John D. Landers | Timeline

John Dave Landers was a USAAF officer during WW2 and an American ace credited with 14.5 enemy air-to-air victories, and 20 destroyed in the ground. He ended the war as a Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the 361st Fighter Group.

June 23, 1920 - Rexroat, Carter County, Oklahoma - John Dave Landers is born

January(?) 1(?), 1936 - Cleburne, Texas - John Landers graduates in Cleburne High School

January(?) 1(?), 1937 - Conway, Arkansas - Arkansas Teacher's College

July 28, 1938 - Joshua, Texas - 18-year old Landers applies for a social security card. Employed in a gas company

April 1(?), 1941 - Landers enlists in the military

December 1(?), 1941 - Stockton, San Diego, California - Landers receives his wings and commission of 2nd Lieutenant a few days after Pearl Harbour

January 12, 1942 - San Francisco - Landers departs from San Francisco to Australia aboard the transportship "SS Mariposa"

January 18, 1942 - Honolulu, Hawaii - The "SS Mariposa" arrives in Hawaii

February 2, 1942 - Melbourne - Arrival in Australia

February 14, 1942 - Williamtown, Australia - 9th FS moves to Williamtown

March 17, 1942 - Darwin, Australia - 9th FS based at Darwin

April 4, 1942 - Between Darwin and Melville Island - 2 victories (2 total)

June 14, 1942 - Darwin - 1 victory (3 total)

July 30, 1942 - Darwin - 1 victory (4 total)

October 1(?), 1942 - Buna, New Guinea - Landers and Squadron are moved to New Guinea, near Buna

October 10, 1942 - Port Moresby - Deployed to Port Moresby, attached to 9th FS, 49th Fighter Group

October 14, 1942 - Melbourne, Australia - On leave in Melbourne

December 26, 1942 - over Dobodura - 2 victories (6 total) - Landers is then shot down and evades capture

December 27, 1942 - near Dobodura, New Guinea - Evading capture

February(?) 1(?), 1943 - United States - Landers returns to the USA. (6 victories total) Next, serves as flight instructor

January(?) 1(?), 1944 - United States - Landers completes P-38 training
April 25, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Landers joins 38th FS/55th Fighter Group (P-38J-15)
April 28, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Chateaudun
May 5, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Appointed Squadron Operations Officer
May 21, 1944 - over E/Helmstedt - 2 aircraft destroyed in the ground
June 2, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Versailles/Matelot
June 9, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Landers is promoted to Major
June 12, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Rennes
June 25, 1944 - SW of Paris - 1 FW190 shot down (7 total) + 1 damaged
July 7, 1944 - Over Bernburg - 3 Me410 shot down (10 total) + 1 Bf109 damaged
July 8, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Landers is appointed Commander of 38th FS
July 11, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Munich
July 19, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Russelshein (first mission on P-51)
July 21, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Kempton
July 29, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Merseberg
August 5, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Braunschweig
August 6, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Gdynia, Poland
August 11, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Strasbourg
August 24, 1944 - Burg - 2 Ju-88 destroyed in the ground (mission over Dresden)
August 26, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Two missons over Strasbourg and Nancy-Culmont
August 30, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Bremen
September 5, 1944 - Stuttgart/Boblingen - 1 Ju-88 destroyed in the ground + another aircraft damaged
September 10, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Nurnburg
September 12, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Leipzig
September 18, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Landers is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Oak Leaf to his Silver Star
September 25, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Ludwigshafen
September 26, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Bremen
September 30, 1944 - Wormingford, Essex - Mission over Bielefeld
October 12, 1944 - Leiston - Landers is appointed Group Commander of 357th Fighter Group
November 18, 1944 - Leiston - 1 victory (11 total)
December 2, 1944 - Leiston - Landers is replaced in command of 357th Fighter Group. Departs to the USA
February 22, 1945 - Duxford - Return to England - Lt Col John D Landers assumes command of the 78th Fighter Group
March 2, 1945 - over Burg, near Magdeburg - 2 Me109 victories (13 total)
March 19, 1945 - over Osnabruck - 1 victory (14 total)
March 30, 1945 - over Rendsburg - 1 Me262 shot down with another pilot (14,5 total)
May 1(?), 1945 - Duxford - Landers is promoted to Colonel
July 1(?), 1945 - RAF Little Walden - Landers is appointed commander of 361st Fighter Group
October 1(?), 1945 - Camp Kilmer, New Jersey - Landers returns to the US
December 1(?), 1945 - Camp Kilmer, New Jersey - Landers leaves active duty
January(?) 1(?), 1966 - Belle Chase, Louisiana - A reader met John Landers in Brown & Root inc Field office, in 1966
January(?) 1(?), 1979 - Granbury, Hood County, Texas - Landers moves to Granbury

January(?) 1(?), 1988 - Granbury, Hood County, Texas - Landers gives a presentation before a meeting of the Granbury Radio Control Airplane Club
September 12, 1989 - Granbury, Hood County, Texas - John Landers dies in Hood General Hospital, aged 69 =(END)

George Preddy | Timeline

George Preddy was a USAAF officer during WW2 and an American ace credited with 26.83 enemy air-to-air victories, ranking him as the top P-51 Mustang ace of WW2 and sixth on the list of all-time highest scoring American aces. (Intro from Wikipedia)

May 2, 1919 - Greensboro, North Carolina - George Preddy is born
November 13, 1938 - Greensboro - George Preddy flies for the first time in Hal Foster's airplane in a ride to Danville. It is the greatest ever for him and he decides to become an aviator

April 1(?), 1941 - Craig Field, Alabama - Receives orders to attend flight training

December 12, 1941 - Craig Field - Completes flight training. His mother goes to Alabama to proudly pin wings on his blouse during the graduation exercises - Commission as Second-Lieutenant. =(START)
January 3, 1942 - West Palm Beach - The 49th pursuit group boards a troop train for the West Coast
January 8, 1942 - San Francisco - The Troop train arrives in San Francisco

January 11, 1942 - San Francisco - Orders to board the "SS Mariposa" transportship - destionation unknown
January 12, 1942 - San Francisco - The "SS Mariposa" departs to the Pacific with 4,000 men aboard. Troops aboard speculate that the ship's destination was Australia, due to the presence of aussie airmen aboard.
January 22(?), 1942 - North of the Marquesas Islands (French Mandate) - The "SS Mariposa" crosses the Equator at the Center of the Pacific Ocean

February 1, 1942 - Melbourne - Arrival in Melbourne's Bay, Australia
February 2, 1942 - Camp Darly, 30 miles from Melbourne - Train to Camp Darly
February 4, 1942 - Melbourne - 48-hour leave to celebrate birthday
February 15, 1942 - Bacchus March - Preddy is selected to serve as acting lieutenant to Major Wurtsmith
February 16, 1942 - Bankstown - Arrival in Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney, by train
February 22, 1942 - Bankstown - Two P-40E arrive on the field and Preddy spends two hours just sitting at the cockpit getting familiar with the arrangement of instruments and controls

Preddy's P-40 "Tarheel"

March 5, 1942 - Bankstown - Assigned to fly a P-40 to Williamstown, north of Sydney - Joins the 9th Pursuit Group
March 7, 1942 - Williamstown - 23 P-40's and 1 B-17 leave Williamstown for Brisbane - Forced to return due to bad weather
March 13, 1942 - Brisbane - Leaves Brisbane for Charleville
March 14, 1942 - Charleville - Leaves Charleville for Cloncurry
March 16, 1942 - Cloncurry - Leaves Cloncurry for Daly Waters
March 17, 1942 - Darwin - Arrival in Darwin - Batchelor Field on March 18th
March 24, 1942 - Darwin - Moves to RAAF Field Darwin

Preddy and Tarheel

March 30, 1942 - Darwin - Fight with Zeros - Looses his first kill by forgetting to switch on the aircraft's cannons - neither side lost anything

April 27, 1942 - Darwin - Preddy damages a zero fighter and a Mitsubishi bomber.

July 12, 1942 - Darwin - Preddy is wounded in an air accident that kills another pilot, Lt. John Sauber. He would spend months in the hospital.
July 20, 1942 - Darwin - Preddy flies to Alice Springs with a doctor and six other patients
July 21, 1942 - Alice Springs - Flight to Adelaide
July 22, 1942 - Adelaide - Arrival to the Adelaide Hospital
July 28, 1942 - Adelaide - Preddy moves from bed to a wheelchair, so that he could start enjoying regular entertainment
September 23, 1942 - Laverton - First flight since the accident
October 22, 1942 - Brisbane - Arrival in Brisbane by train
October 24, 1942 - New Caledonia - Arrival in New Caledonia aboard a B-24
October 25, 1942 - Nandi, Fiji - Landings at Nandi and Canton Island
October 26, 1942 - Honolulu, Hawaii - Arrival in Hawaii. Spends the night in a hotel

October 27, 1942 - Hamilton Field, California - Arrives to Hamilton Field looking to be assigned.
November 1, 1942 - Greensboro, North Carolina - Preddy arrives home by train. His father joins him for the last 20 miles
November 10, 1942 - Greensboro - Train to Oakland, California
November 14, 1942 - Oakland, California - Arrival in Oakland
November 19, 1942 - Hamilton Field, California - Testing the P-38 Lightning
December 8, 1942 - Hamilton Field - Flies a P-40 again
December 19, 1942 - Hamilton Field - Assigned to the 326th Squadron, equipped with P-39 Airacobras
December 30, 1942 - Hamilton Field - Orders to report to the 1st Fighters Command in New York

January 4, 1943 - Mitchell Field, New York - Arrival in New York - Assigned to Mitchell Field
January 9, 1943 - Westover Field, Massachusetts - Preddy tests the P-47
January 15, 1943 - New Haven, Connecticut - Transfered to the 34th Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group
February 22, 1943 - Groton, Connecticut - Moves to Groton
February 28, 1943 - LaGuardia - All 352nd Fighter Group moves to LaGuardia
June 14, 1943 - Camp Kilmer, New Jersey - Moves to Camp Kilmer

June 30, 1943 - New York City - The 34th Fighter Group is shipped to England aboard the "Queen Elizabeth".

July 5, 1943 - Firth of Forth, Scotland - Arrival in Scotland
July 6, 1943 - Glasgow | Bodney - At Glasgow, Preddy takes a train to Bodney. Arrival to his squadron's base
August 4, 1943 - London - 48-hour leave in London
August 6, 1943 - Bodney - Back in Bodney

The first "Cripes A'Mighty", a P-47

September 9, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - First combat mission (escort) in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO)
October 14, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Mission to Schweinfurt (196 fighters escorting 320 bombers)
November 3, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Mission to Wilhelmshaven (566 bombers and 378 fighters)
November 5, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Penetration to Ruhr Valley (Gelsenkirchen) at noon - 503 bombers and 383 fighters
November 7, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Mission to Ruhr Valley (Wesel, Düren and Randerath) supporting B-17s (282 fighters escorting 122 bombers)
November 8, 1943 - London - 3-day leave in London with John Meyer
November 12, 1943 - Bodney - Back in Bodney
November 13, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Escorting B-17s over the ZuiderZee (390 fighters escorting 272 bombers) and into Bremen
November 19, 1943 - Bodney -  Base: Bodney - Failed rendevouz mission with 180 B-17s coming back from Gelsenkirchen
November 26, 1943 - Bodney - Base: Bodney - Escort mission to Bremen (633 bombers, 381 fighters) - After Preddy flies home, Meyer and Dillinger shoot down Me-109s

December 1, 1943 - Base: Bodney - 1 Bf 109 shot down over Rheydt, recorded on camera (1 total)

December 22, 1943 - Base: Bodney - Mission to Ösnabrück and Münster (574 bombers) - 1 Me-210 shot down over Zuider Zee - Preddy is awarded the Silver Star (2 total)

January 29, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Fw 190 shot down over the french coast on route to Frankfurt. Preddy is shot down over the English Channel by Flak, but is rescued after one hour in the cold water, after his wingman Whisner pinpoints his position (3 total)
February 13, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Combat with FW190s over the V-1 launch ramps of Pas de Calais Area
March 3, 1944 - Bodney - Preddy, Meroney and Meyer are asked to pass on their knowledge of combat flying to others with less experience. Each of them did this in a letter to the requesting Assistant Chief of Staff
March 12(?), 1944 - Base: Bodney - "Hair-raising" low-level attack on enemy airfields in the Area of Pas de Calais, to learn how much firepower the germans had in the area. All 8 P-47s are hit and two pilots lost.
March 20, 1944 - Coomb House, 25km W of Salisbury - Assigned to go to Coomb House and carry out instructions of the Commander. On March 22nd, at Coomb House, Preddy is promoted to Major by command of Lt.General James Doolittle.

April 1, 1944 - Bodney - Preddy is made 487th Squadron operations officer. Switches to the P-51B Mustang and names his "Cripes A'Mighty 2nd"

Cripes A'Mighty 3rd, a P-51D

April 11, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Penetration missions to Berlin on 11th and 13th. (two aircraft claimed - He111 and Buecker 133, other He 111 unknown - no victories are counted by the Fighter Group

April 22, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Preddy strafes Stade Airfield. A Stuka is destroyed on the ground and another shared with Lt.Kessler, counting 0,33 victory (3,33 total)
April 28, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Strafed a He177 at Bourges Aerodrome, France

April 30, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Fw 190 shot down over Clermont - His fighter group doesn't credit him with this victory, however, his gun camera shows Preddy attacking an FW190, which goes down in smoke
May 7, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission
May 9, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission (After Luksic's 5 victory day)

May 12, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Strafing Halle airdrome

May 13, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 2 Bf 109 shot down over Neubrandenburg (5,33 total)

May 21, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Preddy strafes trains in Neubrandenburg (recorded on camera)

May 30, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 2 Bf 109 shot down over Magdeburg + 1 shared with Whisner, on the day the Squadron looses Luksic and Hannon (7,83 total)

June 6, 1944 - Bodney - Completion of Operational tour - 200 hours plus two extensions of 50 hours each - 7,83 victories in total - Strafing missions in support of D-Day invasions on the 6th and 7th
June 12, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Preddy leads the entire group (Meyer on lease) on an escort mission to St.Jacques, France - 1 Me109 shot down (8,83 total)
June 20, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Fw 190 shot down over Magdeburg + 1 shared (10,33 total)
June 21, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Mission escorting B-24s from Berlin - 1 Bf 109 shot down (12,33 total)
June 24, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission to Lüneburg
June 25, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission to Troyes
June 28, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Escort mission over Saarbrücken - 1 locomotive destroyed
June 29, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Escort Mission to Leipzig - 1 Ju52 and a Locomotive destroyed (Fighter Group doesn't count them)

July 18, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Massive Raid over Rostock (1600 bombers, 500 fighters) - 2 Ju88 + 1 Bf 109 shot down (14,33 total)
July 20, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 victory plus one shared over Nordhausen (Fighter Group doesn't credit him although his gun camera is clear)
July 21, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 shared with Lt.Moates north of Munich (14,83 total)
July 28, 1944 - Bodney - Approval for another 50-hours extension is authorized

July 29, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Bf 109 shot down over Merseberg - Halle-Leuna Synthetic Oil Refineries (15,83 total)

July 29, 1944 over Merseberg

August 2, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission over the V-1 Launch Ramps, St.Quentin, France
August 4, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Uneventful mission over the V-1 Launch Ramps, and to Arkona, Baltic Sea

August 5, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 german aircraft shot down + 1 probable - South of Hamburg (16,83 total)

6 Victories!!!

August 6, 1944 - Base: Bodney - Mission to Berlin - 6 Bf 109 shot down - Distinguished Service Cross - 22,83 victories total

August 12, 1944 - Bodney - Preddy receives the Distinguished Service Cross. Leave in the United States.
September 25, 1944 - Greensboro, North Carolina - Speech at the War Memorial Stadium
October 28, 1944 - Bodney - Preddy takes command of the 328th Fighter Squadron - rudders painted in red

November 2, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Bf 109 shot down over Merseburg (23,83 total)

November 21, 1944 - Base: Bodney - 1 Fw 190 shot down + 1 probable + 1 damaged over Merseburg (24,83 total)

December 13, 1944 - London - 48-hour leave in London

Red rudders of 328th FS

December 16, 1944 - Bodney - Back in Bodney. Last letter to his parents
December 23, 1944 - Y-29 Asche, Belgium - Squadron moves to Y-29 airfield in Asche, Belgium. Winter makes flight impossible

December 25, 1944 - SE of Aachen, Germany - After shooting down two Me109 fighters at low altitude, Preddy is shot down and killed by mistake by friendly Flak, southest of Aachen, Germany (26,83 total) =(END)