WWII-Grady Neal

WWII-Grady Neal

Photo Collection

WORLD WAR II-GRADY NEAL COLLECTION

Pix#

Date of PixSize of PixNo. of PixKind of ImageNegative

1. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

What we never wanted to see, German 88 MM anti-aircraft fire. Also known as Triple
A, we also called it ack-ack. This was close.

2. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator, one of America’s heavy bombers from WWII.

3. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Formation flying of more B-24 Liberators. Good view of the tail gunners.

4. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

Formatin flying.Going home over the Alps. B-24 bombers.

5. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

High altitude formation flying of b-24 bombers over Europe.

6. 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators. The top aircraft is Red Nan. The nose art identifies her as “Plane
Nan.” We flew her on 2 missions; Vienna 11/14/44 and Trieste 2/20/45.

7. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators in formation. Photo taken from a tail gunner’s turret.

8. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Land fall over Italy, don’t remember the name of the town.

9. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator. Notice the open waist gunner’s position halfway between the trailing
edge of the wing and the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer. This was a very
cold place to be. They had to wear extremely heavy clothing, sometimes heated electrically.

10. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

A view of the Alp Mountains with snow on the tops and low clouds in the valley. Beautiful
till one thinks of a forced landing. The black area, lower left, is a 50 caliber machine
gun.

11. circa 1944 8×10 4 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator. Rudder markings indicated our bomb group. The silver rudder with a
black square in the top half, and the lower half black with a yellow vertical strip
indicated the 464th. The R was Red and indicated our squadron (776th) and radio call
sign (Red Roger). My position as a waist gunner was directly in front of the R. As
radio operator, my position was in the small window directly behind the #3 prop hub.
Nose art identifies her as “Lady Esther.” We flew 3 missions in Lady Esther. (St.
Valentine, Rosenhime, and Vienna)

12. not available

WORLD WAR II-GRADY NEAL COLLECTION

Continued

Pix#

Date of PixSize of PixNo. of PixKind of ImageNegative

13. circa 1944 8×10 3 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators flying in formation. Photo probably taken from a waist gunner’s position.

14. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators. Excellent view of the tail gunner’s turret and the top gunner’s turret.

15. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators in formation flying.

16. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Approaching the Yugoslavia coastline and Adriatic Sea going “home” to Italy, large
lake lower left.

17. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators in formation flying.

18. 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator. “Red Sugar” We flew one mission in this aircraft to Bleckhammer, 12/2/44.
Good view of the waist gunner actually standing in the waist gunner position.

19. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Good head-on picture of a single B-24, from the top front position. Photo was probably
taken from a tail gunner’s position.

20. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators.High aircraft are from the 485th Bomb Group. Notice the rudder markings.
This was the last combat group assigned to the 15th Army Air Corps. Lower portion
of picture is a good example of tight formation flying.

21. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator.

22. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

Very close formation flying. That’s our right wing and engine above the other B-24.
Good detailed picture of the tail gunner’s turret.

23. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

This is a silver B-24 Liberator (not yet painted olive drab, like the others).The
round structure in the upper right is our rudder (B-24). Other plane in photo is also
a B-24.

24. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator. The white dome on the bottom of this plane is a radar dome, the white
square behind is a camera hatch. The tow light swirls below are our propellers. Notice
the contrails behind the plane.

WORLD WAR II-GRADY NEAL COLLECTION

Continued

Pix#

Date of PixSize of PixNo. of PixKind of ImageNegative

25. 1945 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberator.My crew flew Red victor on two missions, 3/15/45 to Graz and 3/19/45
to Muhldorf. You can see the right waist gun ammo belt strung across the window.

26. 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24 Liberators over the Italian coastline outbound. The lead aircraft is “Red Z”
(Zebra) which we flew to Udine 11/18/44.

27. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Excellent example of B-24 Liberators in high, loose formation flight, over solid cloud
cover.

28. circa 1944 8×10 2 B&W copy print 4×5

More formation flying of B-24 Liberators. Good example of contrails in upper portion
of photo.

29. 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Another good picture of B-24’s in formation with contrails. We are above 20,000 feet.
Contrails were beautiful, but they pointed us out to the German gunners. We flew a
mission in Red Sugar 12/19/44. (Bleckhammer)

30. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Aerial photo of unidentified European city during WWII.

31. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

B-24’s in a lower formation viewed from above. This is an over water flight.

32. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Picture of P-38 Lightening, an escort aircraft (a fighter aircraft).

33. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Close of photo of a P-38 Lightening, an escort aircraft.

34. 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

What we always wanted to see, a friendly escort fighter. This is a P-38. We were escorted
by the Tuskegee airmen an other P-51’s. The B-24 is Red King. The nose art identifies
her as “Hell’s Bells.” We flew her to Linz 11/19/44 and Amersterdam 12/14/44.

35. circa 1944 8×10 1 B&W copy print 4×5

Air crew pictured by the “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” a B-24 bomber.

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