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A bomber crew of the 351st Bomb Group, including Hollywood Actor Clark Gable, with their B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Duchess".
Image stamped on reverse: 'International News photos.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 25 Sep 1943.' [stamp] and '285399.' [Censor no.]
Printed caption on reverse: 'DS pictured standing in front of the Flying Fortress "Duchess" after the successful US 8th Air Force (ETO) raid on Nantes (France) the morning of September 23rd are back row, L to R:
Lt James O Bradley, Cincinatti, Ohio,
Captain John Carraway, Raleigh, NC,
Major J R Blaylock, Council Bluff, Iowa,
Captain Clark Gable, Hollywood, Cal,
Lt Col Robert W Burns, Ecru, Miss,
Lt David Palmer, Seattle,
Staff Sergeant Stephen Schmitt, 6617 North Ashen Ave, Chicago, Ill.
Front Row: L to R:
Staff Sergeant William J Mile, 836 East 83rd Street, NYC,
Master Sergeant Fletcher Cupp, Carthage, MO,
Staff Sergeant Frank Dillinbeck, 9502 East Broadway, Spokane,
Technical Sergeant Clyde L Eisenhart, York PA.
Above formed members of the crew of "Duchess" aboard which Gable has just completed his fifth mission and thereby earned the Air Medal DS/CAS.'
This contains information written on the back of the original print and some of it may be inaccurate.
A bomber crew of the 351st Bomb Group, including Hollywood Actor Clark Gable, with their B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Duchess". Image stamped on reverse: 'International News photos.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 25 Sep 1943.' [stamp] and '285399.' [Censor no.] Printed caption on reverse: 'DS pictured standing in front of the Flying Fortress "Duchess" after the successful US 8th Air Force (ETO) raid on Nantes (France) the morning of September 23rd are back row, L to R: Lt James O Bradley, Cincinatti, Ohio, captain John Carraway, Raleigh, NC, Major J R Blaycock, Council Bluff, Iowa, Captain Clark Gable, Hollywood, Cal, Lt Robert W Burns, Ecru, Miss, Lt David Palmer, Seattle, Staff Sergeant Stephen Schmitt, 6617 North Ashen Ave, Chicago, Ill. Front Row: L to R: Staff Sergeant William J Mile, 836 East 83rd Street, NYC, Master Sergeant Fletcher Cupp, Carthage, MO, Staff Sergeant Frank Dillinbeck, 9502 East Broadway, Spokane, Technical Sergeant Clyde L Eisenhart, York PA. Above formed members of the crew of "Duchess" aboard which Gable has just completed his fifth mission and thereby earned the Air Medal DS/CAS.'
Group
The 351st Bomb Group flew strategic bombing missions from their base at Polebrook, Northamptonshire from April 1943 to June 1945. The Group's most famous member was Hollywood actor Clark Gable, who flew four/ five missions with them as an observer...
Military | Major | Pilot
John Blaylock graduated from the University of Iowa in June, 1941 and shortly thereafter enlisted in the Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet. After training as a Pilot, he received his wings and was sent overseas. He arrived in England in April, 1943, where...
Military | Captain
Military | Major General | Group Air Executive
Pilot. Assigned to 351BG, 8AF USAAF. 25 x missions.
Awards: SS, DFC (OLC)/ AM (3OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (2 x battle stars), American Campaign Medal, DUC.
Military | Lieutenant Colonel
Military | First Lieutenant
Military | Technical Sergeant
Military | Major | Cameraman, Gunner, Actor
Clark Gable flew at least 5 missions as Captain filming 50,000 ft of gunnery combat during 1943. He received the Air Medal for his service. 1 mission was flown with the 303rd BG. The rest were with the 351st BG in different aircraft. The film was named...
Military | Staff Sergeant
Military | Staff Sergeant
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/3/43; Pueblo 28/3/43; Presque Is 9/4/43; Assigned 510BS/351BG [TU-L] Polebrook 17/4/43; 39m 2 BAD Warton 5/4/44; Returned to the USA Tinker 7/6/44; Hendricks 9/8/44; Rapid City 12/9/44; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 07 December 2021 17:08:08 | Douglas P | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
I corrected the caption to reflect the correct rank for Robert Burns for the Nantes Mission. The AAF had it wrong in the original caption. http://www.351st.org/loadlist/search.php?type=m&mission=41&ac=42-29925 |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 24 November 2016 11:33:20 | Lucy May | Changes to caption, person associations and aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Added connections to airmen from caption information. |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 02 February 2015 10:00:21 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection |
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