Battle of Britain. Initially having 35 Ju 88s, This unit suffered losses of 9 Ju 88s on a single mission against Gravesend on 18 September, one of the highest losses of any units in a single mission. On 27 September I./KG 77 lost six J 88s when raiding London, while II./KG 77 lost another six on the same night. In February 1941, the unit moved to Reims. When the bombers moved out, the Luftwaffe improved the airfield, putting down two 1600m concrete runways (02/20, 10/28), along with concrete taxiways, dispersal hardstands and improved the support station and barracks. The improved airfield came back onto operational status in October 1942 when a Luftwaffe pathfinder group, Kampfgeschwader 100 (KG 100) moved in on 7 October. Flying Heinkel He 111H, the group led night bombing attacks over England for other Luftwaffe units. It remained until December 1942 when it moved to Glifada, Greece (Athens). Laon's next use by the Luftwaffe was by Kampfgeschwader 101 (KG 101) in March 1944, followed by Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30) in July 1944. KG 101 was part of the Mistel (German: Mistletoe), project, in which Junkers Ju 88A, bombers were controlled by a Messerschmitt Bf 109E, which was flown to the target by the fighter, then separated and guided, with a shaped 1,800 kg charge at the nose of the aircraft, and used as unmanned powered bomb. KG 101 flew several attacks against hardened Allied targets along the English channel coast, and later KG 30 flew conventional bombing attacks against Allied harbors in newly liberated areas of the French channel coast. These activities drew Allied attention to the base, with it being attacked by B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force 100th Bombardment Group on 5 May 1944 With the bombers moving out, the Luftwaffe turned Laon-Couvron into a fighter-interceptor base, with Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27) flying Bf 109G day interceptors against Eighth Air Force bomber groups over Occupied Europe. Largely due to its use as a base for interceptors, Laon-Couvron was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers (B-17s, B-24s) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on