Should’ve Walked Away
The mission Gabreski just couldn’t walk away from was a bomber escort to Russelheim in Germany. After all, his distinctively painted P-47 HV-A was sitting there with his name on it. The bombers were covered on their return so Gabby decided to strafe the Luftwaffe airfield at Bassenheim. There were some Heinkel He 111s ripe for attack. But Gabreski’s first strafing pass wasn’t effective and his second turned out to be his last. He flew so low that the propeller on his fifth P-47 hit the ground and he was forced to put his one-of-a-kind P-47D Thunderbolt down on German soil.
In Good POW Company
Although Gabreski was able to evade capture for five days the Germans eventually captured and interrogated him and then sent him to Stalag Luft I near Barth in far northern Germany. Gabby spent several months there with prisoners such as RAF pilot Jimmy James, author of “The Great Escape”, Hubert “Hub” Zemke, Robert “Bob” Hoover, John C Morgan, the only recipient of the Medal of Honor to become a POW in World War II, and future British actor Donald Pleasence. When the Russians liberated the camp on the last day of April 1945, Gabreski was released.
Marriage, School, and Recall
Gabreski returned to the United States and married Kay Cochran on June 11th 1945. He became both the Chief of Section for Fighter Aircraft Test and a student at the Engineering Flight Test School at Wright Field near Dayton in Ohio- simultaneously. Douglas Aircraft made him an offer he couldn’t refuse in April 1946 and for a year during 1946 and 1947 Gabby was a civilian. But he was recalled to active duty In April 1947 to command the 55th Fighter Squadron Shooters of the 20th Fighter Group based at Shaw Air Force Base (AFB) in South Carolina.
Bounding Around Until…
His command of the 55th FS only lasted a few months. He went to Columbia University in September of 1947 to complete his Bachelor’s degree and study Russian. He graduated from Columbia with B.A in Political Science in June of 1949. He was then assigned as commander of his old unit, the 56th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed F-80 Shooting Stars at Selfridge AFB in Michigan. The 56th converted to North American F-86 Sabres under his command and Gabby became a Colonel on March 11th 1950.
Slow Boat to Korea
Gabby and few hand-picked pilots of the 56th took a slow boat to Korea, making the journey along with a boat-load of F-86Es aboard the escort carrier USS Cape Esperance (CVE-88) in June of 1951. There the cargo and their pilots became part of the core of the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group (FIG) at K-14 (Kimpo) Air Base. Flying his fifth combat mission in an F-86E, Gabreski shot down a MiG-15 on July 8th 1951. He bagged two more MiGs between September and October 1951.
Picking Up Where He Left Off
When MiGs threatened Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber attacks along the Yalu River, the USAF decided to create a second F-86 Sabre wing to protect them. Gabreski had done this before with the 56th and he was transferred to K-13 (Suwon) Air Base to quickly convert the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing from F-80s to F-86s. During his time commanding the 51st Gabreski scored another 3 and a half kills, putting him in some elite company. Gabby became one of only seven men to become aces in two wars.
Return and Rounding Out a Stellar Career
Gabby returned to the United States to receive a key to the city from San Francisco from Mayor Elmer E. Robinson and a ticker-tape parade up Market Street. His career in the Air Force lasted for another 15 years. He commanded four different Wings and served two tours with the Office of the Inspector General and as a Deputy Chief of Staff. Colonel Francis Gabreski retired from the Air Force on November 1st 1967 with 5,000 flying hours, 4,000 of them in jet aircraft.
Loving and Living Life
Gabby worked for Grumman Aerospace for 11 years. His involvement with the Long Island Railroad came at the request of New York Governor Hugh Carey. In the end he fought the good fight to improve the struggling company but lost out to its bureaucracy and a hellacious heat wave. But Gabby won in many other areas. He was married to his wife Kay for 48 years. They had nine children together. Franciszek Stanislaw Gabryszewski passed away from an apparent heart attack on January 31st 2002 at the age of 83. He was honored during his funeral by a missing man formation flown by the F-15E Strike Eagles of the 4th Fighter Wing.
Here’s a video of Gabreski’s 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing in action in Korea from an Air Force film made way back in the day. Thanks to YouTuber Nuclear Vault for uploading it.
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