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Ace with 28.00 Victories

Colonel Gabby Gabreski

Gabby Gabreski was the top scoring 8th Air Force fighter Ace in Europe with 28.5 victories in World War II, plus further 6.5 in Korea. Flying P47s with the 56th Fighter Group, his illustrious career in Europe came to a spectacular end, when, strafing an airfield his aircraft touched the ground. He crash landed and was taken prisoner. The story of this American hero from Oil City, Pennsylvania begins in 1942. Gabreski dropped out of his pre-med studies at the University of Notre Dame to become a flyer. Anxious to get into action quickly Francis Gabreski got himself assigned to the 3-1-5 Polish fighter squadron of the RAF in 1942. Although Gabreski flew many combat missions with the Polish fighter squadron he attained no victories. In February of 1943 he was reassigned to the U.S. Army's Eighth Air Force. On August 24, 1943 he got his first victory (a Focke-Wulf 190) over France. Flying the P-47 Thunderbolt or 'Jug', Gabreski continued to achieve victory after victory. He was officially credited with 28 confirmed aerial victories, and that excludes the scores of aircraft, tanks, and other vehicles destroyed by Gabreski during ground attack missions. For many weeks leading up to and following D-Day in June of 1944 Gabby had been on numerous missions involving the dive bombing and strafing of German trains, bridges, armored convoys, and gun emplacements. On July 20,1944 Gabby was scheduled to depart for a much-deserved leave, during which he planned to marry his girl, Kay Lochran. Shortly before his scheduled departure Gabreski was given the opportunity of leading the 61st Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group on an important mission. This was a challenge this ace could not resist. Near Cologne, Gabby spotted an airdrome and began a high-speed low-level attack. Defying his own axiom to 'hit them hard, hit them fast, hit them low, but never come around for a second pass,' Gabby made an ill-fated second pass over the field. On this second pass his propeller hit the tarmac, and Gabreski was forced to make a crash landing in a wheat field adjacent to the German airfield. For five days he was able to elude the German army, but he was finally captured and sent to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth Germany. In 1945 with the end of the War Gabby was released and he married Kay Cochran on June 11. Not long after the Korean War broke out, Gabby found himself in command of the 51st Fighter Wing, where he flew the F-86 Sabre jet. In Korea Gabreski attained 6.5 more confirmed aerial victories in engagements with Migs, earning the unique distinction of ace status in two different wars. Following his retirement from military service in 1967, Gabby worked for several years for Grumman Aircraft on Long Island. Later he was to become the President and General Manager of the Long Island Railroad. Two of his nine children are Air Force Academy graduates and pilots with the U.S. Air Force. At the time of his retirement from military service in 1967 Gabby is believed to have flown more combat missions than any other American fighter pilot. Gabreski lived in Long Island New York where the American flag proudly flew each day atop the Gabreski family flagpole. Colonel Francis 'Gabby' Gabreski passed away on 31st January 2002.

Colonel Gabby Gabreski - Signed Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Pilot and Aircrew Signatures

Slashed by a Sabre by Stan Stokes. 2 of 3 editions available. 1 of 2 editions featuring an additional signature are available. £35.00 - £150.00

Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. 3 editions. 2 of the 3 editions feature an additional signature. £35.00 - £154.00

Text for the above items :

Slashed by a Sabre by Stan Stokes. The time is early 1951, the place is Korea. The chequered-tailed Sabre, piloted by Francis Gabreski of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, has just scored a hit on a North Korean Mig-15. Gabreski attained 6.5 victories in Mig Alley, bcoming the 8th jet ace. Gabreski had over 25 aerial victories in WW II flying the P-47 before becoming a prisoner of war. At the onset of the Korean conflict the bulk of the U.S. Air Force consisted of technically obsolete WW II vintage aircraft. Early in the Korean conflict the U.S. military successfully utilized these piston driven aircraft, against the small and ineffective North Korean Air Force. However, in November of 1950, things changed dramatically with the first appearance of Mig-15 fighters flown by both North Korean and Chinese pilots. The F-86 was the most important air combat fighter flown by the American Air Force during the Korean Conflict, and the first swept-wing military jet produced in the United States. The first prototype flew in 1947 and its design was influenced by German research data captured near the end of World War II. The Sabre was powered by a General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet engine and was capable of speeds of 690 MPH at sea level. The F-86 had an operational ceiling of 50,000 feet, and was armed with six machine guns. The Sabre could carry 2000 pounds of bombs or externally mounted fuel tanks to increase its range beyond the 785 miles obtained without external tanks. The Mig-15 was produced by Mikoyan-Gurevich and became the F-86s main adversary in Korea. The Mig-15, known as the Fagot, carried superior armament consisting of one 37mm and two 20mm cannons. It was also slightly faster at altitude and more maneuverable than its American adversary, despite its tendency to snap-roll into an uncontrollable spin during high-speed turns. A later variant, the Mig-17 utilized a 45 degree swept wing to eliminate this nasty tendency. Sabre Jets and Mig-15s tangled over Korea on countless occasions with dogfights reminiscent of high speed versions of the battles waged a decade earlier between British Spitfires and German Bf-109s in the skies of Britain. With pilots of superior skill and experience the Sabre Jets performed well in these encounters, and during the conflict 792 Mig-15s were destroyed, with a kill ratio of over ten-to-one in favor of the USAF and USN.

Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars.

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