Gabby Gabreski
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Francis S. "Gabby" Gabreski |
Francis Stanley "Gabby" Gabreski (Franciszek Gabryszewski) (born
28 January 1919 in
Oil City, Pennsylvania - died
January 31 2002) was a
Polish-
fighter ace in
World War II.
He was present at the
attack on Pearl Harbor, where his squadron made it into the air too late to engage the Japanese attackers.
Gabreski, worried about the Nazi invasion of
Poland, volunteered for a transfer to one of the
Polish squadrons in
Great Britain. The War Department approved his transfer, primarily because he spoke Polish. In October
1942, Gabreski reported to 8th Air Force Headquarters in
England.
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Gabreski with other Polish pilots from the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter group USAAF. From the left side: F/Lt Gładych, S/Ldr Sawicz, Lt. Col Gabreski, S/Ldr Rutkowski, F/Lt Andresz i F/Lt Lanowski. |
He joined the
315th Polish "Deblinski" Fighter Squadron at
Northolt, England, and began flying the new
Spitfire Mark IX's. 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 is better known for his time with the famous
56th Fighter Group, flying the
P-47 Thunderbolt. 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.) Not long afterward, his plane crashed during a strafing run in Europe, and he spent the rest of the war as a
POW.
He had claimed 28 aircraft destroyed in the air and 3 on the ground in 153 operations.
He flew again during the
Korean War, piloting an
F-86 Sabre. He was credited with 6.5 kills, making him one of the few pilots to be aces in more than one war.
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 died of an apparent heart attack in Huntington Hospital,
Long Island,
New York on
January 31,
2002. He is buried in
Calverton National Cemetery.
*
Col. Francis S. Gabreski - U.S. Air Force History site*
Col. Francis S. Gabreski - U.S. Air Force Museum site*
Col. Francis S. Gabreski - 18th Fighter Wing site*
Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski - WWII Aces site
