All of his victories were claimed over the Western Front, including 11 four-engine bombers and at least 68 Supermarine Spitfire fighters.

In November 1940, Priller was transferred to Jagdgeschwader 26 "Schlageter" (JG 26—26th Fighter Wing) and was given command of the 1st Squadron.

During Operation Bodenplatte on 1 January 1945, Priller led an attack on the Allied airfields at Brussels-Evere and Brussels-Grimbergen.

Priller, who was nicknamed Pips since his early youth, was born on 27 July 1915 in Ingolstadt in the Kingdom of Bavaria, a state of the German Empire.

After he graduated with his Abitur (diploma) he joined the military service of the Wehrmacht as a Fahnenjunker (officer candidate) with Infantry-Regiment 20 in Amberg of the 10th Infantry Division on 1 April 1935.

[3] World War II in Europe began on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland.

That day, remnants of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were retreating towards Dunkirk.

To save the BEF, the British under the cover of the Royal Air Force (RAF), had launched Operation Dynamo.

[12] RAF Fighter Command reported eight Hawker Hurricanes shot down, four pilots killed in action and one as a prisoner of war on 28 May.

[14] For this achievement, Priller was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse) on 30 May 1940.

As the formation approached Deal, 60 Bf 109s from JG 26 carried out a fighter sweep either side of Dover.

72 Squadron south of Dunkirk and shot down one of the Spitfires from dead ahead, taking his total to 40 aerial victories.

[44] In consequence of this decision, on 6 December, Major Gerhard Schöpfel, Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III.

[45] On 11 December, Priller was one of the first pilots to receive a then new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-2 radial engine powered fighter aircraft, testing it on nineteen flights before year's end.

On a test flight, he claimed a Hurricane shot down 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Calais.

Gruppe claimed four aerial victories, one of which by Priller who shot down a Spitfire 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Calais.

[47] On 9 October, Priller for the first time encountered heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).

Misjudging the size of the bombers, he underestimated their altitude and had to make three approaches before coming into an attack position.

[48] On 20 December, Priller claimed his 81st aerial victory when he shot down a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber from the 91st Bombardment Group over the Baie de la Seine.

[49] That day, the USAAF VIII Bomber Command, later renamed to Eighth Air Force, had targeted Lille with 101 B-17s and B-24s.

[15] On 8 January 1943, at a Luftwaffe conference in Berlin, General der Jagdflieger (General of the Fighter Arm) Galland informed Geschwaderkommodore Schöpfel that he was to be transferred to a staff position with Jagdfliegerführer Bretagne and that Priller would be replacing Schöpfel as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26.

[54] On 20 October, Priller attacked a 96th Bombardment Group B-17 bomber during its mission to Düren and shot it out of formation.

[55] In late 1943, in parallel to his obligations as Geschwaderkommodore, Priller served as interims Jagdfliegerführer 4, the commander of the fighter forces of Luftflotte 3.

[57] On 6 June 1944 (D-Day), Priller, accompanied by his wingman made a single strafing pass attack on Sword Beach in their Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8s.

Contrary to popular belief, Priller and his wingman (Feldwebel Heinz Wodarczyk) were not the only Luftwaffe forces to attack the beachhead that day.

Both Luftwaffe Hauptmann (Captain) Helmut Eberspächer, leading a ground-attack four-plane element of Fw 190s of Schnellkampfgeschwader 10, which downed a quartet of RAF Avro Lancasters at 05:00 over the invasion area, and the Luftwaffe bomber wing Kampfgeschwader 54 made several attacks on the British beachheads on D-Day.

Gruppe, heading for the area west of Caen and encountered the USAAF heavy bombers just as they were crossing the French coast.

Avoiding the escort fighters, Priller attacked the first combat box of about twenty B-24 bombers from the front.

Priller shot down a B-24 from the 492nd Bomb Group flying in the left outboard position at 07:10 west of Dreux and southwest of Chartres.

He was one of several D-day combatants to advise on the making of the film The Longest Day, in which he was portrayed by Heinz Reincke.