Rex James Neely

Military
UPL 77354 UPL 77354 Bill Thomas crew, 334BS, 95BG.

Rear L-R: William Prochaska (B), William K Thomas (P), James B Stapleton (CP), Collis Haynes (N).
Front L-R: William Whitcomb (TG), Floyd Thompson (BTG), Rex Neely (TTG), Guy Tice (WG),

Cropped from image media-51414.jpeg (media id 47171)
https://95thbg.mmsw.eu/crew/451

Object Number - UPL 77354 - Bill Thomas crew, 334BS, 95BG. Rear L-R: William Prochaska (B), William K Thomas (P), James B Stapleton (CP), Collis Haynes (N). Front L-R:...

Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF. 7-Apr-43, B-17 #42-3090 'Taint-a-bird' force landed near Clonakilty, County Cork Ireland. Crew was safe.



B-17 #42-3267 ditched in Bay of Biscay out of fuel 28-Jun-43. All on board returned. RTD



28-Jul-43, B-17 #42-30219 hit by fighters. One of 3 crew members to bail out, Prisoner of War (POW). A/C crash landed at Framlingham with no crew injuries.



Awards: POW, WWII Victory, EAME.

Connections

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Units served with

The insignia of the 95th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-791163
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: T'aint A Bird
  • Unit: 351st Bomb Group 95th Bomb Group Base Air Depot 2 334th Bomb Squadron 359th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Harley Charley
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Taint A Bird/Lee L

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Dulag Luft Grosstychow Dulag 12
  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag 17b, Krems an der Donau, Austria

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

6 December 1919 Son of Mrs James W and Bertha Elizabeth [Barnhart] Neely.

Enlisted

9 April 1942 Toledo, Ohio

Other

Baled out

28 July 1943 A/C Battle damaged, Oschersleben 28-Jul-43. Oxygen and Intercom shot out, Neely 1 of 3 crew baled out. POW. Missing Air Crew Report 215.

Other

Prisoner of war

28 July 1943 Prisoner Of War (POW). Stalag XVIIb.

Other

Discharged USAAF

19 September 1945 Honourable discharge.

Died

17 February 1984

Buried/ Commemorated

20 February 1984 Olive CemeteryWakarusa, Elkhart County, Indiana

Based

28 July 1943 Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF.

Revisions

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Contributorjmoore43
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Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.

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Contributorjmoore43
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Added Some Punctuation in the "Summary biography" to aid readability.

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ContributorAl_Skiff
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Contributorjmoore43
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Flagged as a "Possible DUPLICATE" in the Nickname field so an Admin can check out this person.

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Contributorjmoore43
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Added a "-" to the A/C type in the "Summary biography" to aid clarity & consistency.

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ContributorAl_Skiff
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AAM DB Entry.

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ContributorAAM
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Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Roll of Honor, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey pp. 101, 169, 204, MACR 0215

Rex James Neely: Gallery (3 items)