Colon E Neeley
MilitaryOn 17 November, 1942, after leaving the target area near St. Nazaire, B-17F #41-24496 'Chenault's Pappy' 306BG/423BS was attacked by FW190s. The TTG Aulenbach was killed and 3 crew members as the plane suffered severe damage. A/C landed at Exeter. Engineer Claiborne Wilson was on both flights with Neeley and survived.
Killed in Action (KIA) 16 February 1943 B-17 #42-5717, 306BG/423BS while serving as Tail Gunner. Target was St. Nazaire and aircraft was attacked by fighters. Pilot William Warner was killed in the initial fighter attack. Co-Pilot continued flight but a/c crashed at Guillac, 7km SW of Ploërmel (Morbihan), France.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19067357 at enlistment, then O-727172
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39083381
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 6658162
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17019588 at enlistment, then O-726043
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 306th Bomb Group 423rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19005539
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
Missions
![B-24 Liberators of the 44th Bomb Group fly over countryside. Image stamped on reverse: 'Planet News.' [stamp], 'Passed for publication 16 Feb 1943.' [stamp] Printed caption on reverse: '7-12 Liberator planes of U.S. Bomber Command in flight at the start of an operational patrol from their base "somewhere in England". And February 17th 1943 PN'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379113.jpg.webp?itok=PMFn3r3H)
- Date: 16 February 1943
- Date: 17 November 1942
- Official Description:
Places
![A bomber crew of the 306th Bomb Group wave to Picture Post Girls in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-24471) nicknamed "Four of a Kind" at Thurleigh in December 1942. Image stamped on reverse: '"Picture Post" [stamp], 'Passed for Publication 11 Dec 1942.' [stamp], '238038.' [Censor no.] Handwritten in censor's blue pencil on reverse: 'American Flying Fortress crew are introduced to the girls they will meet at Picture Post Xmas Party.'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-379028.jpg.webp?itok=6Gc6iR0j)
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Bedford
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Born |
17 April 1919 | Columbia, Richland County, North Carolina, United States | |
|
Other Killed in Action (KIA) |
Guillac, France | 16 February 1943 | Killed in fighter attack while serving as Tail Gunner on B-17F #42-5717, 306BG/423BS. His body was still in the aircraft when it crashed and burned. |
| Columbia, North Carolina | |||
|
Buried |
Guillac, France | at the Guillac cemetery, France | |
|
Buried |
after the war, his remains were brought back to the US. Colon Neeley rests at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky |
Revisions
Lee Cunningham 27-Nov-2014. Added Sn and KIA event per MACR 15472; Made place and aircraft associations from existing data.
Lee Cunningham 3-Nov-2014. Descriptions based on "Losses of the 8th & 9th Air Forces" Stan Bishop & John A. Hey MBE; 16-Feb-43 event: Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) 15472.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Losses of the 8th and 9th Air Forces Volume I by Bishop and Hey p. 46, p. 79