a part of the First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU).The unit was formed in 1942 as the 18th Air Force Base Unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps, to produce training films, morale films, and propaganda films.

Clark Gable reported to Biggs Air Force Base on January 27, 1943, to train with andaccompany the 351st Bomb Group to England as head of a six-man motion picture unit.Clark Gable spent most of his military service time in the United Kingdom at RAFPolebrook with the 351st. Promoted to captain soon after arriving in England; Gablewas assigned to film ³Combat America´ , a propaganda movie about air gunners. Gableflew at least five combat missions, including one to Germany, as an observer-gunner inB-17 Flying Fortresses between May 4 and September 23, 1943, earning the Air Medaland the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. During one of the missions, Gable'saircraft was damaged by flak and attacked by interceptors which knocked out one of theengines and damaged the stabilizer. In the raid on Germany, in which one crewmanwas killed and two others wounded, flak went through Gable's boot and narrowly missedhis head. Germany offered a sizeable cash reward to anyone who could capture Clark



Gable. By the fall of 1943 Gable¶s crew had exposed 50,000 feet of film. His film³Combat America´ made a valuable contribution to our historical knowledge of the war from the flyer¶s perspective of the time. Gable returned to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 and wasrelieved from active duty as a major on Jun. 12, 1944 at his own request, since he wasover-age for combat. "I have enjoyed every minute of Army life. It's a good change from

Hollywood," Gable said.

Capt. Clark Gable peers out of a waist gunner's window on a Boeing B-17 toanswer questions during an interview, 6 June 1943, 351St Bomb Group, England.

Official USAF photo.



Clark Gable as a B-17 gunner, photo from Dave Trojan collection.



Clark Gable as a Gunner aboard a B-17 bomber, photo from Dave Trojan

collection



Clark Gable posing next to B-17 Bomber named ³Delta Rebel #2´. Clark Gable

was included in the Delta Rebel crew when he was in the process of shooting the

documentary film "Combat America." Official USAF photo.



Movie poster for Combat America, Dave Trojan collection

Clark Gable CAFB

Documents

Transcript of Clark Gable CAFB