Strana 23
up in captivity. During the attack on Allied airfields in
Operation Bodenplatte on 1 January 1945, Priller led his
JG 26 and III./JG 54 (which later became IV./JG 26)
in the assault on Brussels-Evere and Brussels-
Grimbergen. His service with JG 26 ended on
28 January 1945, when he was appointed Inspekteur
der Jagdflieger Ost, which also meant the end of his
combat activity. He held this post until the end of the
war.
Josef “Pips” Priller flew 307 combat missions,
during which he achieved 101 victories on the Western
Front, including 11 four-engined bombers.
After the war, Josef Priller ran the brewery of
family Riegele. During 1948, Allied authorities
confiscated art objects, furniture, and furnishings
he had acquired during the war in France and
Belgium. In the end, however, he managed to recover
a substantial portion of these items through patient
dealings with the authorities. He died on 20 May 1961
in Böbing, Upper Bavaria, as a result of a heart attack.
He is buried at the Westfriedhof in Augsburg.
Schlagetergeschwader converts
to the Focke-Wulfs
When the decision was made as to which
fighter unit would be the first to use the new
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-1, the choice fell upon
II./JG 26 “Schlageter,” which was equipped with
Bf 109 E aircraft. Around the beginning of August 1941,
the Erprobungsstaffel 190, led by Oblt. Otto Behrens,
moved from Rechlin in Germany to the Paris airfield
of Le Bourget.
His Staffel had successfully completed the
operational trials and was now to pass on its findings
to II./JG 26 of Hptm. Walter Adolph. Had it not been
for Behrens’s experience and dedication, the entire
project would in all probability have been cancelled,
because it was continually dogged by problems (above
all with the BMW 801 C-1 powerplant) that would have
discouraged less determined men.
Although part of II./JG 26 was converting to
the Focke-Wulf in Paris, the remainder of the
unit stayed in Belgium at Moorsele airfield and
continued to take part in combat operations. This
procedure later became standard for other units
converting to the Fw 190 A. The Focke-Wulfs
first saw successful operational use as early as
14 August 1941.
III./JG 26 was the second Gruppe to begin re-
equipping with the Fw 190 A-1, in November 1941.
Difficulties with the powerplants still persisted. In
field conditions, mechanics had to modify the exhaust
piping, and the unit had to procure some spare parts
on its own from all over Germany.
The fact that Oblt. Borris, commander of
8./JG 26, received a gold watch from BMW because
the engine of his Fw 190 exceeded 100 operating
hours speaks for itself. At the turn of 1941 and 1942,
the first Fw 190 A-2 aircraft with the improved
BMW 801 C-2 powerplant are documented with
III./JG 26.
The first aircraft of this version was already
recorded with II./JG 26 in December 1941, in the same
month, I./JG 26 took delivery of its first A-1 aircraft.
During 1941, the Geschwaderstab JG 26 under
the command of Adolf Galland retained the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4. By then, many pilots had
come to appreciate this version of the Bf 109. After Maj.
Gerhard Schöpfel took over command of JG 26, his
Stab began converting to the Fw 190 A-2 in January
1942 and started using the A-3 version in April. The
fighter-bomber Staffel, 10./JG 26, changed over from
the Bf 109 F-4/B to the already proven Fw 190 A-2 and
A-3 only in June and July 1942. The A-3 version was
equipped with the BMW 801 D-2 powerplant, which
was already relatively trouble-free.
Josef Priller selected as his personal aircraft
an Fw 190 A-2 (WNr. 20 206) built by Focke-Wulf.
The machine received the Kommandeur’s marking
“double chevron,” and from 11 December 1941 to
11 January 1942 Priller flew 25 non-operational
sorties in its cockpit while familiarizing himself
with the new type. At its controls, he achieved his
59th victory on 3 January, claiming a Hurricane near
BL973, F/Lt Stanislav Fejfar, No. 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, the United Kingdom,
March-May 1942
Stanislav Fejfar, a member of Czechoslovak Air Force before the war, flew as commander of 45th Fighter
Squadron based in Slovakia during the Munich crisis. He scored his first two kills during the Battle of France
as a member of Armee de l’Air flying MS.406 with GC I/6. On July 12, 1940 he arrived in Great Britain aboard the
ship Neuralia. On September 9, he started his operational career as a Pilot Officer with No. 310 (Czechoslovak)
Squadron RAF scoring his first out of three kills claimed during the Battle of Britain. On July 21, 1941, he joined
No. 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron as a F/Lt in the position of B Flight leader. Stanislav Fejfar perished on May
17, 1942, in the cockpit of Spitfire Mk.Vb BL973 during the Ramrod 33 mission. He was shot down by Hptm. Josef
Priller between Guines and Audebert in the northern France. A couple of days earlier Priller had also shot down
Sergeant Karel Pavlík, author of Pluto the Dog nose art on Fejfar’s Spitfire.
Preparation of an Fw 190 A-2 or A-3 from II./JG 26 before take-off, probably at Abbeville-Drucat during 1942.
It was precisely this airfield that gave rise to the Allied nickname for JG 26, the “Abbeville Boys.”
Photo: Bernie Thorsch Collection via Peter Merlin
This photograph of aircraft from II./JG 26 clearly shows the practice of carrying mechanics on the wing of the
Fw 190, helping the pilot to orient himself while taxiing. Interestingly, the aircraft on the left is an Fw 190 A-1,
that is, fitted with 7.92 mm machine guns in the wing roots. II./JG 26 used this early Focke-Wulf version until
August 1942, alongside Fw 190 A-2 and A-3 aircraft. Photo: Bernie Thorsch Collection via Peter Merlin
MODEL & STORY
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April 2026