Maj. George E. Preddy, Jr., USAAF

	VICTORIES:	26.83
	ORGANIZATION:	328th FS 352nd FG 8th AF
	THEATRE OF OPERATIONS:	Western Europe
	AIRCRAFT FLOWN:	North American P-51 Mustang
	AWARDS:	DSC, DFC

George Preddy is the highest scoring P-51 Mustang pilot of the Second World War. On one of his most notable missions, he shot down six enemy planes in a wild melee while protecting American bombers. His commanding officer at the time, John Meyer, (also on the list of the "Top Ten",) was going to recommend Preddy for the Medal of Honor, but higher Air Force staff talked him out of it. Instead, Preddy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his extraordinary action.

Major Preddy was leading his squadron on a fighter sweep on Christmas morning 1944, when he shot down two FW-190's and started to chase a third at low altitude. The pursued German plane flew over an American anti-aircraft battery, followed close behind by Preddy. A gunner manning a set of four fifty calibre machine guns - called a "Quad Fifty" - fired a short burst at the enemy plane. The bullets instead hit Preddy's Mustang directly in the cockpit. The stricken P-51 was seen to make a perfect wheels-up landing in a snow-covered field. American soldiers ran to the spot where the plane came to a rest. Opening the canopy, they found George Preddy, slumped over the controls, dead. One of the fifty calibre bullets had pierced his heart.

Major George E. Preddy, Jr. will always be known as the highest scoring Mustang fighter ace, but he will also be remembered for his death - killed by "friendly fire" on Christmas Day.

This aircraft was actually the fourth "Cripes A'Mighty", although it has no such markings. This was the mount that Preddy flew on the day he was killed.

Read more and see a video about George Preddy