P-47 Ace Francis "Gabby" Gabreski Interview
From Jane's WWII Fighters Francis "Gabby" Gabreski left the University of Notre Dame and his studies as a pre-med student in July 1940 to join the Army Air Corps. On 14 March 1941 he won his wings and commission at Maxwell Field. Gabreski's first artime assignment was with the 15th Fighter Group in Hawaii at Wheeler Field when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. In October 1942, Gabreski was sent to England as a liaison officer to the Polish Air Force. After flying Spitfires on 20 combat missions, he was reassigned in February 1943 to the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, flying a P-47 out of Boxted, England. Gabreski's initial victories came slowly. It wasn't until 26 November 1943 that he became an Ace. By the middle of July 1944, however, he was the leading USAAF Ace in the European Theater, with 28 victories. On July 20, 1944, Lt. Col. Gabreski led a raid on a German airfield near Koblenz. This mission was supposed to be Gabby's last as he was being rotated to the US after more than 300 combat hours and 28 aerial victories. As luck would have it, however, his prop struck the ground on a low-level attack and he was forced to make a belly-landing in a nearby wheat field. He was captred after twe days and spent the rest of the war as a POW in Stalag Luft I. After a one-year break in service, working for Douglas Aircraft Corporation, Gabreski was recalled to active duty, and assigned to the 4th Fighter-interceptor Group flying the F-86 Sabrejet in Korea On 8 ...
