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| Click Here For Full Artist Print Indexes | Aviation History Archive |
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Gabby Gabreski
| Colonel Gabby Gabreski (deceased) 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. |
Items Signed by Colonel Gabby Gabreski (deceased) |
  | Clipped Signature - Gabby Gabreski. Price : £85.00 | The top scoring 8th Air Force fighter Ace in Europe with 28.5 victories, plus an additional 6.5 victories in the Korean War. Initially flying with RAF No.315 (Polish) Sqn, he then flew the P-47 Thunderbolt with the US 56th Fighter Group. In July 1...... | |
  | Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. Price : £150.00 | The leading ace of the mighty Eighth Air Force, Gabby Gabreski. He finished the war with a total of 28 air victories and 2 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by strafing airfields. Gabreski also scored 6 1/2 air victories in the Korean war....... | |
| | Return From Bremen by Simon Smith (AP) Price : £180.00 | The leading ace of the mighty Eighth Air Force, Gabby Gabreski. He finished the war with a total of 28 air victories and 2 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by strafing airfields. Gabreski also scored 6 1/2 air victories in the Korean war....... | |
| | Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. (XX) Price : £115.00 | The leading ace of the mighty Eighth Air Force, Gabby Gabreski. He finished the war with a total of 28 air victories and 2 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground by strafing airfields. Gabreski also scored 6 1/2 air victories in the Korean war. ...... | |
  | Opening Sky by Robert Taylor. (AP) Price : £650.00 | With the morning sun glinting on their fuselages, P-51 Mustangs of the 78th Fighter Group cross the Dutch coastline far below, as they head back towards their base at Duxford, England at the end of a long sweep east of the Rhine crossing, Spring 194...... |
  | Hunting Party by Robert Watts. Price : £145.00 | Mig Alley! That chilling destination synonymous with the dawn of the jet ages first large-scale air battles; deadly contests fought at unprecedented speeds in an aerial battleground in the thin air high above a hostile faraway land. Quick to react to...... | |
| | Hunting Party by Robert Watts (AP) Price : £210.00 | Mig Alley! That chilling destination synonymous with the dawn of the jet ages first large-scale air battles; deadly contests fought at unprecedented speeds in an aerial battleground in the thin air high above a hostile faraway land. Quick to react to...... | |
  | Outward Bound by Robert Taylor. SOLD OUT | 78th FG Thunderbolts preparing to depart Duxford - with two visiting 361st FG Mustangs in the background while overhead other 361st FG Mustangs climb away from Bottisham....... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Zemkes Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. SOLD OUT | Hub Zemke was a fighter pilot and commander who led from the front. A great tactician too, it was in no small measure due to the air combat tactics introduced to the 56th Fighter Group by its mercurial leader that by the end of WW2 it had become the...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. (B) Price : £154.00 | 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 ne...... |
| | Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. (C) Price : £124.00 | 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 ne...... | |
  | Slashed by a Sabre by Stan Stokes. (B) Price : £150.00 | 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 j...... | |
| | Slashed by a Sabre by Stan Stokes. (C) SOLD OUT | 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 j...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Colonel Gabby Gabreski (deceased) |
   | P-47 Thunderbolt Aviation Print 4-Pack. Pack Price : £430.00 Saving : £310 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Bridge Busters by Anthony Saunders. Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. Zemke's First Fan by David Pentland. | |
| | Pack 760. Pack of two P47 Thunderbolt prints by Robert Taylor and Simon Smith. Pack Price : £360.00 Saving : £160 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. (B) Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. | |
| | P-47 Thunderbolt Prints by Anthony Saunders and Simon Smith. Pack Price : £160.00 Saving : £135 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Bridge Busters by Anthony Saunders. Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. | |
 | P-47 Thunderbolt Aviation Art Prints by Richard Taylor and Simon Smith. Pack Price : £175.00 Saving : £135 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor. Return From Bremen by Simon Smith. | |
| | Pilot Signed P-47 Thunderbolt Aviation Prints by Richard Taylor and Stan Stokes. Pack Price : £200.00 Saving : £64 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor. Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. (B) |
| | Pilot Signed P-47 Thunderbolt Prints by Richard Taylor and Stan Stokes. Pack Price : £250.00 Saving : £54 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Days of Thunder by Richard Taylor. (AP) Bridge Busting Jugs by Stan Stokes. (B) |
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