When the U.S. entered WW Ⅱ after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941, George Preddy was completing his flying training with the USAAF at Elgin Field, Florida. He graduated as a qualified pilot five days later. He was assigned to the 9th Pursuit Squadron of the 49th Pursuit Group and on January 11, 1942, the unit sailed from San Francisco on a troopship bound for Australia, where the squadron began training on the Curtiss P-40EKittyhawk. Meanwhile, the Japanese onslaught in the Pacific was gaining momentum. On February 19, the Japanese bombed Darwin in northern Australia for the first time, before invading Timor the following day, actions which were precursors to the battle of the Java Sea and the subsequent invasion of Java. In these dire circumstances, the training of the USAAF pilots for operations had to be rapid and on March 9, Preddy was declared a fully-fledged combat pilot. Along with the rest of his unit, he flew to the remote and austere Bachelor Field, near Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory.
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