Preddy Brothers of Oxford, NC, in WWII

By Matthew M. Peek, Military Collection Archivist, State Archives of North Carolina

Turner W. Preddy

Turner Washington Preddy was born on August 10, 1912, in Granville County, N.C., to Henry Lewis (who went by “Lewis”) and Annie L Dement Preddy. Lewis was around 24-years older than his wife Annie. By 1920, the Preddy family was living in the city of Oxford, N.C., where Lewis Preddy was the manager of a livery stable. By 1930, the Preddys were still living in Oxford, and Turner Preddy worked as a painter for a buggy factory in Oxford.

It appears that by 1930 or 1931, Turner Preddy may have entered military service in a National Guard unit. He began working as a sheet metal worker by the mid-1930s, and continued in this profession up to World War II. Preddy would marry Edna Carl White in Mecklenburg County, Virginia — across the state line from Granville County — on April 17, 1937.

Prior to the United States’ entrance into World War II, Turner Preddy enlisted in the North Carolina National Guard on September 16, 1940, in Oxford, N.C. Preddy was assigned to the 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division (North Carolina National Guard). In 1941, he was training with the 120th Infantry at Fort Jackson, S.C. He would be called up apparently between 1942 and 1943 into federal military service in WWII in the U.S. Army.

WWII 167.F1.1: Contact print of a colored studio portrait of two U.S. Army soldiers, wearing their full Army uniforms, taken at an unidentified location during World War II. Pictured is Turner W. Preddy of Oxford, N.C. (right) (undated).

WWII 167.F1.2: Photograph of a group of U.S. Army soldiers in the Message Center Section of an unidentified military unit at an unidentified location during World War II. Pictured is Turner W. Preddy of Oxford, N.C. (standing, far right) (undated).

Preddy was assigned eventually as a Staff Sergeant in the Headquarters Detachment, 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division. Very little detail is known about his military service. However, Preddy ended up stationed overseas in the European Theater with the 120th Infantry in England when the division arrived in February 1944. He may have been involved in the division’s landing at Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion in June 1944.

WWII 167.F1.3: Snapshot of U.S. Army soldiers 1st Lt. Kenneth R. Hutcherson of Georgia (left) and Staff Sgt. Turner W. Preddy of Oxford, N.C. (left), standing outside in front of a pile of dirt and stones at an unidentified location in Germany during combat in October 1944 in World War II. Preddy was serving in the Headquarters Detachment, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, U.S. Army, in the European Theater (October 1944).

WWII 167.F1.6: Snapshot of U.S. Army soldier Staff Sgt. Turner W. Preddy of Oxford, N.C., standing on a dirt street named Bismark Street in an unidentified town in Germany in November 1944 during World War II. Preddy was serving in the Headquarters Detachment, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, U.S. Army, in the European Theater (November 1944).

Preddy’s unit was involved in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 through January 1945. He remained in Europe with his unit until being discharged from federal military service on September 17, 1945. Preddy was honorably discharged from the North Carolina National Guard on November 7, 1945. He returned home to Oxford, N.C., apparently, after the war. Preddy received the Bronze Star medal during his military service.

Turner W. Preddy died on December 21, 1986, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Oxford, N.C.

Robert W. Preddy

Robert William Preddy (who went by “William”) was born on July 5, 1906, in Granville County, N.C., to Henry Lewis (who went by “Lewis”) and Annie L Dement Preddy. He was the older brother of Turner W. Preddy. By 1920, the Preddy family was living in the city of Oxford, N.C., where Lewis Preddy was the manager of a livery stable. Little information is known about William Preddy until 1940, by which time he had returned to live at home with his widowed mother while working as a radio repairman.

WWII 167.F15.3: Photograph of Robert William Preddy, originally of Granville County, N.C., sitting at his desk working his ham radio in a room in his house at an unidentified location (undated).

William Preddy enlisted in the North Carolina National Guard on September 16, 1940, in Oxford, N.C. For an unknown reason, Preddy was honorably discharged on January 9, 1941. By 1942, he was working at a billiard hall in Henderson, N.C. At some point between 1942 and 1945, he moved to Maryland outside of Washington, D.C., where he worked as a radio operator for the Prince George’s County (Maryland) War Emergency Radio Service during World War II. Preddy would get married at some point.

WWII 167.F15.1: Small studio portrait of Robert William Preddy of Granville County, N.C., taken during World War II while he was serving as a radio operator for the Prince George’s County (Maryland) War Emergency Radio Service on the home front [circa 1940] [Photograph by: Laurel Picture Service, Laurel, Maryland].

Robert W. Preddy died on January 24, 1954, of cancer at the North Carolina Cancer Institute in Lumberton, N.C. He was buried in Mt. Carmel Christian Cemetery in Oxford, N.C.

More can be learned about the Preddys in the Turner W. Preddy Papers (WWII 167) in the WWII Papers of the Military Collection at the State Archives of North Carolina. Preddy’s WWII images are available for viewing online in the State Archives’ Flickr page here.

Resources

1. Turner W. Preddy Papers, WWII 167, WWII Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.