Allied pilot shot on the ground by Luftwaffe pilot after being shot down in aerial combat

[jiri]

After the end of WW2, in 1947 Oberst Joseph Priller (ex Kommodore JG 26) was imprisoned by Allied justice and accused that on the ground he shot an Allied pilot who was shot down in aerial combat and was captured unharmed.
Accusations against Priller were later dropped and he was released from prison.
Such an episode is likely to actually occur, even if the perpetrator was therefore not Priller.
Does somebody, please, the date and place of the incident and also the name of the murdered pilot? The pilot should have a Slavic name (possibly Polish or Czech). Nothing more are known for me at the moment.
Source: Josef Priller: Geschichte eines Jagdgeschwaders (JG 26).Vowinckelverlag, 1956.

[Broncazonk]

Originally Posted by jiri

After the end of WW2, in 1947 Oberst Joseph Priller (ex Kommodore JG 26) was imprisoned by Allied justice and accused that on the ground he shot an Allied pilot who was shot down in aerial combat and was captured unharmed. Such an episode is likely to actually occur, even if the perpetrator was therefore not Priller.

I am somewhat taken aback by this. Are you suggesting that it was "a likely occurrence" that Luftwaffe pilots sought and executed Allied pilots who had been shot down and captured? Is that what you are suggesting? Or, are you suggesting that this singular event likely occurred?

Bronc

[JohnnyB]

jiri

please read the book. There is written that it was an RAF pilot with slawik name - nothing more. At the trial they took Prillers flight books away.
They put him under severe mental pressure also they threatened him to hang him. 3 weeks before his release it was permitted to view the flight books.
Fact, no evidence was found for an start or landing to the this place what they say where Priller should have killed the pilot.
Priller was released without any word of apology, and - without his flight books.
A nice horrorstory about an man who was known for that he sended small gifts to his opponents once they were captured.
I can tell you that my father flew in JG26 and knew Priller as well, also this story. He said Priller was an absolutely fair and correct man. Nobody - has believed this incredible story.

Regards, Rainer

[VtwinVince]

Probably just another witch-hunt against any and all things German after the war.

[Stephen M. Fochuk]

Was not Otto Schulz of JG 27 known for that?

[sidney]

Below is one high profile victim of II./JG 27 apparent strafing of the crash-landed Allied aircraft from the days of North African campaign... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gott

The event was commemorated on the cover of John Weal's book Jagdgeschwader 27 'Afrika' - this though might have been the execution of a highly ranked Allied commander, somewhat like the USAAF shooting down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto

[Broncazonk]

I'm still trying to understand the nature of the allegation.

"...Oberst Joseph Priller (ex Kommodore JG 26) was imprisoned by Allied justice and accused that on the ground he shot an Allied pilot who was shot down in aerial combat and was captured unharmed."

Is the allegation: (1) a Luftwaffe pilot landed his aircraft, located a downed, captured Allied pilot, and shot at said pilot with a sidearm, or (2) a Luftwaffe pilot strafed a downed Allied pilot who survived the strafing and was later captured?

My apologies,

Bronc

P.S.

Originally Posted by sidney

...this though might have been the execution of a highly ranked Allied commander, somewhat like the USAAF shooting down Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's aircraft.

Interesting. Is there any evidence that this indeed was a carefully planned assassination of Gen. Gott?

[sidney]

Bronc,

Please note the wording used in my post ... might have been the execution ... I have also checked the relevant excerpt from John Weal's book:

"... It was on 7 August that a Schwarm from 5./JG 27, led by Oberfeldwebel Emil Clade, chanced upon another of the occasional Bombay transports of No 216 Sqn. But this machine was not carrying SAS troops (who had long since taken to using jeeps for their forays behind Axis lines). It was instead on the daily flight from Heliopolis to pick up wounded from the front for transport back to hospital in Cairo.

At one forward landing ground, however, the Bombays 18-year-old pilot, Sgt H E James, was ordered to wait for a special passenger. This turned out to be Lt Gen Gott, who, only hours previously, had been appointed Commander of the 8th Army, and who now needed to get back to Cairo for an urgent meeting.

Rather than fly at the stipulated 50 ft (15 m) to escape the attentions of Axis fighters, the pilot elected to climb to 500 ft (150 m) on account of an overheating engine. It was his undoing. Clade's first pass forced the lumbering Bombay to crash-land in the desert to the south-east of Alexandria. Some of the crew and passengers attempted to escape from the still moving machine. All but one of those remaining inside, including Gott, were killed when Unteroffizier Bernd Schneider carried out a strafing run to finish off the stricken machine. Lt Gen Gott was the highest ranked British soldier to be killed by enemy fire in World War 2. His death led to the hurried appointment ofa replacement Commander for the 8th Army -a relative unknown named Bernard Law Montgomery..."

So, no, there apparently is no evidence that the Germans knew about gen. Gott's flight.

However, the above is I believe a good illustrations that the strafing of downed airmen was far from one-sided affair.

Regards,
Sinisa

[odybvig]

And what is the trouble with strafing grounded pilots. They are still an enemy. It is not forbidden to kill a enemy during a conflict.
It is unsporty yes, but illegal ? Dont think so

Same as shooting paratroopers in their chute and pilots hanging in their chute. Unsporty, but not forbidden by law.


Best
OD

[sidney]

I feel that this issue was regulated by the Geneva Conventions, which are a series of treaties on the treatment of civilians, prisoners of war (POWs) and soldiers who are otherwise rendered hors de combat, or incapable of fighting... the category where pilots hanging helplessly in their parachutes certainly qualify.

The paratroopers might face different issues altogether for the reason they are capable of fighting when parachuted, and especially so once they touch the ground.