War Heroes of the Skies_6of6_Gabby Gabreski
Transcript
00:00July 1944. Allied pilots are fighting the Nazis for mastery of the skies.
00:10Against the odds, a brilliant pilot emerges.
00:14A man who was told he didn't have the right stuff for flying.
00:18He was a very aggressive pilot.
00:21A man for whom the war is a personal crusade.
00:24He had a hatred for the Germans that was red hot.
00:28He's starting to rack up kill after kill after kill.
00:31This is the story of Francis Gabby Gabreski.
00:38Who through sheer grit.
00:40He learns how to be a killer in the air.
00:43Becomes one of America's greatest World War II fighter aces.
00:47Open fire, open fire.
00:58Summer 1944. Allied troops have stormed the beaches in Normandy.
01:14Now the U.S. Army Air Force sets out to bomb Hitler's war machine.
01:19The 8th Air Force has the capacity to drop thousands of tons in any given day.
01:24We're talking about the greatest capacity ever seen to that point in time in human history.
01:29Air power taken to a new level.
01:32Out of the white heat of battle, a select band of pilots is forged.
01:38Each vying to become America's top aerial gun.
01:42Francis Gabby Gabreski has 27 kills to his name.
01:47His chance to take down number 28 comes on a routine escort mission flanking B-17 bombers over Germany.
02:00Flying high above the clouds, he spots three ME-109 fighters below him.
02:07Fellow pilot Frank McCauley remembers Gabreski as a bold, often reckless pilot.
02:13Flying wingman for Gabreski is very difficult because he was the most aggressive pilot that he knew.
02:22Gabby dove on these enemy aircraft, but he miscalculated his dive and actually overran the three planes,
02:29which put him in a very vulnerable position with three German aircraft behind him.
02:35Despite his prowess, with every new mission, the chances of getting shot down grow.
02:41Fortunately, he had plenty of speed, so he was able to keep going.
02:45Then noticed two of the planes breaking down the way and a third plane climbing back up,
02:51so he tried to latch on to this last 109.
02:55The German straggler makes a simple error.
02:58The German pilot made the classic mistake of trying to dive away from a P-47.
03:03Gabby was on him in a flash.
03:11He really blasted it.
03:13He saw his fire hitting the wings and engine.
03:18The pilot bailed out and Gabby saw the plane crash into the ground.
03:27Gabby Gabreski has pulled it off.
03:3028 victories to his name.
03:34An incredible achievement.
03:41So how did I do, Mr. Stalker?
03:43It was more than interesting. Let's just say that, young man.
03:46It's all the more remarkable, because when Gabreski first steps into a cockpit, he's accident-prone and incompetent.
03:54He shows absolutely no natural aptitude for flying whatsoever.
03:59The ace grows up worlds away from an airfield.
04:02He's one of five children born to first-generation Polish Catholic immigrants in Oil City, Pennsylvania.
04:09My dad grew up in a family that was very hard-working.
04:12It was required that if you wanted to get ahead, you needed to work for it.
04:17The Gabreskis embrace the American dream, but young Francis never forgets his family roots.
04:24When Nazi jackboots march into Poland, he's hit hard.
04:30He takes it a lot more personally than a lot of Americans would.
04:34And soon after, people from the U.S. Army Air Corps come looking for recruits.
04:41He thinks, well, you know, maybe this could be something that my parents could be proud of me for.
04:46So he signs up.
04:48The U.S. isn't at war, but the conflict in Europe keeps their recruiting officers busy.
04:54Despite his motivation, Gabi proves far from a natural.
04:58He's just too stiff on the controls. He's too rigid. He can't relax.
05:03That just might be the most terrifying 30 minutes I have ever spent in the air.
05:08Gabi's instructor tells him he's a dangerous liability and suggests he quit.
05:15His instructor decided that, nope, you don't possess what it takes to be a good pilot,
05:20and so put him up for his elimination flight.
05:23He doesn't have a feel for it at all.
05:25An elimination flight test means just that. You don't pass it, you're not going to become a pilot.
05:30You know, and he realized what a disappointment to his parents he was going to be,
05:34a disappointment to himself.
05:37He felt an enormous amount of pressure.
05:39But the guy who takes him on that is an Air Force officer, and somehow he puts Gabreski at ease.
05:48The pilot instructed him to do a series of maneuvers.
05:52Gabi was calm.
05:55He came down and landed.
06:03Sir, how did I do, sir?
06:05He doesn't do spectacularly well.
06:07Say overall, you passed, Gabi.
06:09But the guy says, OK, I'm going to give you one more chance.
06:13One more chance is all Gabi needs.
06:16He studied hard, and that's how he progressed as a pilot.
06:20Spring 1941 sees the 2nd Lieutenant posted to 45th Squadron
06:25at Wheeler Army Airfield near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
06:29For eight months, he chases girls and flies training missions.
06:33He's on top of the world. I mean, this was, you know, what a great place.
06:37But as Hitler blasts his way through Europe,
06:40the Polish-American becomes frustrated sitting on the sidelines.
06:45All that changes on December 7, 1941.
06:50Gabi was getting up and getting ready to go to church.
06:58He heard aircraft flying.
07:00It was fairly unusual on a Sunday morning to have planes flying.
07:08This was the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
07:15Let's go! Let's go! We're under attack!
07:19Gabreski and his bunkmates race outside to save the base's fighter planes,
07:24many already in flames.
07:27The pilots are basically pushing the airplanes apart.
07:30The ones that didn't get hit, they're moving them away
07:33from the other airplanes that are burning.
07:36It all of a sudden makes the war very personal.
07:402,403 American servicemen and civilians are dead.
07:44The next day, the U.S. declares war.
07:49The main action seems to be in the European theater.
07:52And because of his Polish connection, his Polish blood,
07:55he thinks, well, I want a piece of that.
07:59Gabi's heard about the legendary Polish fighter pilots
08:02who joined the RAF after the fall of Poland
08:05and soon outshined their fellow Brits.
08:08The Poles are very good, and they have racked up the most kills
08:11among the RAF during the Battle of Britain.
08:15Lieutenant Gabreski, what can I do for you?
08:18Gabreski approaches his squadron leader with an unusual request.
08:22I speak Polish fluently.
08:24He wants to transfer to one of the Polish squadrons within the RAF.
08:28Okay, let me see what I can do, Lieutenant.
08:30Thank you, sir. I'll see what I can do.
08:32He wants to join the fight right now.
08:35Well, next thing he finds out is that he gets orders to go to England.
08:46When Gabi arrives in the fall of 1942,
08:48the air war in Europe was really beginning to heat up.
08:52A major British effort that had been going on for the better part of a year
08:55to try and bomb Germany's cities, mainly at night at this point.
08:59So this is really kind of a heyday for the fighter forces
09:03to tangle at this point, and the RAF has kind of led the way.
09:09While Gabreski waits for his orders in war-torn London,
09:13he goes for a beer one night in the Embassy Club.
09:16Off in the corner of the tavern,
09:19he hears the Polish language being spoken.
09:24He looks over and here is a group of Polish fighter pilots
09:27in blue RAF uniforms doing what fighter pilots do,
09:30which is talk about flying in combat.
09:36Because he could speak fluent Polish,
09:38he just immediately went and introduced himself
09:40and started chewing the card about flying.
09:42He was absolutely just delighted to find some people
09:45who he could talk to freely about being fighter pilots.
09:48And basically they said,
09:50well, why don't you come and fly with us?
09:52And he said, well, that would be great.
09:55Gabreski's entire flying career is absolutely brilliant.
09:59His entire career is absolutely dotted
10:01with strange serendipitous moments
10:03and pieces of good fortune,
10:05and this was absolutely one of them.
10:09Francis Gabi Gabreski is where he always wanted to be.
10:13The kid who was told he hadn't the touch for flying
10:16is about to face off
10:18against battle-hardened pilots of Hitler's Luftwaffe.
10:24American pilot Francis Gabi Gabreski
10:27with RAF 315 Squadron
10:29stationed at Northolt, west of London.
10:33315 is one of the RAF's Polish squadrons.
10:36The pilots from Poland are legendary
10:38for their fighting spirit and record number of victories.
10:42They were considered some of the most fierce
10:45and respected fighter units in the RAF.
10:52The new kid from Oil City, Pennsylvania,
10:54has never flown in combat before.
10:56He faces a steep learning curve.
11:00Lesson number one is all about his new wings,
11:03the top-of-the-line Spitfire Mark IX.
11:07Spitfire Mark IXs, which are absolutely, at the time,
11:10the finest fighter aircraft around.
11:12They've got cannons, they can climb quickly,
11:15they're very sleek, very maneuverable.
11:21The Spitfire is this wonderful, maneuverable craft.
11:24It's this sports car in the air kind of thing,
11:26and you can just fly it like the wind.
11:33Tadeusz Anders, a brilliant pilot with 315,
11:36takes Gabi under his wing
11:38and teaches him lesson number two, tactics.
11:41Anders taught him a lot of really, really valuable lessons,
11:44lessons that he hadn't picked up in his time as a fighter pilot
11:48with the 45th Fighter Squadron in Hawaii
11:50because they really hadn't had any combat experience.
11:54So if the leader is hunting enemy,
11:56the wingman is protecting their leaders.
11:59Anders is convinced that he's going to sit there
12:02and show the Samaritan the ropes.
12:04He takes Gabi under his wing.
12:06The leader breaks left.
12:07They become close friends.
12:09Wingmen break left.
12:11Experience had taught them that if you wanted to shoot something down,
12:13you needed to get in close.
12:15While RAF pilots usually open fire from 700 to 800 yards,
12:20the more aggressive Poles like to get up close,
12:23often pulling the trigger nearer to 300 yards.
12:26Gabi is learning how to be a fighter,
12:29how to not just fly the aircraft,
12:31but how to home in on the main job,
12:33which is to shoot down or kill enemy aircraft.
12:39From early 1943,
12:41Gabreski flies a number of fighter sweeps over Europe,
12:44frustratingly without meeting a single German plane.
12:50His big chance comes in early February, 1943.
13:06Flying as wingman for Anders,
13:08Gabi and the 315 are escorting bombers on a raid
13:11or a reconnaissance mission.
13:13The plane is in the air.
13:15The plane is in the air.
13:17Gabi and the 315 are escorting bombers on a raid over occupied France.
13:24At 20,000 feet, the skies are eerily quiet.
13:36In a flash, it's mayhem.
13:38Using the sun as a shield,
13:40a pack of Focke-Wulf 190s ambush the Polish pilots.
13:44Commander Anders immediately banks his Spitfire into a sharp turn.
13:50Gabreski follows.
13:52Gabi was trying his best to stay on Anders' wing.
13:56Pretty soon, they're turning very tightly
13:58with German aircraft all around them.
14:02He is flying as a good wingman.
14:04He stays with him the whole time.
14:06A superb pilot, Anders soon turns the tables on the Nazis
14:10and closes in on one of the 190s.
14:14At 300 yards, he unleashes the Spitfire's 20-millimeter cannons.
14:21Anders was a very aggressive pilot
14:24and would go into any situation if he had a chance to shoot down a German.
14:29He had a hatred for the Germans that was Red Hawk.
14:34As the furious dogfight unfolds,
14:36Anders spots a golden opportunity for his wingman and protege
14:40to get his first taste of blood.
14:43Anders says to him, look, you know, there's the enemy, there's the enemy,
14:45and he can't see them, he can't see them at all.
14:47Anders tells him, shoot, boy, shoot.
14:51And eventually he picks up these kind of 12 dots on the horizon
14:54and Anders says, open fire, open fire.
14:58So he fires his guns and sees his tracers go out into the open space,
15:03but nothing happens.
15:06In a matter of seconds, the 190s have fled.
15:10Gubreski is clueless as to whether his rounds have hit their mark.
15:14In this first action, Gubreski kind of freezes.
15:16You know, he sort of panics a bit.
15:20You know what you're supposed to do,
15:21but suddenly there you are in the middle of a combat situation.
15:24You know, there was actual real enemy planes with real swastikas on,
15:28you know, with bullets coming towards you,
15:30and, you know, his brain just addles.
15:34Ready.
15:37That night, the 315 pilots watch gun camera footage
15:40shot from cameras fixed inside the Spitfire's wings.
15:45For the Polish squadron, it's another triumph.
15:47Three confirmed kills.
15:53Gubreski's film tells a different story.
15:57He's absolutely gobsmacked, because literally right under his nose
16:01is this kind of Focke-Wulf 190, just waiting to be shot down,
16:06and that's who Anders is saying opened fire at,
16:09and he just hasn't seen it.
16:12It's the classic fog of war, just in, you know, the cockpit of a fighter,
16:16and if you're lucky, you're going to get to live through enough missions
16:20to figure this kind of thing out.
16:22If you're not lucky, well, then maybe you won't.
16:24Gabi may not have shot down any Nazi planes yet,
16:28but he's learned to fly a Spitfire with precision and speed,
16:32a different pilot from when he first met Tadeusz and the pilots from 315.
16:37How to manoeuvre your aircraft, how to conserve ammunition,
16:41how to close in for the kill.
16:43He learns exactly how to be a killer in the air.
16:47In late February 1943, Gabi gets a call from the U.S. 8th Army Air Force.
16:53They're ratcheting up operations in Europe.
16:56They want him back in the fold.
16:59Francis Gabreski reports for duty with the 56th Fighter Group
17:03at RAF King's Cliff in central England.
17:07Their job, ride shotgun on Allied bombing raids over enemy territory.
17:12The objective of the 8th Air Force, the Bomber Command,
17:16was to destroy Germany's ability to fight the war.
17:22There's a great deal of investment among the Army Air Force leadership
17:27in the idea of strategic bombing,
17:29the idea of taking the bombing straight to Germany,
17:32of being able to defeat Germany primarily through the air.
17:35And so the fighters are ready to go.
17:37After his crash course in dogfighting from the Poles,
17:40Gabi thinks he has the edge on his fellow American pilots.
17:46Gabi wasn't exactly warmly welcomed
17:49when he arrived at the 56th Fighter Group.
17:52Les Smith was a fighter pilot in the 56th Fighter Group.
17:56He remembers Gabreski well.
17:58He was part of the group.
18:00He was part of the group.
18:02He was part of the group.
18:04He remembers Gabreski well.
18:06He was pretty cocky.
18:08I think he felt like he was coming to a squadron that he could teach.
18:14And I think there was a lot of swagger.
18:16He'd been flying a lot. He was a captain.
18:19He was very sure of himself.
18:23Certainly there's going to be a number of folks who say,
18:25well, who's this guy?
18:27Why does he get any special treatment?
18:29Why is he joining us now?
18:31I mean, all those questions are going to be asked.
18:33Obviously, it's the same old thing.
18:35You're going to have to prove yourself in combat if you're that outsider.
18:40Captain Gabi Gabreski is going to need every trick he's learned
18:43to prove himself in the heat of battle.
18:48The air war over Europe is heating up.
18:55Fighter pilot Gabi Gabreski is assigned
18:57to the U.S. Army Air Force 61st Squadron
19:00based at Kings Cliff, 90 miles north of London.
19:05His first task, figure out how to fly their top-of-the-line P-47 Thunderbolt.
19:11Dubbed the Jug or Juggernaut, it's a brute of a plane.
19:15Transitioning from a Spitfire to a Thunderbolt
19:17is a very humbling process initially for a lot of allied fighter pilots,
19:20but for Gabi in particular.
19:23Another pilot from the 56th Group, Billy Edens,
19:26remembers its awesome power.
19:28Of course, I'd never flown a tank or a train,
19:30but it seemed like about the same thing.
19:35It was a big engine.
19:37I'd turn around after I'd fly that and look.
19:39I said, man, you know, a little bitty boy like me
19:42could fly a big airplane like that.
19:44It didn't seem right just to have one person in it.
19:47It's the largest fighter that was ever built.
19:53You look at the P-47 Thunderbolt,
19:55and it's this ungainly, almost like mini B-24 on the ground
19:58that you just say, how in the world am I going to be able to maneuver in this thing?
20:01How am I going to be able to fly and use some of the same tactics
20:04I've already learned in the Spitfire that has helped me survive to this point?
20:08How am I going to survive in this big, lunkhead thing?
20:16What the Jug lacks in finesse,
20:18it more than makes up for with its sheer exhilarating power.
20:25Gabby soon falls hard for his new plane.
20:29He loved flying the P-47. He did.
20:32He felt at home in it.
20:34He felt that it was a very powerful machine,
20:38and at the same time it was responsive and did what he needed it to do.
20:43Ten weeks after joining the 61st Squadron,
20:46Gabby gets his first serious taste of action.
20:50He's leading his flight of four fighters over Holland.
20:56Far in the distance, he spots a pack of Focke-Wulf 190 fighters.
21:03The Germans have built up an excellent fighter pilot force.
21:07These guys are combat experienced.
21:09Many of them have been at it three plus years.
21:11Many of them have scored major kills.
21:13Some of them are veterans of the Battle of Britain.
21:16They understand a lot about how to survive in the air
21:18and how to shoot down enemy aircraft.
21:20This time, Gabby doesn't freeze.
21:24Using the lessons learned with the Poles,
21:26he dives down with the sun behind him,
21:28straight towards the leading enemy fighter.
21:31Then, he lets rip.
21:36He had one encounter fairly early where he damaged a plane,
21:40and that sort of established that he knew how to lead the squadron.
21:44Here it is. The plane's coming apart.
21:46That's definitely a damaged aircraft.
21:48It's not a kill, but for Grabreski,
21:50his tangle with the 190 is a morale-boosting shot in the arm.
21:55He's had some combat experience that's very valuable
21:58to any American unit at this point in time,
22:00which is so new to combat,
22:02to have someone who's been through missions,
22:04who's had the experience and can begin to teach others
22:07in a squadron or eventually in an entire group.
22:10You see the enemy? You attack.
22:12I felt that we could learn from him.
22:16And very quickly, you know, he's earned his respect,
22:19and all that kind of cold-shouldering that happens
22:21when he first joins the 56th is quickly, quickly forgotten.
22:24Suddenly, he's Gabby Grabreski.
22:26He's a man these guys can all depend on.
22:28And the reason is that he's got some quite interesting
22:31fighter tactics from his time at the Poles,
22:34which he can pass on,
22:36which is quite different to some of the tactics
22:39that they'd learned back in America.
22:43Soon after the dogfight,
22:45the legendary leader of the 56th, Hub Zemke,
22:48promotes Grabreski to commanding officer of the 61st Squadron.
22:55Pay attention.
22:56Grabreski takes over command of the 61st on June 9, 1943,
23:00and you've had about a year and a half since Pearl Harbor,
23:03when he's basically a young, raw pilot at that point.
23:06So he has ascended into a major leadership role at this point.
23:14Grabreski has yet to shoot down a German plane.
23:19His chance comes six months after rejoining the U.S. Army Air Corps.
23:26August 24, 1943.
23:29Grabreski leaves the 61st on a mission escorting bombers over France.
23:36He eyeballs seven Focke-Wulf 190s far below.
23:40And he just thinks,
23:41Great, I've got the sun behind me, I've got height,
23:43I can execute the perfect bounce.
23:46Look at the bounce of the 190!
23:49Gavin's a go-getter.
23:51He made very good attacks and planned it in his mind,
23:54but he was quicker than some of the other leaders,
23:57and I really appreciate that.
24:02Grabreski and his men swoop in on the Germans.
24:06It's very important to dive as a fighter pilot
24:08because if your enemy is below you, you have the weight of gravity,
24:12and you can pounce on them in the same way,
24:14I guess you could think of a hawk pounces upon its prey
24:18as it dives to the earth.
24:21Biting his time, Grabreski waits until he's in close
24:24before he squeezes the trigger.
24:27A .50 caliber machine gun does a hell of a lot of damage,
24:30and we had eight of them firing 600 rounds a minute.
24:37They all open up.
24:39It's...
24:41I mean, you lose.
24:43It's blurry, even the sight and everything else,
24:46and this and so much racket.
24:48That's a lot of shells going out at that enemy.
24:53Grabreski's rounds slice into the 190.
24:57You would see the results of the bullet hitting something,
25:01and if it hit the airplane, there'd be a little flash of light,
25:05or maybe pieces would come off the airplane.
25:10It rolls over and goes into a death dive.
25:17Finally, there it is. You know, he's got his first victory.
25:24It's a massive corner turned in the career of Gabi Grabreski.
25:31Just getting past that first kill
25:33allows him to be in a position to do it again,
25:35how to do it tactically, how to fight that way.
25:37And once Gabi is able to kind of cross that line and figure this out,
25:42well, the kills are going to rack up pretty quickly after that.
25:47For the young man who was told he didn't have the touch for flying,
25:51the moment is sweet, but there's no time to bask in the glory.
25:57American bombers are being shot out of the sky at an alarming rate.
26:01The orders come. Fighters, as always, are to stay close.
26:05No hunting for glory.
26:07We were told by bomber command
26:10that they wanted the fighters in close where the bombers could see them,
26:14which was a stupid strategy.
26:19The bombers, they wanted, for the fighters escorting them,
26:23to be in close so they could look out their cockpit and see us.
26:26That's false sense of security.
26:29Because we can't protect them there.
26:31You've got to be flying way out
26:33and intercept the enemy fighters coming in to shoot.
26:36The flaw in the new strategy is the American fighters' lack of range.
26:42We didn't have enough fuel to go all the way.
26:44They'd wait until we had to go home,
26:46and then they would attack the bombers with no American fighters around.
26:50And that got to be real bloody.
26:54The casualty rate for bombers still rises.
26:57On one day, August 17, 1943,
27:00the Germans shoot down 60 bombers, a record tally.
27:04The German Air Force was waiting for them.
27:09They just slaughtered them.
27:12They do lose 60 bombers.
27:14Remember, in each one of those bombers, you're probably talking about a 10-man crew.
27:17So that's 600 individuals, highly trained individuals, going down.
27:22You've got to keep doing all you possibly can
27:25and that's what you do.
27:27You try to save people and save lives and do what you can.
27:33It's not a picnic.
27:39It just tears your heart when you can't do anything about it.
27:46A lot of men died.
27:49War is hell.
27:55As the 56th struggles to protect the bombers,
27:58Gabi's fighter group suffers their own losses.
28:02Somebody kill the projector.
28:03Losing a fellow pilot that I liked and flew with was traumatic.
28:11And the better friendship you had between you, the harder it was.
28:18The losses only spur Gabreski on.
28:21He's more committed than ever to avenging the atrocities
28:24taking place in his ancestral homeland.
28:29Every time he climbs into his cockpit, the chances increase.
28:33He won't come back.
28:40The air war over occupied Europe rages through the fall of 1943.
28:45Despite their losses, the American 56th fighter group
28:49scores some spectacular successes.
28:52A trio of star pilots emerges.
28:56Bob Johnson, Jerry Johnson and group leader Hub Zemke
29:01all shoot down five planes.
29:03They win themselves the title Ace.
29:06They basically became the elite fighting group.
29:10You happen to have a lot of talented and very aggressive pilots
29:13who are just eager and yearning to rack up those kills
29:16and Zemke stokes the fire somewhat.
29:19Squadron leader Francis Gabi Gabreski is desperate for a piece of the action.
29:26November 26th, 1943.
29:29The three squadrons of the 56th escort a bombing raid
29:33dubbed a ramrod to Bremen in Germany.
29:38As they approach the target, all hell breaks loose.
29:42Gabi, break right.
29:47When I was in a dogfight,
29:49it's almost like when you're a little boy and you're in a fist fight.
29:56You don't even think about anything else.
29:59I mean, your butt is right out there.
30:03Leading from the front, Gabi takes down two Messerschmitt Bf 110s.
30:09Welcome to the club.
30:11He's done it.
30:13He's joined the elite club of aerial gladiators with five victories.
30:17Francis Gabreski is an Ace.
30:21He's getting more respect every time he shoots one down.
30:24Everybody's happy for him.
30:28On that day, 56 gets 23 kills.
30:31A remarkable total.
30:33The press snap a morale-boosting photo of the heroic pilots.
30:39Here's to Gabreski, our newest Ace.
30:41They celebrate in the usual fashion.
30:47Really, it's a celebration within the squadron and within the fighter group.
30:50Yeah, you know, we've got another Ace.
30:52I mean, there was terrific rivalry
30:54amongst the fighter groups and amongst the squadrons.
30:56You know, everyone was desperately trying to be the top ace.
31:00You know, everyone was desperately trying to be the top scoring unit.
31:04You know, so there was real pride in that.
31:08Gabi's tally is marked up on his thunderbolt.
31:12These little markers, these are kind of morale boosters.
31:14They're a means of keeping spirits high,
31:16of giving people targets, of keeping people focused.
31:19You know, and he absolutely buys into that.
31:24The Allies know that sending troops into occupied Europe
31:27is impossible without winning mastery of the sky.
31:31In early 1944, Top Brass decides on a radical change in tactics.
31:36First thing we want to talk about...
31:38You really cannot have German fighters in the skies
31:41over the impending invasion of Normandy.
31:43You've got to sweep them from the skies,
31:45and the only way to do that, really,
31:47is to let your fighters go out there and to destroy them
31:50in air-to-air encounters.
31:53Gabi's hands and the hands of so many hundreds
31:56or thousands of other fighter pilots are untied
31:58in those early months of 1944
32:00to do, really, what they want to do the most,
32:02which is to go find the enemy fighter aircraft
32:05and to shoot them down.
32:09In late January, Gabreski downs three more German planes
32:13on two consecutive days.
32:16Once you're starting to see Gabi and these other fighter pilots
32:19compile some totals,
32:21there's an inevitable competition that ensues,
32:23and the leadership certainly stokes that competition that much more,
32:26and then the media as well.
32:31Gentlemen...
32:32In late February 1944,
32:34the Allies launch a major campaign
32:36to wipe out the Nazis' capacity to wage war in the air
32:40once and for all.
32:42This is a defining moment in the air war.
32:44It's dubbed Big Week.
32:46Big Week is the biggest operation the USA Air Force has mounted
32:50since it's come to Britain.
32:51The idea is to really hit the German aircraft industries hard,
32:56target them as much as possible
32:58and destroy as much of the Luftwaffe as they possibly can
33:01on the ground and in the air.
33:04You're talking about mass formations,
33:06hundreds of these bombers coming over day and night
33:09who are dropping thousands of tons of bombs
33:11that are destroying buildings, infrastructure, bridges, factories.
33:15They are just messing with Germany in every way, shape and form.
33:19Big Week offers America's air aces
33:21the best chance yet to show their mettle.
33:24As Big Week unfolds,
33:25obviously you've got more planes up there on both sides.
33:28The Germans are at max protection,
33:31sending up as many planes as they can
33:33to deal with these larger raids,
33:35which means you're going to have more targets to shoot at.
33:39German ace Hans-Eckhard Bobb
33:41remembers facing the American onslaught
33:44with only rookies flanking him.
33:50Some of them had 10 or 20 flight hours.
33:56They could barely take off and land.
34:03They were an easy target for the Americans.
34:08They were shot down like chickens.
34:12Gabreski chalks up three more victories during Big Week.
34:17There were a lot of successes
34:19because we were flying every single day
34:22with every airplane we had.
34:25News of the 56th Fighter Group's successes spreads.
34:30The press dubs them Zemke's Wolfpack.
34:34We were getting quite a bit of publicity
34:36because for quite a while we were the leading group in England
34:40as far as victories were concerned.
34:43American fighters shoot down around 500 enemy planes
34:46in Big Week itself.
34:48The whole month of February 1944,
34:50they destroy around 1,500.
34:54The payback bill is 28 fighters lost from the USA Air Force,
34:59which is, frankly, nothing in comparison.
35:02By March 27, 1944, Gabi has shot down 18 enemy fighters.
35:08The results for Gabi once these tactics have changed are dramatic.
35:12He's starting to rack up kill after kill after kill.
35:18We used to say he flew up the ass end of the German
35:22before he pulled the guns.
35:25When the airplane blows up or pieces fall off, it hits you.
35:29And that's, you know, it gets too wet to plow,
35:33as the old saying goes.
35:36He came back one time with some German clothing stuck in that thing.
35:42Not only blowing the airplane up, but the pilot with it.
35:47The rescue was very proud all the way through
35:50as he was getting more and more kills.
35:52He loved it, and I would have too.
35:57On the same day, two of the finest pilots from Gabi's squadron
36:01are shot down.
36:03Everybody was sorry when a guy like Mahurin or Jerry Johnson
36:08got shot down.
36:10Everybody felt the miss as if he was a brother.
36:15Death was present almost every day.
36:22With two brothers-in-arms gone, the number of top aces dwindles.
36:27In May 1944, Bob Johnson downs two Nazi planes
36:32to become America's top gun.
36:39No sooner does he get to 27,
36:41than Bob Johnson is whisked back out of the Atlantic to America.
36:45Bob Johnson leaves the front line to sell war bonds back home in America.
36:49And it's a massive media fanfare when he does.
36:52Suddenly he's the leading American ace of all time,
36:55and he's like a movie star.
36:58Gabi Gabreski remains on the front line,
37:01racking up more and more victories.
37:04It looks like only a matter of time before he beats Johnson's record.
37:08That is, if he can survive that long
37:11and pull it off before his tour of duty is up.
37:14It's time for rest, but he's determined to overhaul Bob Johnson.
37:19He really, really wants it badly.
37:21But the clock is ticking to a certain extent.
37:24He knows that time is limited, so he's got to crack on with it.
37:27So the pressure's on a bit.
37:29May 22, 1944.
37:32On a bombing mission to Kiel in Germany,
37:35Gabreski bags three more kills.
37:38The kid who almost flunked flight school
37:41is on the verge of becoming the top American ace.
37:46June 6, 1944. D-Day.
37:50Allied troops land on French soil.
37:53The following day, fighter pilot Francis Gabreski
37:56wins two more dogfights.
37:59He's just three from becoming the top American ace in Europe.
38:04Three weeks later, he's even.
38:08Gabi was tied with Bob Johnson
38:13for top ace at 27 kills and continued flying,
38:18hoping to become the absolute top ace.
38:23On 5 July, he finally got his chance.
38:43It's official.
38:47Francis Gabi Gabreski is America's top ace in Europe.
38:53He's a superstar,
38:56his face on the pages of every newspaper in America.
39:01Great preparations were put in place to ship him back to America.
39:05It was going to be a huge, great fuss made of him in Oil City,
39:10where his hometown, where his parents still lived.
39:13He's also planning on getting married, so he's setting up,
39:16the plan is that he's going to go back to the States,
39:19get married, and then go on this bond drive.
39:23Gabi has his bags packed.
39:25He's ready to go home to a rapturous public and his fiancée, Kay.
39:30It's one of those extraordinary stories.
39:36But on the very day that he is due to be leaving,
39:40he suddenly looks at the roster, sees there's a space available,
39:44and thinks, I'll have one last crack,
39:47I'll have one last flight over Europe
39:49before I kind of hang up my helmet.
39:55If this had been about the glory, he probably would have gone home.
39:58That's where the glory was waiting for him.
40:00Why on earth would you pass up the opportunity
40:02to go home and marry your fiancée?
40:04Why would you jeopardize that even for a second?
40:08In this case, this is someone who feels he's very good at this job,
40:12and he's highly needed at this job, and it's a chance for him,
40:15while there's still a little bit of time,
40:17to go out there and do the job well one more time
40:20and aid his unit, his war effort.
40:23Gabi climbs into his Thunderbolt.
40:34The mission, a routine bomber escort to Frankfurt.
40:38There wasn't a German aircraft in the sky anywhere.
40:41Returning to base, Dobreski spots an airfield near Koblenz,
40:46one last opportunity to destroy Nazi planes.
40:53Gabi's flight made a run across the airfield, guns blazing.
41:00Gabi scores a bullseye.
41:05Flushed with success, he recklessly circles back for a second attack.
41:13The flack has been light the first time around.
41:15He figures, it's going to be light the second time around.
41:18Honestly, it's a bit of a rookie mistake.
41:20You don't hit the same airport twice,
41:23because then they're going to be ready for you.
41:25That was our golden rule.
41:29He came down out of a dive, maybe ten feet,
41:32maybe five feet, I don't know.
41:34He was very close to the ground.
41:36He was trying to shoot at this airplane in front of a hangar.
41:41And they were shooting at him, anti-aircraft on either side,
41:45and he kept getting lower and lower,
41:47down close to the ground, keeping from being shot at.
41:51His bullets are just firing a little bit high,
41:54so he slightly pushes forward with the stick, just a fraction,
41:58and as he does, he just fills his jolt.
42:01And suddenly, his plane's in trouble.
42:04What he's done is he's hit the ground with his propeller, just.
42:10There he is, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines,
42:13and the airplane is mortally damaged.
42:16He's got no power.
42:18There's no way he's going to get back to England.
42:25I was coming on in, and I'm looking at him,
42:28I was coming on in, and I must have been
42:31a thousand feet in the air, if that.
42:34And I looked up there, and all at once,
42:36you know, damn dust was just going,
42:38just what have you, a cloud of dust, this and that.
42:42Well, he must have been two miles before his airplane stopped,
42:46if I had skated way on out there.
42:49We've got someone from the 61st Squadron down over an airfield.
42:53So he was down, and he was uninjured,
42:56but he was in big trouble.
43:03And he got out of the airplane and ran.
43:10America's leading ace was on the run.
43:26Gabby is on the run for five days
43:28before he's turned in by a German farmer.
43:32He's taken to Stalag Luft I, a POW camp,
43:35where he's reunited with fellow Wolfpack pilots,
43:38Leader Hub Zemke, and aces Jerry Johnson and Billy Edens.
43:43He was transferred to this famous interrogator named Hans Scharf,
43:47who had been on the run for five days,
43:50and he was taken to Stalag Luft I,
43:53a famous interrogator named Hans Scharf,
43:55who had dossiers on all the top 8th Air Force aces,
43:59and when Gabby was brought in to be interrogated,
44:03Mr. Scharf said,
44:05Ah, Colonel Gabreski, we've been waiting for you.
44:08Ten months later, Hitler commits suicide in his bunker,
44:11and the 20th century's darkest chapter closes.
44:16Stalag Luft I is liberated,
44:18and Gabby is on his way home
44:20to finally tie the knot with Fiancé K.
44:24With a total of 28 victories,
44:26Francis Gabby Gabreski is the greatest American ace
44:30in the European theater.
44:34I think Gabby is something of an underdog.
44:37I think that's a big part of his identity,
44:39is fulfilling perhaps that underdog mindset.
44:43Someone who is not necessarily a natural
44:45at what he chose to do, flying,
44:47but mastered it in a way that maybe few ever have before or since.
44:51One of the great lessons that he taught people was to stick to it.
44:54Today, you may not be the best,
44:56but if you work hard,
44:58you can achieve what very few people achieve,
45:00and that is to become the best.
45:03He was a fine gentleman, and a great American.
45:05Great American.
45:07You've got to give him credit for that. He was.
45:10We need more of him.
45:14No one in a million years would have ever thought
45:16when he's a trainee pilot that this is the man
45:18who's going to end up being the leading
45:20American fighter ace of the war.
45:22But there it is.