Bloody Mersebburg
Text: Jan Zdiarský
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Cat. No. 70171
Mustang serial number 44-13321 was the third, but not last, of George H. Preddy's ‘Cripes A' Mighty’ Mustangs. By the time depicted in the boxart of our Profipack P-51D-5, the aircraft had partially modified invasion stripes. During their removal from the upper surfaces of the wing, the black ETO quick identification bands also disappeared, leaving only the stripes on the underside of the wing and the lower part of the fuselage. ‘Cripes A' Mighty 3rd’ was flown by Maj. Preddy from mid-June, 1944 to the end of August of the same year. This period includes a mission from July 29th, 1944, when his group escorted formations of B-17s. I.G. Farben in Leuna, Germany, a chemical plant producing synthetic gasoline, was raided by more than five hundred B-17s with the 352nd FG tasked with keeping intercepting German fighters off the bombers.
George H. Preddy reported that day: ‘The Group was assigned to cover the 2nd Task Force of B-17s consisting of ten combat wings bombing Merseburg. We rendezvoused with the last combat wing and swept up to the lead box. We were southwest of the target covering bombers going in and coming out. After one box came off the target, I saw 20 Me 109s in formation come in behind and high to them. I led the Squadron in astern of the enemy aircraft and came in range just as they began firing on this box of B-17s from astern. I saw one B-17 get hit and start burning so led the flight right into the middle of the 109s. I came up astern of one enemy aircraft on the right side of the formation and opened fire from 300 yards, five degrees angle-off, and got hits. I continued firing as I closed to 100 yards and the enemy aircraft began smoking badly and went down falling apart. The whole formation began splitting up and diving for the deck. I followed one down but lost him in the clouds. I picked up Lt. Sears and we climbed back up towards a box of bombers. While still several thousand feet below them I saw a B-17 peel out of formation and explode. There were enemy fighters above the B-17s but other P-51s chased them away before we got up to them. CLAIM: One (1) Me 109 Destroyed’.
The B-17 formation in the background is also worth noting in Piotr Forkasiewicz's painting. Bloody Merseburg was considered one of the most difficult targets the 8th AF flew over. The 100th BG lost eight B-17s that day. The aircraft on the boxart form the front of this unit's combat box, led by a radar pathfinder on loan from the 95th BG. Pathfinders issued to other units usually lacked the letter-in-a-square markings we see on other machines. The formation, depicted according to surviving records, shows, among other things, a large collection of olive drab B-17s, which were still flying in large numbers during this period.
In compiling air and ground victories recorded by the USAAF, the Messerschmitt of July 29th was Preddy’s fifteenth kill. More were yet to come. Chief among them are the six Bf 109s he sent to the ground during a single mission, that on August 6th, 1944, when he led the 352nd FG on another escort run. After this extraordinary success, his commander, Lt.Col. John C. Meyer, proposed the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the High Command awarded Preddy ‘only’ the Distinguished Service Cross. These kills were also gained by Preddy in ‘Cripes A' Mighty 3rd’, and also the last flying this aircraft. Shortly thereafter, he was sent on leave and upon his return assumed command of the 328th FS.
By the end of 1944 he had increased his score to a final 26.83 aerial victories, three probable and six damaged, plus five aircraft destroyed on the ground. The string of successes, along with a rivalry with his friend, Lt. Col. John Meyer, came to an end on December 25th, 1944, when Preddy's Mustang was accidentally shot down by Allied air defenses in the frontline area during a dogfight with an Fw 190, killing George H. Preddy. No other pilot managed to surpass his score, and his total of 26.83 aerial victories in the P-51 made him the most successful Mustang pilot.
A few months earlier, when George Preddy went on leave to the USA, other pilots took turns flying his ‘Cripes A' Mighty 3rd’, including Lt.Col. Meyer, who destroyed four German planes on the ground with it on September 10th, 1944. Later, this Mustang was assigned to Capt. Henry Stewart, who renamed it ‘The Margarets’. After a few weeks, the Mustang got a new pilot. Lt. Marion Nutter, who renamed it ‘Sexshunate’. Like George H. Preddy, his Mustang 44-13321 became a record holder. Various pilots achieved a total of 18.5 air to air kills and nine ground victories with it. ‘Sexshunate’, Preddy's original ‘Cripes A' Mighty 3rd’ was shot down by German flak on April 16th, 1945, and its pilot, Lt. Warren Padden, perished.
The very next day was over České Budějovice in Czechoslovakia, while pursuit of an Me 262, shot down George's younger brother William, a pilot of the 503rd FS, 339th Fighter Group. Both Preddy brothers, both Mustang pilots, are buried next to each other in a military cemetery in St. Avold in France.
Sources:
NARA, 100th BG, planesinprofile.com, crazyhorseap.be, wikipedia.org, O.Henry Magazine, Peter Randall - littlefriends.co.uk, acesofww2.com, Troy White – Starduststudios, USAAF Operations Chronology