Galland ordered his pilots unused to night flying to stand down. Galland continued his successes in the summer. On 13 June, he led a small number of Bf 109s on a patrol off the English coast and attacked a pair of No. 258 Squadron RAF Hurricanes claiming both shot down. One can be confirmed through British records as crash landing at RAF Hawkinge. It took his tally to 63. From this point on, the RAF mounted a non-stop offensive with Fighter Command over France. The Germans did not see the point in these operations and soon labeled it the "nonsense offensive." Galland intended to engage the British and inflict maximum damage while incurring small losses. To do this he only engaged JG 26 in staffel or gruppe strength. The fighters were to scramble quickly gain height and make use of the sun and cloud to attack the enemy formation that was most vulnerable. Under these tactics many JG 26 pilots began to emerge as aces and effective commanders. On 16 June 1941, for example, JG 26 accounted for 15 enemy aircraft. Josef Priller was among those to score bringing his tally to 22. Priller later rose to command JG 26. Galland claimed a Hurricane this day for victory number 64—though the loss cannot be confirmed in British records. On 17 June, he accounted for two Hurricanes, one from 56 and another from 242 Squadron. The following day he accounted for a No. 145 Squadron Spitfire which inflated his tally to 67—then the highest recorded tally against the Western Allies. On the morning of 21 June, he accounted for two Bristol Blenheims but was shot down by the Spitfire escorts, crash-landing near Calais. At 16:00 that same afternoon, Galland shot down a No. 611 Squadron Spitfire, but watching his victim for too long, he was himself shot down in Werknummer (Factory number) 6713, code "<- + -", by a 145 Squadron Spitfire flown by Sergeant R.J.C. Grant. Galland bailed out and tugged at what he thought was his parachute ripcord, but was actually pulling at his parachute release harness. With a "sickening" feeling, he composed himself and pulled the ripcord which opened. Theo Osterkamp drove over to the hospital where Galland was being treated for his wounds and informed him his 69 victories had now earned him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (). On