Gabby Gabreski

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Francis Stanley Gabreski
January 28, 1919-January 31, 2002
Col. Francis S. Gabreski
Nickname	Gabby
Place of birth	Oil City, Pennsylvania
Place of death	Long Island, New York
Allegiance	U.S. Air Force
Years of service	1940-1967
Rank	Colonel
Commands	61st Fighter Squadron 56th Fighter Group 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing 354th Tactical Fighter Wing 18th Tactical Fighter Wing
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War

Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (Franciszek Gabryszewski) (28 January 1919 - January 31, 2002) was the top American fighter ace in Europe during World War II, a jet fighter ace in Korea, and commanded numerous fighter squadrons, groups, and wings during his Air Force career.

1 Biography
2 World War II
3 Air Force career
4 Awards and decorations
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Gabreski's official Air Force biography states:

(Gabreski's parents) had emigrated from Poland to Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the early 1900's. His father owned and operated a market, putting in 12-hour days. Like many immigrant-owned businesses in those days, the whole family worked at the market. But Gabreski's parents had dreams for him, including attending Notre Dame University. He did so in 1938, but, unprepared for real academic work, almost flunked out during his freshman year. During his second year at Notre Dame, Army Air Corps recruiters visited the campus. Gabreski went to hear them, primarily because his friends were going. The Army's enticing offer impressed him and he enrolled, reporting in July 1940.

Gabreski undertook primary flight training at Parks Air College, basic flight training at Gunter Army Air Base, Alabama, and advanced training at Maxwell Field, Alabama, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Corps in March 1941.

[edit] World War II

Assigned as a P-40 pilot with the 45th Fighter Squadron of the 15th Fighter Group at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, 2nd Lt. Gabreski witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but did not become airborne in time to engage the attackers.

After the outbreak of war Gabreski followed closely reports on the Battle of Britain and the role played in it by Polish RAF squadrons, especially by the legendary No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron. He became concerned that while the US possessed a large and modern air force, it did not have very many experienced fighter pilots. In the days immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbour WWI veterans were either dead or retired and of the young USAAF pilots only a handful had seen any real combat. This gave Gabreski an idea: since Polish squadrons had proved by now to be both very capable and experienced within the RAF and since he himself was of Polish origin and spoke Polish, why not try to join one of the Polish squadrons in order to gain valuable combat experience, which could be later passed to American pilots?

The idea was enthusiastically approved by his superiors. He received orders to transfer to Britain and - apparently to give him better standing with the Poles - was promoted to captain, even though he had been a lieutenant for only a few months.

In October 1942, Gabreski reported to VII Fighter Command, part of the Eighth Air Force in England. While in Britain he tried to arrange duty with the 303 Squadron, but that unit had been taken out of action for a period of rest. Instead he was attached to the 315th Polish "Deblinski" Fighter Squadron at Northolt, England, and flew 20 combat missions in the new Spitfire Mark IX. He and his fellow pilots flew patrol sweeps over the Channel. He first encountered the Germans on February 3, when a group of FW-190s jumped his squadron. Too excited to make a "kill", Gabreski learned that he had to keep calm during a mission, a lesson that served him well later in the war.

He later spoke with great esteem about the Polish pilots and lessons he learned from them.

Lt. Col. Frances S. Gabreski and Staff Sgt. Ralph Safford, crew chief, prepare for flight. The assistant crew chief is in the background.

In March 1943 Gabreski became part of the 56th Fighter Group, flying the P-47 Thunderbolt, and in May was promoted to Major and named commander of the 61st Fighter Squadron, which included six Polish nationals as pilots in 1944. He made his 28th kill on July 5, 1944, passing Eddie Rickenbacher's record from World War I to become America's top ace (although several pilots passed him by the end of the war).

On 20 July 1944, Gabreski was awaiting a plane to fly him back to the United States on leave. He found that a mission was scheduled for that morning. Instead of boarding the transport back to the US he volunteered to "fly just one more." During his second strafing pass of the Luftwaffe airfield at Bissenheim, Germany, his Thunderbolt hit a small rise in the runway, bending the prop tips. This in turn caused his engine to vibrate violently, and he was forced to crash land his plane. After the crash he ran towards a nearby wooded area to avoid enemy capture. He eluded capture for five days, but was captured and held in Stalag Luft I for ten months, until being liberated by Russian forces in April 1945.

Gabreski was officially credited by the USAF with 28 aircraft destroyed in air combat and 3 on the ground, flying 165 combat sorties.

[edit] Air Force career

Following his repatriation, Gabreski was returned to the United States and attended test pilot training at Wright Field, Ohio. In April 1946 he briefly separated from the service before being recalled to active duty in April 1947 as a squadron commander in the 20th Fighter Group.

Col. Gabreski flew combat again during the Korean War, as commander of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, piloting an F-86 Sabre. He was credited with 6.5 Mig-15 kills, making him one of seven U.S. pilots to be aces in more than one war (the others are Col. Harrison Thyng, Col. James P. Hagerstrom, Major William T. Whisner, Col. Vermont Garrison, Major George A. Davis, Jr., and Lt.Col. John F. Bolt, USMC).

He ended his career as a commander of several tactical and air defense wings, his last assignment being commander of the 52nd Fighter Wing at Suffolk County Air Force Base in Westhampton Beach, New York. At the time he retired, in November 1967, he had flown more combat missions than any other American fighter pilot. He received another honor in 1992 when Suffolk County Airport (formerly Suffolk County AFB) was renamed Francis S. Gabreski Airport.

Gabreski served as Long Island Rail Road president from 1978 to 1981.

Gabreski died of an apparent heart attack in Huntington Hospital, Long Island, New York on January 31, 2002. He is buried in Calverton National Cemetery.