by a Waffen SS rearguard and crossed the Seine by ferry. His wounds kept him out of action for six weeks. On his return, just four of the 40 pilots remained from the original cohort. The experience of II Gruppe JG 6 was repeated in many of the German fighter units over Normandy. Willi Elstermann was relieved of his command. The lack of tactical training on the Fw 190 contributed to the losses. On 26 September 1944 III/ZG 26, which provided most of its personnel to Messerschmitt Me 262 unit ErprKdo 262, was renamed III Gruppe JG 6. The gruppe was committed to battle on 26 November as the US Eighth Air Force made a maximum effort in the Hannover area. The target of the 1st Bombardment Division and 2nd Bombardment Division targeted the Misburg hydrogenation plant. It flew as top cover for I and II/JG 1. JG 1 managed to dispatch three 91st Bombardment Group B-17 Flying Fortress bombers before the 356th Fighter Group reacted. JG 6 lost 12 Messerschmitt Bf 109s; six killed and six wounded. Their charges lost 15 Fw 190s, 12 killed and three wounded. The days fighting cost Luftflotte Reich 62 killed, 32 wounded and 122 fighters in exchange for 42 US bombers and 11 fighters; a ruinous loss rate. In December 1944, JG 6 was allocated to the Ardennes Offensive, Adolf Hitler's last gamble on the Western Front, designed to split the British Commonwealth and American armies by capturing Antwerp. On 14 December, east of Bonn, the II Jagdkorps organised a conference by Dietrich Peltz. Kogler attended and was surprised to hear that a bomber pilot and commander was to control fighter operations and the ambitious nature of the plans. Kogler briefed his Staffelkapitän and Gruppenkommandeure immediately, and provided detailed maps and plans for the Offensive counter air operation at Volkel airfield. He even went so far as to build a sand model of the airfield. This all-out air superiority attack was to be carried out by 1,100 German fighters before the Waffen SS and Wehrmacht forces advanced. The Luftwaffe commanders present were more hopeful for a German success than they had been in months; but the attack did not take place immediately. On 16 December 1944, the German offensive began under bad weather, holding off most of the Allied tactical air forces. On Christmas Eve, 1944, JG 6 joined I/JG 27 and JG