In November, they ferried General Eisenhower to Gibraltar to command the North African invasion forces. In October 1942, they flew General Mark Clark to Gibraltar for his secret North African rendezvous with the French prior to Operation Torch. They were the lead aircraft, responsible for group navigation and bombing. Van Kirk would later fly with these men on the Hiroshima mission.įrom August to October 1942, the crew flew 11 missions out of England. The crew of the 'Red Gremlin' also included pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee. On 1 April 1942, he received both his commission and navigator wings and transferred to the 97th Bomb Group, the first operational Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. He joined the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program in October 1941. Van Kirk was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, to Frederick and Grace (Snyder) Van Kirk.