Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Color Photographs – 56th Fighter Group Part II

The highest-scoring American ace in the ETO was LCOL Francis S. “Gabby” Gabreski. Seen here posing in front of 42-2641 are Crew Chief Staff Sergeant Ralph H. Safford, Assistant Crew Chief Corporal Felix Schacki, Armorer Sergeant Michael Di Franza, and LCOL Gabreski.

Seen here in the cockpit is Gabreski with his impressive scoreboard. He was credited with 28 Luftwaffe aircraft.

Armorers load .50 caliber rounds into the wing bays of Gabreski’s Thunderbolt. Many of the 56th FG Thunderbolts wore unique field applied camouflage schemes, 42-2641 was camouflaged in RAF colors over natural metal undersurfaces.

Gabreski’s propeller clipped the ground while he was strafing a Luftwaffe airfield on 20JUL44, his aircraft crashed and he was made a PoW. Surviving the war, he went on to fly the F-86 Sabre in Korea, where he scored a further 6.5 victories.

Colonel David Schilling was the Commanding Officer of the 56th Fighter Group from 12AUG44 to 25JAN45. Pictured is Schilling in his P-47D serial 42-26641 “Hairless Joe”. (IWM)

Another view of 42-26641. The 56th FG Thunderbolts were delivered in unpainted NMF, but were camouflaged in field-applied schemes of RAF colors over natural metal undersurfaces.

Another view of Hairless Joe, note the landing gear cover in natural metal.

Shilling’s Thunderbolt shares the field with a pair of Mustangs at Mount Farm. (IWM)

Hairless Joe was a character in the popular comic strip Lil Abner. This is another view from Mount Farm which shows the nose art to advantage.

Schilling was credited with 22.5 aerial victories with an additional 10.5 destroyed on the ground, making him the sixth highest-scoring fighter pilot in the Eighth Air Force. He survived the war but was killed in an automobile accident in August, 1956. (IWM)

Part III here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2024/06/12/republic-p-47-thunderbolt-color-photographs-56th-fighter-group-part-iii/