Strana 24
Calais. Priller later flew this aircraft several more
times. Once he exchanged it for a newer machine,
WNr. 20 206 remained with Priller’s Stab III./JG 26,
and the mechanics merely painted over the inner part
of the command chevron on the fuselage. This altered
the marking to a single chevron, that is, the aircraft
of the Katschmarek (wingman), who was Fw. Walter
Grünlinger. Beneath the canopy, in place of Priller’s
"ace-of-hearts card marked Jutta", there appeared
the "seven-of-hearts marked Rata" Grünlinger’s
personal emblem. Priller last sat in the cockpit of
WNr. 20 206 on 22 April 1942.
In the meantime, Josef Priller occasionally flew
aircraft from various Staffeln of his III./JG 26. These
included WNr. 5215 (White 1), 0084 (White 8, an
A-1 version), 0216 (Black 7), 054 (Black 3, an A-1
version), and he also flew aircraft from his own Stab,
specifically Fw 190 A-2 WNr. 5292 and 5296. In aircraft
WNr. 054 and 0216, which belonged to 8./JG 26, he
scored his 59th and 60th victories respectively. In the
latter case, on 27 March 1942, his victim was Spitfire
Mk. VB (AD197) of No. 313 (Czechoslovak) Squadron
RAF, whose pilot, P/O Vladimír Michálek, was killed.
The Focke-Wulf WNr. 310
The model of Priller’s aircraft that is the subject
of this article bears the Werknummer 310. In Priller’s
flight logbook, its Werknummer is recorded as
5310, and the Abschussmeldungen (victory reports)
connected with this aircraft show that it was an
A-2 version. From these fragments, it is therefore
possible to conclude that it was an Fw 190 A-2 built
under licence by Arado at Warnemünde. Its full
Werknummer was 0125310, and when it left the factory
gates, it carried the Stammkennzeichen TQ+SJ.
Priller first took this aircraft into the air on
the evening of 23 April 1942 at Wevelghem airfield.
It was a test flight. In the following months, WNr. 310,
marked with the double command chevron, became
the aircraft most frequently flown by Priller.
He first scored a victory in it on 25 April 1942,
when during Circus No. 137 he shot down a Spitfire. In
total, he achieved thirteen successes in this machine,
all of them Spitfires. Among his victims were the
Czechoslovak fighter ace F/Lt Stanislav Fejfar of No.
313 Squadron RAF and his comrade Sgt. Karel Pavlík.
This Fw 190 also destroyed Spitfire Mk.VB (BM296)
of No. 402 Squadron RCAF. Its pilot, F/Sgt. Hughes,
came low over the sea into Priller’s fire on 15 July
during the unsuccessful operation to rescue W/Cdr
Brendan “Paddy” Finucane. Unlike the legendary Irish
Wing Leader, the downed Canadian, though wounded,
was rescued. Although during the spring and summer
of 1942 Priller occasionally used other aircraft as well,
in the overwhelming majority of cases he flew WNr.
310. He last took its controls on 10 September 1942.
Thereafter it was passed to the operational training
unit Jagdgruppe West, where it crashed on take-off
on 13 April 1943 and was damaged to the extent of 45
percent. At that time, the aircraft was listed as an A-3
version, which would suggest that it had meanwhile
been fitted with a more modern engine. On 27 May it
was sent for repair to the Ago branch at Villacoublay
and in the process was once again registered as an
A-2 version. No further data on this Focke-Wulf are
known.
In preparing this article, I was kindly assisted by
David Lengyel and Peter Merlin, and I would like to
thank them here.
WNr. 0125310, Hptm. Josef Priller, CO of III./JG 26, Wevelghem, Belgium, June 1942
Josef “Pips” Priller was born on July 27, 1915, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. In 1935, he joined Wehrmacht and as soon
as a year later, in October 1936, he started to attend the fighter pilot training. He achieved his first aerial victory
as a commander of 6. Staffel JG 51 when he downed a Spitfire above Dunkerque on May 28, 1940. In November
1940, he was appointed a commander of the 1./JG 26. On December 6, 1941, he became commander of III./JG 26
and from January 11, 1943, he lead the whole Jagdgeschwader 26. His number of victories kept growing and on
December 20, 1941, his success was rewarded and Priller was decorated with Knights Cross of the Iron Cross
with Oak Leaves and Swords. On January 28, 1945, he was appointed Inspekteur der Jagdflieger Ost, where
he remained till the end of WWII. Priller’s total score was 101 victories over enemy aircraft. All of them were
achieved in the Western Front. After the War Priller married Johanna Riegele, the proprietor of a brewery and
became general manager of Riegele brewery in Augsburg, Germany. He died of heart attack on May 20, 1961.
This aircraft was flown by Josef Priller in June 1942. It sported the standard camouflage scheme for Luftwaffe
fighters and had yellow rudder and bottom part of the engine cowl. It also carried the marking for the CO
of the III. Gruppe. The tail carried 73 kill markings, Priller’s tally to June 1, 1942.
Pages from Josef Priller’s logbook, on which the Werknummern 5310 and 5311 can be seen. On the right is a note
relating to the air combat of 5 May 1942, in which Priller shot down Spitfire Mk.VB (BM261) of No. 313 (Czecho
-
slovak) Squadron RAF. Its pilot, Sgt. Karel Pavlík, was killed near the Belgian village of Dranouter. The wreckage
buried itself so deeply into the hillside that his body could not be recovered until 1945. Photo: Bundesarchiv
An entry from Josef Priller’s logbook recording the result of the combat of 15 July 1942 over the sea. During the
unsuccessful British attempt to rescue W/Cdr Brendan “Paddy” Finucane, Priller shot down one of the Spitfires of
No. 402 Squadron RCAF, which had volunteered to provide cover for the rescue operation. Another Canadian pilot
was wounded in the combat, but landed safely in England. The Canadians, who countered the Germans’ altitude
advantage by forming a defensive circle, claimed one Fw 190 destroyed, but III./JG 26 lost no aircraft. Photo:
Bundesarchiv
Sources:
Bundesarchiv: RL 10/262, RL 10/263
CALDWELL, Donald L.: The JG 26 War Diary, Volume One 1939-
1942
CALDWELL, Donald L.: JG 26 Photographic History of the
Luftwaffe´s Top Guns
deZENG IV, Henry; STANKEY, Douglas G.: Luftwaffe Officer
Career Summaries
MOMBEECK, Erik: The Abbeville Boys, Special Album No. 1
OBERMAIER, Ernst: Die Ritterkreuzträger der Luftwaffe 1939
- 1945, Band I Jagdflieger
PRIEN, Jochen; STEMMER, Gerhard; RODEIKE, Peter; BOCK,
Winfried: Die Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe
1934 bis 1945, Teil 7
RODEIKE, Peter: Focke-Wulf Jagdflugzeug, Fw 190 A, Fw 190
„Dora“, Ta 152 H
web.archive.org/web/20220404163704/http://www.luftwa-
ffe.cz/priller.html
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