During a November 20,1944, meeting concerning the Luftwaffe's disastrous performance on November 2 when 80 US bombers were shot down at the cost of 90 German fighters, Hitler overruled Jagdwaffe's (fighter force) commander Adolf Galland's plan for a 'Gross schlag' - or Big Hit - stating the enemy was now too strong in the air. Instead, he directed that every available fighter was to be deployed across western Germany to support a coming operation. Unternehmen Bodenplatte - or Operation Baseplate, the Luftwaffe's last-ditch attempt to cripple Allied air power in the Low Countries - was originally scheduled to start with the launch of the Wehrmacht's offensive across the Ardennes on December 16,1944. However, that required bad weather to prevent Allied fighter-bombers from taking to the skies. And while the Luftwaffe managed to launch some 500 aircraft on December 16, operating in such conditions proved to be beyond the capability of most units. Adding to the Luftwaffe's woes, over the eight days between December 17-27 when weather conditions allowed operations, the Jagdwaffe lost 644 fighters while another 227 were damaged. To make matters worse, 322 pilots were killed. As a result, no one expected a large-scale air operation.
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