Sword Beach D-Day

[Don Caldwell]

Phil --

The best source for Priller's activity on D-Day is Cornelius Ryan's classic The Longest Day, which should be readily available. It was one of my major sources for JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, which I tried to make clear in the text (the editor forbade footnotes.) Ryan interviewed Priller extensively, and Priller was in fact Ryan's most important source for Luftwaffe activity. Priller's own account in Geschichte eines Jagdgeschwaders is very brief, and does not mention strafing the beachhead. Did he stretch his story for Ryan, or did he condense it in his own book out of modesty? We'll never know. Many pilots were known as line-shooters, but Priller, while colorful, did not seem to exaggerate his own performance -- for example, his victory claims were always scrupulously documented. Most of the more colorful anecdotes in his book were inserted by Hans-Otto Boehm, his "co-author", who completed the book after Priller's untimely death. Given all of the above, I chose to believe the account in Ryan's book.

Franek, the only Priller logbook I've seen ends in July 1943. If you have knowledge of one covering D-Day, the fraternity of Luftwaffe historians would greatly appreciate learning more about it.

Phil, Ryan's claim for Priller's sortie was that he was the first over the beachhead, and his Rotte were the only fighters there in the morning. JG 2, SG 4 and SKG 10 made it later in the day. Priller's aircraft most definitely did not carry bombs, but those of SG 4 and SKG 10 would have. Priller's run was probably before 0900 hours. If that matches your relative's recollection, then he may have seen Priller. If your relative was on Sword at noon or later, he probably saw a Jabo from SG 4 or SKG 10.

Don