Sword Beach D-Day

[stelmogcx]

An elderly relative has asked me to do an internet search for Josef Priller's book on J26. I notice that it has not been translated from the German however, so I suspect even if I got hold of a copy it may not be of much use for him.

His interest stems from the fact that he landed on Sword beach on D-Day, and witnessed Priller's attack on the beach. It is a constant source of irritation for him that all accounts of the attack describe the beach being straffed by the German planes. He maintains that there was no straffing, and only a single bomb was dropped before the attackers disappeared.

When he recently learned of Priller's book, I think he hoped to get an account of the incident by the man himself.

An hour's Googling hasn't helped me much, but did come up with this forum! I wondered if anyone who has the book recalls the description of this incident from it, or whether anyone is aware of any accounts that may support this alternative version of events?

Thanks for reading, hope this is an appropriate first post...

Phil

[Nick Beale]

"JG 26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe" by Donald L. Caldwell. You should be able to find it in paperback in the USA or via the web, for example through abe books.

[stelmogcx]

Thanks Nick. Looks as though it's available through amazon UK too.

[fsbofk]

In The JG 26 War Diary: Volume Two 1943-1945 (a companion to his narrative Top Guns history), Caldwell describes Priller's and Wodarczyk's attack on Sword noting that "the two fighters roared overhead at fifty feet, their machine guns and cannon clattering." Although other aircraft from JG 2, JG 26, and SG 4 sortied against the beachhead on 6 June, there are no other attacks on the beach mentioned in the book. Perhaps another pilot did so but didn't survive to report it.

[Franek Grabowski]

It is not clear if Priller was over the beaches!

[Stig Jarlevik]

Franek

If you say "A" I would be very happy to hear you state "B" as well...
First quote I have heard stating Priller is not telling things as they were.
Care to elaborate?

Cheers
Stig

[Franek Grabowski]

Someone once posted excerpts from Priller's log book, and those strongly suggested he was nowhere near the beaches. I understand that Wolfgang Zebrowski claimed to be there, and single bomb dropped may confirm this.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski

Someone once posted excerpts from Priller's log book, and those strongly suggested he was nowhere near the beaches. I understand that Wolfgang Zebrowski claimed to be there, and single bomb dropped may confirm this.

But wasn't Zebrowski flying with I./SKG 10 (soon to be III./KG 51) — if so, there's no particular reason for him to have known about what JG 26 was doing, is there?

[Franek Grabowski]

Perhaps I was unclear. Zebrowski claimed to fly over the beaches, and indeed he was with I/SKG 10. This may confirm the mentioned observation of dropped bomb and lack of straffing. I understand, Zebrowski's account was published in 1970s.
Another issue is presence of Priller, which seems doubtful in spite of his log book entries.

[edwest]

Gentlemen,


I offer the following for your consideration:

http://books.google.com/books?id=usQ...um=4&ct=result



Usual disclaimer,
Ed