defense. On 25 September, during Operation Berlin, the evacuation of the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division, Dähne claimed a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter shot down. Two days later, III. Gruppe flew a combat air patrol to the area of Arnhem-Nijmegen area where Dähne claimed an aerial victory over a Supermarine Spitfire fighter. In preparation for Operation Bodenplatte, III. Gruppe was moved to an airfield at Großostheim, near Aschaffenburg on 17 December 1944. Fassong had learned of the planned operation on 5 December at a meeting held at the headquarters of the II. Jagdkorps (2nd Fighter Corps) commanded by Generalmajor Dietrich Peltz, on 5 December. Fassong informed his Staffelkapitäne of the upcoming operation on 15 December without going into the specifics of the target and date. On 24 December, during the Battle of the Bulge, Dähne shot down a Lockheed P-38 Lightning of the Ninth Air Force near Trier. Operation Bodenplatte was launched on 1 January. At 06:30, Fassong briefed his pilots of the operation and that their target would be the Asch Airfield (Designated: Y-29) located north-west of Maastricht. At 08:18, Fassong led a flight of 31 Focke Wulf Fw 190 A-8 fighter aircraft to Frankfurt where they were joined by other Luftwaffe fighters. On this mission, Fassong was killed in action and Dähne was shot down in his Fw 190 and bailed out over German held territory. In consequence, Dähne succeeded Fassong as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of III. Gruppe while Leutnant Günter Metzner was given command of 12. Staffel. In March 1945, Dähne succeeded Oberleutnant Fritz Wegener as commander of II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 1 "Oesau" (JG 1—1st Fighter Wing). Wegener had temporarily led the Gruppe after its former commander, Hauptmann Hermann Staiger, was transferred in January. The Gruppe was based at Garz Airfield located near Garz. On 26 March, Dähne received orders to relocate II. Gruppe to Wien-Schwechat Airfield for conversion training to the Heinkel He 162 jet fighter. The order was later changed and II. Gruppe was ordered to Rostock-Marienehe for conversion training. Dähne was killed in a training flight accident of the He 162 near Warnemünde, Germany on 24 April 1945 shortly after 16:00. Flying at an altitude of Dähne had attempted a turn when his aircraft began skidding. The aircraft lost height rapidly and crashed into the Warnow. It was assumed that Dähne had deployed the ejection seat while the aircraft canopy failed