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 an American fighter ace in World War II, and again in Korea.

He was present at the attack on Pearl Harbor, where his squadron made it into the air too late to engage the Japanese attackers.

After the outbreak of war Gabreski followed up the reports about 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 led Gabreski to an idea: since Polish squadrons 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 has been a lieutenant for a couple of months only.

In October 1942, Gabreski reported to 8th Air Force Headquarters in England.

While in Britain he tried to join the Polish Squadron 303, but since that unit had been taken out of action for a period of rest, he ended up in 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 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.

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, although fellow ace Chuck Yeager disputes this ratio, arguing that most of Gabreski's kills were planes that were grounded. ^[1]

He flew again during the Korean War, piloting an F-86 Sabre. He was credited with 6.5 kills, making him one of seven U.S. 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.