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Cripes A' Mighty 3rd
Dedicated to the memory of Maj. George E. Preddy
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Military History
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| 1939 | Barnstormer pilot in the states. |
| Sept. 1939 | Made 3 attempts to join the USAAF and was rejected each time because of physical problems. Dejected, he returned to barnstorming. |
| Summer 1940 | He tried to join the USAAF again and passed all the tests this time. He was told that he would have to wait for an opening. Meanwhile, he joined up with the Army National Guard to occupy his time and gain some experience. He served with the 252nd Coast Artillery |
| April 1941 | Ordered to report to flight training. |
| 12-12-41 | Graduated from flight training and sent to Austrailia, 9th
Squadron, 49th Pursuit Group. |
| August 1942 | Flew a number of combat missions and damaged two Japanese planes. Preddy was involved with a serious mid-air collision that killed the other pilot (one of his squadron mates) and left Preddy in the hospital for several weeks. |
| 10-27-42 | Arrived at Hamilton Field, Ca, looking for an assignment. |
| Dec. 1942 | Assigned to Mitchel Field, NY with I Fighter Command. He was then sent to Westover Field, Massachusetts to join a fighter squadron. He ran into I.B. "Jack" Donaldson, that he knew in Austrailia and pulled some favors and got assigned to the 487th FS, 352 Fighter Group. Preddy's new CO, John C. Meyer, was not impressed by the small size and meekness of Preddy. "This fellow couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag", is what Meyer said of Preddy when he met him. |
| Spring 1943 | Trained with the 352nd in the P-47 Thunderbolt. Preddy's
P-47 was named "Cripes a Mighty" |
| Summer '43 | 352nd Fighter Group sent to England as part of the 8th Air Force. |
| 09-09-43 | First combat mission in the ETO |
| 12-01-43 | Rheydt- Preddy's first Victory! -Me109 |
| 04-11-44 | P-51b is Preddy's new mount "Cripes a Mighty 2nd". He scored 4.33 air Victories and 4 ground kills by June 12, 1944 for a total of 11.33 |
| June 1944 | 352nd received the new P-51D. Preddy's aircraft 44-13321
was named "Cripes a Mighty 3rd". |
| 06-20-44 | Magdeburg, Germany- FW 190 Victory and shared Me109 |
| 07-18-44 | Warnemunde- 60 enemy aircraft encountered. 352nd destroyed 21 EA and lost 2. Preddy scored an Me 109 and (3) Ju 88s. |
| 07-18-44 | 2.5 more air Victories between the 18th and the 21st of July. |
| 08-06-44 | Brandenburg, Germany- Starting at 27,000 feet and ending at 7,000 feet, Preddy destroyed an unheard of SIX enemy aircraft alone! The total kills for the mission were twelve, half to Preddy. "I just kept shooting and they just kept falling." Preddy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. |
| October 1944 | Returned from leave in the states and promoted to CO of the 328th Squadron |
| Nov. 1944 | Merseburg, Germany- 352nd FG scored a record breaking 38 enemy aircraft destroyed, 25 by Preddy's squadron, 1 by Preddy raising his total to 28.83 |
| 12-16-44 | 352nd Fighter Group assigned to airfield Y-29 at Asch, Belgium. |
| 12-25-44 | Koblenz- Preddy scored 2 and his squadron destoyed 11. The
squadron was then vectored to the area around Liege to attack some low
flying enemy aircraft. The P-51 pilots were told that the US
anti-aircraft guns would be stopped as they chased the enemy aircraft
through the area. So Preddy was joined by Lt. Jim Bouchier of the 479th
FG as they dived on a FW 190 at tree top level. They entered the area
where the 12th AA Group was firing and they kept on firing. Both Preddy
and Bouchier were shot down by US gunfire. Bouchier survived, buy Preddy
was dead in his aircraft when they arrived at the crash site. The 352nd
was dealt a hard blow. John C. Meyers, CO of the 352nd and P-51 ace himself said this: "He's just the greatest fighter pilot who ever squinted through a gunsight". |
Military Record
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Born: | |
| Grew up in: | Greensboro, NC | |
| Air Force: | 8th | |
| Group: | 352nd | |
| Squadron: | 487th | |
| P-51 Air Victories: | 23.83 | |
| Total Air Victories: | 26.83 | |
| All Victories: | 31.83 | |
| First Victory: | 12-01-43 | |
| Last Victory: | 12-25-44 | |
| Status at end of WWII: | Killed in Action 12-25-44 | |
| Aircraft Name: | Cripes a Mighty,
Cripes a Mighty 2nd, Cripes a Mighty 3rd |
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| Aircraft Code: | HO P | |
| Aircraft SN: | 44-13321 | |
| Enemy Aircraft Downed: |
FW 190, Me109, Ju 88 | |
| George became the leading active ace in the European Theater of Operations and the top Mustang ace of all time. He was unintentionally downed by friendly fire during the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas Day 1944. Preddy Boulevard in Greensboro is named for the Preddy brothers. His brother, Lt. William R. Preddy, was shot down by enemy ground fire while strafing an aerodrome south of Prague, Czechoslovakia just a few weeks before the war ended in Europe. |
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George Preddy's most famous aircraft was named Cripes A'Mighty 3rd. It is shown on the left with his ground crew. Preddy's total score at the end of WWII was 32 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed. |