Top Mustang Ace Major George E. Preddy Jr.
On 6 August 1944 Preddy made history when he shot down six Me 109s and won the Distinguished Service Cross for his feat. After that he returned to the States for T&R but returned in October to take over the 328th Fighter Squadron.
Sadly Major Preddy met the reaper on Christmas Day 1944 when he was killed by American Ack-ack gunners as he chased an Fw-190 low over the front lines during the Battle of the Bulge. A few minutes earlier he has notched up a pair of Messerschmits for his final kills of the war. At that time Preddy was the leading American flying operations in the ETO and was credited with a total of 27 1/2 confirmed aerial victories and five ground kills. He is ranked as the third highest scoring ace in the ETO, the seventh highest scoring American ace, and is the top P-51 Mustang ace.
Signed & numbered limited edition print. Edition: size 352. Prints remaining as of 5 November 2018: 34. Overall print size: 22" x 28".
Major George E. Preddy, Jr. of the 487th FS, 352nd FG turns his attention towards a Bf-109G-6 from 1./JG 300 as it streaks through a formation of B-17 bombers from the 100th BG. Preddy was flying his P-51D-5NA Mustang "Cripes A' Mighty 3rd". This action took place on 29 July 1944 during 8th AF mission #503 to the Halle-Leuna Synthetic Oil Refineries near Merseberg, Germany. Preddy would go on to be the world’s top scoring P-51 Mustang ace.
Oil On Canvas 19"x 33" © Troy White 2000 SOLD
Major George Preddy's P-51B 42-106451 HO-P "Cripes A' Mighty" in full D-Day Stripes. A veteran of the Pacific war during the defence of Darwin, Australia, Preddy was the highest scoring Mustang pilot of the war. Read about him in Gold Star Aces" Volume II. "Cripes A' Mighty" was Major George Preddy's first P-51. It was a B-10 model and he scored 5.833 aerial victories with it before being issued a brand new D model in Mid-June 1944.
Open Edition Canvas Giclée Print. Image size: 18"x10" Major George Preddy's P-51B 42-106451 HO-P "Cripes A' Mighty" in full D-Day Stripes.
Preddy's winter bailout into the English Channel
Oil on Canvas 24" x 36" © Troy White 2007 - SOLD
Available as a canvas print
The English Channel has a reputation for being a cold unforgiving body of water, inhospitable even at the height of summer. During WWII the Channel swallowed many pilots and aircrews without trace. Descending through wintry clouds over the Channel on January 29th 1944 Captain George Preddy wrestled with an emergency situation in his crippled aircraft as he attempted to return to England from a bomber escort mission. Realizing that he may not survive, Preddy hit the silk and bailed out of his stricken Thunderbolt, floating down through the biting cold into the churning waves below. Unlike two bomber crews that were lost in the North Sea that day, George Preddy survived to tell his tale. Read the whole article here.
Captain George. E. Preddy prepares to exit his stricken P-47 Thunderbolt over the English Channel on January 29, 1944.
Top Mustang Ace
Oil on canvas 36"x 48"
© Troy White 2004 SOLD
Ltd. Ed. Lithographs are available
The original portrait of Major Preddy was commissioned by the Preddy Memorial Foundation and now hangs in the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Preddy's home state of North Carolina.
Signed & numbered limited edition print. Edition size: 100. Prints remaining as of 2 November 2018: 10. Overall print size: 22" x 28".
George Preddy went down in history as the world's the top scoring P-51 Mustang ace. He scored 23.833 aerial victories while flying the P-51 out of a total of 26.833. He also scored five ground victories.
Signed & numbered Artist's Proof, edition size: 10. Prints remaining as of 2 November 2018: 5.Overall print size: 22" x 28".
George Preddy went down in history as the world's the top scoring P-51 Mustang ace. He scored 23.833 aerial victories while flying the P-51 out of a total of 26.833. He also scored five ground victories.
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Gold Star Aces Volumes I & II
You can read about George Preddy and 113 other USAAF aces who paid for your freedom with their lives during WWII in Gold Star Aces Volume I and Gold Star Aces Volume II by Troy White. |
