Josef Priller (fighter pilot)

Josef "Pips" Priller (born July 27, 1915 in Ingolstadt ; † May 20, 1961 in Böbing , Upper Bavaria ) was a German Air Force officer and fighter pilot during the Second World War .

Life

education

In 1935 Priller joined the 19 Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht as a flag junior . In October 1936 he switched to the air force and completed pilot training in Salzwedel . After completing his training, Priller, meanwhile promoted to lieutenant , was transferred to I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 135 on April 1, 1937, which was renamed I./JG 233 in November 1938 and finally in May 1939 as I. Group part of the Colonel Theodor Osterkamp led the newly established Jagdgeschwader 51.

Second World War

Priller was used exclusively against Western allies throughout the war. On October 1, 1939, he was appointed Squadron Captain of the 6th Squadron of Jagdgeschwader 51. On November 20, 1940, he moved to the traditional squadron 26 " Schlageter ", which was commanded by Adolf Galland , as squadron captain of the 1st squadron . On December 6, 1941 he became commander of the III. Group, on January 11, 1943 commodore of the entire fighter squadron.

Priller became known through a mission in the Allied landing in Normandy . He and his wingman Heinz Wodarczyk flew the only documented deployment of the Air Force on D-Day against the Allied troops on the invasion beach. On New Year's Day 1945, Jagdgeschwader 26, under the leadership of Priller, took part in the “Operation Bodenplatte ” against Allied airfields near Brussels .

On January 28, 1945, Priller, now a colonel , was appointed inspector of the Jagdflieger Ost. From this point on he did not fly any more missions. In May 1945 he went into Allied captivity . Josef Priller completed 1307 sorties and shot down 101 enemy aircraft.

post war period

After the war, Priller studied brewing at Weihenstephan University . Here he became a member of the student union Landsmannschaft Bavaria zu Weihenstephan . After completing his studies, he became director of the Riegele private brewery in Augsburg after he married the owner Johanna Riegele-Priller .

Priller's grave (left) in the Westfriedhof (Augsburg) .

In 1956 he published a book on the history of Jagdgeschwader 26, which he directed, from his point of view. He was employed as a military advisor by the producers of The Longest Day on the Normandy Invasion in the early 1960s. In the film, Heinz Reincke re-enacted his flight over the invasion beach.

Priller died of a heart attack on May 20, 1961 at the age of 45. Aircraft of the Bundeswehr Air Force flew over his grave when he was buried with military honors in Augsburg's Westfriedhof . His eldest son, Sebastian (* 1950), became the head of the Riegele brewery in 1991.

Awards

Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
Wound badge (1939) in black
Pilot and observer badges
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves and swords
- Knight's Cross on October 19, 1940
- Oak leaves on July 20, 1941 (28th award)
- Swords on July 2, 1944 (73rd award)
German cross in gold on December 9, 1941
Front flight clasp for hunters in gold with tag, mission number "300"

Honors

The cities of Augsburg and Fürstenfeldbruck have named streets after Josef Priller.

Fonts

History of a fighter squadron. The JG 26 (Schlageter) from 1937 to 1945 , Kurt Vowinckel Verlag , Heidelberg 1956.
- 2nd, supplemented edition, edited by Hans Otto Boehm, Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, Neckargemünd 1962.
- 3rd edition, Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-87943-712-2 .

Individual evidence

↑ Max Mechow: Renowned CCER . Historia Academica, Volume 8/9, pp. 198 f.
↑ Owner family Riegele-Priller on the website of the Riegele Brewery ( memento of the original from October 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Josef Priller in the Internet Movie Database (English)
^ [1] Augsburger Allgemeine , May 22, 2009
↑ Sebastian Priller , Augsburger Allgemeine, May 22, 2009
↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 605.

personal data
SURNAME	Priller, Josef
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Priller, Pips (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German fighter pilot in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	July 27, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ingolstadt
DATE OF DEATH	May 20, 1961
Place of death	Böbing , Upper Bavaria

[1] Max Mechow: Renowned CCER . Historia Academica, Volume 8/9, pp. 198 f.

[2] Owner family Riegele-Priller on the website of the Riegele Brewery ( memento of the original from October 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[3] Josef Priller in the Internet Movie Database (English)

[4] [1] Augsburger Allgemeine , May 22, 2009

[5] Sebastian Priller , Augsburger Allgemeine, May 22, 2009

[RKT-6] Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 605.