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BOXART STORY
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 - little
-
friends.co.uk, acesofww2.com, Troy White – Stardust-
studios, USAAF Operations Chronology
Illustration: Piotr Forkasiewicz
Bloody Merseburg
Text: Jan Zdiarský
INFO Eduard
37
November 2024