During the weeks that followed, Gabreski downed two more 190s, then became an ace with five victories on November 26. He was leading a bomber escort flight when they were attacked by a group of Me-110s. Gabby was making a stern attack on one of them when it suddenly exploded. Large pieces of the Messerschmitt skimmed off his canopy and smashed into the P-47’s right wing. His plane was still flyable, though, so he climbed back up to continue the fight and downed a second 110. The 56th set a record that day with 23 confirmed victories, and Gabby was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership.

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From then on, Gabreski’s logbook reflects an ever-growing succession of Fw-190, Me-109 and Me-110 kills, with only minor damage to his P-47. However, one cannon hit from an Me-109 nearly cost him his foot when it blasted through his cockpit, hit a rudder pedal and tore into his boot, fortunately causing only minor injuries.

Meanwhile, larger fuel tanks were installed on the P-47Ds, giving them greater range, and in early 1944 Eighth Air Force commander Maj. Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle authorized fighters to leave the bombers and seek out enemy aircraft wherever they could be found. As a result, the fighters were able to destroy scores of German planes in the air and on the ground. Gabby shot down three aircraft during “Big Week” missions in February 1944, and kept adding to his score in competition with some of the other aces of that period. During his most productive mission, on May 22, he downed three Fw-190s and scored a “probable.”

On July 5, Gabreski became the top American ace in the European Theater of Operations—with 28 victories—while leading the group on an escort mission over a German air base in France. After the bombers made their run, he led one flight on a strafing attack on the field, during which he shot down a defending Me-109. His 61st Squadron’s five kills that day brought its total to 230, the best record in the ETO.

The publicity resulting from Gabby’s 28th victory was almost overwhelming for him. “I hardly had a moment to spare doing what I was in England to do,” he said, “which was to fly airplanes. I felt I had an obligation in the war, just like everybody else. But I was being taken out of that environment and put on a little pedestal. It was an awkward position for me, and I never did fit into it very well.”

Army Air Forces leaders wanted Gabreski to return home and take advantage of his fame to sell war bonds, and he was scheduled to depart the theater in late July after his 165th mission. Gabby packed his bags and was about to step aboard a Douglas C-54 to leave for the States when he heard of a mission escorting Consolidated B-24s to bomb Russelheim, Germany. Unable to resist what sounded like an excellent opportunity to score again, he took his bags off the C-54 and asked to make one final mission “to close out my tour with a bang.”

The raid went well, with Gabreski leading the squadron. After the bombers had dropped their loads and headed for England, he looked for targets of opportunity on the ground. Gabby spotted an airfield at Bassenheim and sent two flights down, then followed them to treetop level. He lined up on a parked Heinkel He-111 and watched it burst into flames. Encountering only light flak over the field, he decided to make another run at an even lower altitude—so low that his prop scraped the ground, causing severe engine vibrations. Hydraulic fluid immediately covered his windscreen, and he was forced to crash-land in a farmer’s field.

Dazed but unhurt, Gabby knew he was hundreds of miles inside Germany and needed to avoid capture. He ran into the woods and for the next five days managed to elude searchers, but was finally apprehended by a policeman who turned him over to the military at Oberursel on July 25. Hanns Scharff, an affable English-speaking German intelligence officer, interrogated him. “Hello, Gabby,” he greeted him. “We have been waiting for you for a long time.”

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