to receive the award from Adolf Hitler. Galland was granted a personal audience with Hitler and during the meeting Galland reported to Hitler that the British had proven tough opponents, and that there were signs of declining morale in the German fighter force in the absence of operational success. Hitler expressed his regret for the war with the "Anglo-Saxons", who he admired, but resolved to fight until total destruction. Morale and exhaustion became a problem in September. The Luftwaffe lacked the pilots and aircraft to maintain a constant presence over Britain. To compensate, commanders demanded three to four sorties per day by the most experienced men. Galland recognised the manifest fatigue of his pilots. By the end of September, Galland noticed that "the stamina of the superbly trained and experienced original [cadre of pilots] was down to a point where operational efficiency was being impaired." Several factors contributed to this situation; Göring's interference with tactics without regard for the situation or the capabilities of German aircraft; rapid adaptation to German tactics by the British; the poorer quality replacement pilots to JG 26. This situation led to a conflict between the two significant psychological needs of the fighter pilots: confidence in their aircraft and tactics. Galland innovated tactically to improve the situation and found a partial solution to Göring's irrational order to maintain close escort. He developed a flexible escort system that allowed his pilots constantly to change altitude, airspeed, direction, and distance to the bombers during these close-escort missions. The results were better and acceptable to his pilots. By the end of the Battle of Britain, JG 26 had gained a reputation as one of only two fighter wings that performed escort duties with consistently low losses to the bombers. The fighter-bomber mission was also a problem Galland had to deal with. Göring was committed to fitting one-third of all fighter wings to use modified Bf 109s to carry bombs. Galland accepted the mission but damaged the morale he had cultivated. Galland's response to the situation was to develop tactics that mixed the bomb-laden Bf 109s with the fighter escort in an effort to deceive the enemy and confound their intercept plans. This tactic slowed down the fighter-bomber losses, but the pilots still felt as though they were being wasted. Galland's leadership still made several errors; Galland did not capitalise on training opportunities to improve the bombing accuracy of his