11:30 a.m.
July 20th, 1944.
Bassenheim Airfield, Germany.
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Gabreski pulls his P47 Thunderbolt into a steep dive.
Target: German aircraft on the ground.
Altitude 500 ft.
Air speed 350 mph.
He lines up the first FW190.
Finger on the trigger.
8.50 caliber machine guns ready.
He descends lower.
200 ft.
100 ft.
50 ft.
Too low.
The propeller tips nick the ground.
Dirt sprays.
The 13 ft propeller blades shatter.
Metal fragments.
The engine seizes.
Violent vibration.
The P47 shakes apart.
Gabreski pulls back on the stick.
No response.
The aircraft plows into a wheat field.
Belly landing.
17,500 lb of aircraft grinding across German soil.
The canopy opens.
Gabreski climbs out uninjured but 200 m inside Nazi Germany.
Europe’s top American ace.
28 confirmed kills.
One day away from going home.
One voluntary mission away from marrying his fiance.
Now running through a German wheat field with Vermach soldiers chasing him.
He will evade them for 5 days, then spend 10 months as a prisoner of war.
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This is documented history.
Francis Gabby Gabresk’s record is verified by military records, kill confirmations, and his own testimony.
Every detail is real.
Now, let’s go back to where this began.
Francis Stanley Gabriky was born January 28th, 1919 in Oil City, Pennsylvania, a small industrial town, population 15,000, oil refineries, railroad yards, workingclass.
His father was Stannislaw Gabashevski, Polish immigrant, born in Poland, immigrated to America in the early 1900s.
Worked as a railroad car repairer.
Hard labor, low wages, long hours.
His mother was Josepha Capika Gabriki, also Polish immigrant.
They met in Pennsylvania, Polish community, Catholic parish, traditional values.
They married, had five children.
Francis was the third child, born at home, 128 Main Street, Oil City.
The family name was difficult.
Gabriowski.
12 letters.
Hard to pronounce for Americans.
Hard to spell.
When Francis’s older brother, Ted, started high school, the family held a meeting.
Ted suggested changing the surname.
Make it simpler, easier for teachers, for employers, for life in America.
They agreed.
Gabrielski became Gabeski.
Seven letters, simpler, more American.
The entire family adopted the new name legally.
Francis became Francis Stanley Gabeski, but everyone called him by a different name, Gabby.
The nickname stuck for life.
Gabreski attended St.
Joseph’s Catholic School in Oil City, then Oil City High School.
He graduated in 1938.
He was an average student, not exceptional academically, but athletic, competitive, restless.
He wanted more than Oil City could offer.
His parents pushed education.
College, the American dream.
In 1938, Gabreski enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, Southbend, Indiana.
Catholic University, prestigious but expensive.
His family made sacrifices, sent money, supported him.
Gabreski struggled at Notre Dame.
The coursework was hard.
He barely passed his first year, barely passed his second year.
By 1940, he was failing.
Academics weren’t his strength.
He needed something else, something active, physical, competitive.
In 1940, several of his friends applied for Army Air flight training.
Gabreski thought, “Why not?” He didn’t expect to be accepted.
He was Polish American, working class, barely passing college, but he filled out the application anyway.
He passed the physical exams, perfect vision, good reflexes, strong health.
He was accepted.
In July 1940, Gabreski left Notre Dame, never graduated, reported for flight training instead.
Gabreski’s primary flight training was at Parks Air College, East St.
Louis, Illinois.
Civilian flight school, contracted by the Army.
The aircraft was the Taylor Cub.
Small trainer, fabric wings, 40 horsepower engine, simple controls.
Gabreski climbed into the cockpit.
First lesson, the instructor demonstrated.
Then Gabreski tried.
He was tense, gripping the stick too hard, overcontrolling.
The cub wobbled, bounced.
The instructor shook his head.
After 6 hours of instruction, the owner of Stalker Flying Services made an assessment.
Gabreski didn’t have the touch to be a pilot.
He was too tense at the controls.
Recommendation: wash out.
Send him home.
But Gabeski got a second chance.
New instructor, different approach, calmer, more patient.
Gabreski relaxed, learned.
After additional hours, he soloed, passed, moved to the next phase.
Basic training was in the Boeing Steerman PT17 biplane trainer, open cockpit, 220 horsepower radial engine, more powerful, more responsive.
Gabreski again struggled.
He barely survived an elimination flight.
Last chance.
Pass or fail? He passed.
Barely.
Advanced training was in the North American AT6 Texan.
600 horsepower retractable landing gear, more complex.
Gabreski improved.
He found his rhythm.
Graduated in March 1941.
Commissioned as second lieutenant, United States Army Airore.
His first assignment, 45th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, Wheelerfield, Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii, not yet a state, tropical paradise, but also strategic military location, Pacific Defense.
At Wheelerfield, Gabeski flew Curtis P36 Hawks, then Curtis P40 Warhawks, fighter aircraft, pursuit missions, training, peacetime routine.
But tensions with Japan were rising.
Everyone knew war was coming.
The question was when.
On the morning of December 7th, 1941, Gabreski was shaving.
Bareric’s bathroom.
Foam on his face, razor in hand, then explosions.
Distant, then closer.
Sirens, shouting.
He ran outside.
Wheeler field was under attack.
Japanese aircraft, Mitsubishiier 6 M0, Nakajima B5, and bombers.
They strafed the runways, bombed the hangers.
American aircraft burned, exploded.
Pilots scrambled.
Gabreski ran to the flight line.
He jumped into a P36, started the engine, taxied.
But by the time he got airborne, the Japanese were gone.
First wave completed, second wave finishing.
Gabreski circled, searched, no targets.
The attack was over.
Pearl Harbor was burning.
Wheeler Field was destroyed.
America was at war.
Gabreski spent the next year in Hawaii.
Combat air patrol, submarine searches, training, but no combat, no kills.
He wanted action, real fighting.
Europe, where the war was.
In 1942, Gabreski was promoted to first lieutenant, then captain.
He was assigned to the 56th fighter group.
The group was forming for deployment to Europe.
England, Eighth Air Force, strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany.
The 56th Fighter Group would fly the Republic P 47 Thunderbolt.
Gabreski had never seen one.
When he arrived in England in late 1942, he was stunned.
The P47 was massive.
The largest single engine fighter of the war.
Empty weight 10,000 lb.
Fully loaded, 17,500 pounds.
40 foot wingspan.
2000 horsepower Pratt and Whitney are 2800 radial engine.
8.5 caliber machine guns.
Four in each wing.
3,400 rounds total.
Devastating firepower.
Top speed 426 mph.
Service ceiling 43,000 ft.
Range with drop tanks 800 m.
The P47 was designed for high alitude bomber escort.
It had a turbocharger critical for maintaining power at altitude, but it required careful management.
Overheat it, destroy it.
Gabreski studied, trained, mastered the systems.
But Gabreski wanted combat experience first.
He was Polish American, fluent in Polish.
He requested assignment to a Polish fighter squadron in the Royal Air Force.
The request was approved.
In November 1942, Gabreski was assigned to number 315 Polish Fighter Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at RAF Northolt, west of London.
The squadron flew Supermarine Spitfire MK9s.
Beautiful aircraft, elegant, fast, maneuverable.
The Polish pilots were veterans.
They had fought since 1939, defending Poland, escaping to France, fighting in the Battle of Britain.
They hated the Nazis.
Personal hatred.
Their country was occupied, families killed, cities destroyed.
Gabreski flew 20 combat missions with 315 Squadron, fighter sweeps over France, bomber escorts.
He learned combat tactics, formation flying, deflection shooting, energy management.
The Poles taught him, trained him, made him a fighter pilot.
In February 1943, Gabreski returned to the 56th Fighter Group, now stationed at RAF Hailworth, England.
He was assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron back in P47s, ready for combat.
Gabreski’s first kill came on August 24th, 1943.
A Faula Wolf FW190 German fighter.
He shot it down over Holland.
Confirmed.
Credit one.
He needed four more to become an ace.
The missions were brutal.
Bomber escort.
The B17 Flying fortresses and B24 Liberators flew deep into Germany.
Attacked industrial targets.
German fighters swarmed them.
Messers BF109s.
Faula Wolf FW190’s.
Hundreds of them.
The P47 pilots fought, protected the bombers, engaged the Germans, dog fights at 25,000 ft, high-speed diving attacks, rolling scissors, energy fights.
The P47 excelled at diving.
It was heavy, fast in a dive.
Gabreski learned to use that advantage.
On November 26th, 1943, Gabeski led his squadron on a bomber escort to Bremen, Germany.
German fighters attacked.
Gabreski engaged a formation of Messers Schmidt BF 110 twin engine fighters.
He shot down the tail aircraft, confirmed kill, then returned to base, but his engine had been hit.
Shot by a pursuing FW190.
The engine ran rough, oil pressure dropping.
He nursed it back to England, made an emergency landing at Manston Airfield.
The aircraft was damaged, but Gabreski was alive.
By December 1943, Gabreski had five confirmed kills.
He was an ace.
By March 1944, he had 18 kills, ranked third among eight Air Force pilots.
By May, he had 22 kills.
By July, 28 kills.
He was the top American ace in the European theater.
On July 5th, 1944, Gabeski shot down his 28th aircraft, a Messor Schmidt BF 109 over France.
Confirmed.
He was the highest scoring American ace in Europe, ahead of everyone.
His combat tour was complete.
153 missions, nearly a year of continuous combat.
Orders arrived.
Return to the United States.
Rest, recuperation.
He had a fiance waiting.
Catherine K.
Cochran.
They met at Wheeler Field before the war.
They planned to marry.
Oil City was planning a parade, a hero’s welcome.
Gabreski was scheduled to depart on July 21st, 1944.
Transport flight to the United States.
But on July 20th, he heard about a mission.
Bomber escort to Frankfurt railroad yards.
Then strafing attacks on German airfields.
Gabreski went to the operations officer, begged, “Let me fly one more mission.
Just one.” The operations officer hesitated.
Gabreski was supposed to go home, but he relented.
One more, then you’re done.
Gabreski briefed with the squadron.
The mission was straightforward.
Escort B 24 liberators to Frankfurt.
After the bombing run, fighter sweep, ground attack, destroy aircraft on the ground.
The Germans were bringing up reserves.
Airfields near Cooblins had dozens of aircraft.
On the morning of July the 20th, 1944, Gabreski climbed into P47 D25RE Thunderbolt, serial number 4226418.
his regular aircraft, Noart HVA.
He started the engine, taxied, took off, formed up with the squadron, climbed to altitude, headed east into Germany.
The bomber escort mission was uneventful.
No German fighters appeared.
The B-24s dropped their bombs on the railroad yards.
turned for home.
Gabreski squadron broke off headed for Bosenheim airfield near Cooblins.
They arrived at 11:30 a.m.
The airfield was visible below.
German aircraft on the ground.
FW19’s 0 BF 109s.
Parked, lined up, perfect targets.
Gabreski led the attack.
He pushed the stick forward.
Dive.
The P47 accelerated.
300 mph.
350.
He lined up a wolf.
Aimed.
His plan was to pull up, fire, then climb away.
Standard ground attack procedure.
But Gabeski descended too low.
He was focused on the target, lining up the shot.
He didn’t watch his altitude.
200 ft, 100 ft, 50 ft.
Too low.
The tips of his propeller blades hit the ground.
The impact was instantaneous.
The 13 ft diameter propeller was spinning at 2,700 RPM.
The tips were traveling over 1,000 ft per second.
Supersonic.
When they hit the dirt, they shattered.
Metal fragments.
The propeller bent, warped.
The engine seized.
The vibration was catastrophic.
The entire aircraft shook.
Gabreski pulled back on the stick, tried to climb.
No power.
The engine was destroyed.
The propeller was destroying itself.
The P47 was doomed.
Gabreski had seconds to decide.
Bail out.
Land.
He was at 50 ft.
Too low to bail out.
The parachute wouldn’t open.
He had to land now.
He chopped the throttle, pulled back, flared.
The P47 hit the wheat field hard.
Belly landing.
No landing gear.
The aircraft slid.
Dirt.
Wheat.
Metal scraping.
Sparks.
The thunderbolt plowed forward 200 yd, 300 yd, finally stopped.
Gabreski unstrapped, opened the canopy, climbed out.
He was uninjured, not a scratch, but he was in the middle of Germany, 200 m behind enemy lines.
Vermach soldiers were already running toward the crash site.
Gabreski ran.
Gabreski sprinted toward the woods 200 yd away.
The Germans shouted, fired.
Bullets cracked past him.
He reached the treeine, dove into the forest, kept running.
Branches, thorns.
He didn’t stop.
For the next 5 days, Gabeski evaded capture.
He hid in forests, crawled through fields, avoided roads, avoided villages, avoided people.
He had no food, no water, no map, no survival gear, just his flight suit, his 45 pistol and the will to survive.
He was the top American ace in Europe.
The Germans knew his name.
They wanted him.
Propaganda value, intelligence value, search parties, dogs, local police.
Everyone searched.
On July 25th, 1944, 5 days after the crash, Gabreski was walking through a field.
A local policeman saw him, recognized the American flight suit, arrested him.
No resistance, no fight.
Gabreski surrendered.
The evasion was over.
Gabreski was taken to Dulagluft, the Luftwaffa interrogation center at Oberul near Frankfurt.
All captured Allied air crew were processed there, interrogated, then sent to permanent P camps.
The interrogator was Hans Sharf, master interrogator, legendary Luftwafa intelligence officer.
Sharf spoke perfect English, American accent, friendly demeanor, non-threatening.
His technique was psychological conversation, not torture.
When Gabreski entered the interrogation room, Sharf smiled, extended his hand.
“Hello, Gabby,” he said.
“We have been waiting for you for a long time.” Sharf already knew everything.
Gabreski squadron, his aircraft number, his kill count, his hometown, his fiance.
German intelligence was thorough.
They monitored Allied radio traffic, read newspapers, debriefed downed German pilots.
They knew who the top aces were.
Gabreski gave only name, rank, serial number, refused to answer questions.
Sharf didn’t push.
He chatted, offered cigarettes, discussed the war casually, tried to get Gabreski to talk naturally.
Gabreski stayed silent.
After 2 weeks, the interrogation ended.
Sharf had nothing new.
Gabreski was sent to his permanent camp.
Gabreski was transported to Stalagl one, prisoner of war camp near Bath on the Baltic Sea north of Berlin.
The camp held allied airmen, officers, and NCOs’s British, Canadian, American.
By 1944, over 8,000 prisoners.
The camp commandant was Oburibald Sharer, Luftvafa officer, professional.
The camp followed Geneva Convention rules.
Food was scarce.
Barracks were cold, but prisoners were not abused, not tortured.
They received Red Cross parcels, mail from home, medical care.
Gabresk’s barracks commander was Colonel Hubert Hub Zama.
Fighter race 56th fighter group commander before Gabreski.
Shot down in October 1944.
ZMA was the ranking American officer at Stalag Luft One.
He maintained discipline, organization, morale.
Life in the camp was monotonous.
Roll call twice daily, meals, exercise, reading, waiting.
Prisoners listened to BBC news secretly.
Smuggled radios.
They tracked the war.
The Allies were winning.
D-Day had succeeded.
France was liberated.
The Germans were retreating.
But liberation seemed distant.
Winter 1944 to 1945 was brutal, cold, food shortages.
The German economy was collapsing.
Red Cross parcels became irregular.
Prisoners were hungry.
Cold.
Sick.
Gabreski thought about Kay, his fianceé.
She was waiting in America.
Worried, he thought about his family.
Oil city, the parade that never happened.
He thought about flying, freedom, the open sky.
Months passed.
October 1944.
November, December, Christmas in the camp.
New year 1945.
Then January, February, March.
The Red Army was advancing from the east, the Western Allies from the West.
Germany was being crushed.
On April 30th, 1945, the prisoners woke to silence.
No guards.
The German officers had abandoned the camp during the night.
They fled west to surrender to the Americans or British.
Not the Russians.
The prisoners tore down the Nazi flag, raised a handsewn American flag, stars and stripes.
Someone had made it in secret, hidden it for months.
Now it flew over Stalagluff one.
On May 1st, 1945, Soviet troops arrived.
Red army, tanks, infantry, filthy, exhausted, victorious.
They had fought from Stalenrad to Berlin, over 2,000 miles, millions dead.
They liberated the camp.
The Americans were free.
But getting home was complicated.
The Soviets controlled the area.
They wanted to repatriate the Americans through Odessa, the Black Sea, a long route, through Soviet territory.
The Americans refused.
They wanted to return through France, through American lines, negotiations, delays, confusion.
Finally, agreement, Operation Revival.
Between May 13th to 15th, 1945, the 8th Air Force flew B17s to Bar.
Stripped down bombers, no weapons, maximum space.
They evacuated 8,500 Allied PS.
Gabreski boarded a B17, sat in the waist gunner position.
No seat, just the floor.
The bomber took off, flew west over Germany.
Gabreski looked down, destroyed cities, burned forests, the landscape of total war.
The B7 landed at Camp Lucky Strike, France, transit camp near La Hav.
From there, transport ships to England, then to the United States.
Gabreski arrived in the United States in late May 1945.
The war in Europe was over.
Germany had surrendered on May 8th, but the war with Japan continued.
On June 11th, 1945, Gabreski married Katherine K.
Cochran, Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, Campion College, Prairie Duchian, Wisconsin.
Small ceremony, family, friends, joy, relief, survival.
Oil City held the parade 10 months late but still celebratory.
Thousands attended.
The town’s hero, top American ace in Europe.
28 confirmed kills, three probable, three destroyed on the ground.
166 combat missions total, including the 20 with the Polish squadron.
Gabreski was promoted to Colonel Army of the United States.
He received the distinguished service cross, silver star with oakleaf cluster, distinguished flying cross with nine oakleaf clusters, air medal with four oakleaf clusters, bronze star, polish cross of valor, French legion of honor, British distinguished flying cross.
But Gabeski wasn’t done fighting.
After World War II, Gabreski left active duty, worked for Douglas aircraft.
But when the Korean War started in 1950, he returned, recalled to active duty.
Lieutenant Colonel, fighter pilot again.
He commanded the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing in Korea, flying North American F86 Sabers, jet fighters, 600 mph, swept wings, air-to-air combat against Soviet built McCoyen Gurovich MiG 15.
Between July 1951 and April 1952, Gabreski shot down 6.5 MiG 15.
The.5 was a shared kill.
Another pilot got credit for half.
Total 6.5 confirmed.
He became an ace for the second time.
One of only seven American pilots to achieve ACE status in two wars.
Gabreski flew 100 combat missions over Korea.
Total career 266 combat missions across two wars.
34.5 confirmed kills total, 28 in World War II, 6.5 in Korea.
He was the top American fighter ace with victories in both World War II and Korea.
Gabreski retired from the Air Force in 1967.
Rank Colonel, 27 years of service.
He worked as president of the Long Island Railroad, then retired completely.
He and Kay had nine children.
Two sons became Air Force pilots, graduated from the Air Force Academy, flew fighters.
One daughter-in-law, Lieutenant General Terry El Gabreski, became the highest ranking woman in the Air Force at the time of her retirement.
Kay died in a car accident in 1993.
Gabreski never remarried.
He lived in Dicks Hills, New York, attended veteran reunions, spoke at air shows, remained active in the veteran community.
On January 31st, 2002, Francis Gabby Gabreski died.
Heart attack, Huntington Hospital, Long Island.
Age 83, he was buried with full military honors.
Born January 28th, 1919.
died January 31st, 2002.
Age 83 years.
World War II, 166 combat missions, 20 with Polish squadron, 146 with 56th Fighter Group, 28 confirmed aerial victories, three probable, three destroyed on ground.
Total 31 credits.
Captured July 20th, 1944.
Evaded 5 days.
P 10 months.
Liberated May 1st, 1945.
Korean War 100 combat missions, 6.5 confirmed victories.
Total career 266 combat missions, 34.5 confirmed victories.
Two War Ace aircraft flown in combat.
Supermarine Spitfire Mark 9 Republic P47D Thunderbolt North American F86 Saber.
The propeller touched the ground for less than 1 second.
That one second ended Gabresk’s combat career in World War II.
One voluntary mission, one low pass, one mistake, 10 months in a German P camp.
But Gabresk’s story didn’t end in that German wheat field.
It continued through Stalig loft one, through liberation, through marriage, through Korea, through 34.5 confirmed kills, through two wars, through 83 years of life.
Francis Gabby Gabreski proved that the measure of a fighter pilot isn’t just kills.
It’s resilience, survival, coming back.
He survived near wash out in flight training, survived Pearl Harbor, survived 266 combat missions, survived being shot down, survived evasion, survived 10 months as a P, survived the Korean War, and lived to tell the story.
The top American ace in Europe, a two-war ace, a survivor, a legend.
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