at Frankfurt on 11 February. ZG 26 operated as part of Jagddivision 7. II./ZG 26, II./JG 3 and II./JG 11 responded. 606 Allied fighters covered the bomber stream from 13 US Fighter Groups. The bombers were well protected and lost five and three damaged. The ensuing dogfights cost the Luftwaffe 17 killed and 10 wounded. The VIII Fighter Command lost 13 fighters—eight were P-38 Lightnings from the 20th Fighter Group. Just one bomber—the main targets—and 10 fighters were claimed. ZG 26, which were hard pressed, were effectively protected by Bf 109s this time. Nevertheless, in II./ZG 26, which was the only Me 410-equipped group in the Luftwaffe, the pilots still regarded it as a "suicide command." Big Week began on 20 February, part of the Pointblank directive. German fighter production was targeted. Specifically, those factories producing the Bf 109, Fw 190, Bf 110, Me 410 and Ju 88. The first day proved costly for the German fighter defences. The northern forces of the operation lost only six bombers, and southern force 15 and four damaged. The defending German units lost 44 aircrew killed, 29 wounded and 74 fighters destroyed with 29 damaged. The Zerstörergeschwader suffered severe losses. III./ZG 26 lost 10 killed and seven wounded along with 10 Bf 110s destroyed and three damaged when it was engaged by P-47 Thunderbolts of the 56th Fighter Group while forming up in the van of attack against the southern force. On 22 February, 799 bombers were dispatched by the Eighth. The 2nd and 3rd Bombardment Divisions were recalled, leaving only 99 bombers from the 1st Bombardment Division to carry out the mission in scattered over Germany. US escorts claimed 59 destroyed seven damaged and 26 probable victories against German fighters for the loss of 11 and one damaged. German losses were 48 single-engine fighters and 16 Zerstörer. III./ZG 26 was the hardest hit, losing four killed, three wounded and eight Bf 110s. II./ZG 26 lost one Me 410. The pilot was group commander Eduard Tratt, was killed. The most successful Zerstörer pilot of the war, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves posthumously. ZG 26 operated on 6 March 1944 in defence of Berlin. The Eighth made a large-scale attack on the city. III./ZG 26, which had been moved to the operational control of Jagddivision 1, assembled over Magdeburg. Led by Major Hans Kogler, it contained seven cannon-armed Bf 110s