Assigned to 309FS, 31FG, 12AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bomb line patrol [ 5th army front]. Tangled with enemy fighters in Spitfire MA616 and having shot one down, found himself alone and outnumbered two to one. Reported over R/T that his starboard wing and engine was hit, he didn't think he could make it back to base and attempted a belly landing at Arce, Italy. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 1531.

Crashed near the house owned by Signora Lucia Calagni. Eyewitness to the crash was her son Gaetano and daughter Carolina. Gaetano" stated that the plane nearly hit the farm house and clipped one of the large trees on the property. It crashed in one piece and there was no fire. The pilot was removed from the plane by the German troops in the near and placed crossed legged against the side of the plane. The pilot was killed on impact and had no wounds to his body. Later in the day his mother (Calagni) asked permission of the German troops to bury the body. The body was buried with the help of the local Italians, next to the plane. A simple handmade wooden cross was placed on the grave". Gaetano ( Guy) Simonelli did not know the name of the pilot until 2014, when an online article named his mother as a eyewitness to the crash. Guy Simonelli then was able to contact the Walker family, living in Rock Hill SC. The Walker family was able to met Guy and Carolina( daughter) Simonelli and had a service at the grave of Lt Neill S Walker, at Neely's Creek ARP Church in Lesslie SC.



Awards: AM, PH.