The "Luftwaffe" continued to mount a dynamic defence in Western Europe in 1943 as its offensive capabilities declined. The "Jabo" operations came to a halt in the summer, 1943 due to excessive casualties and the need to reinforce the Mediterranean. German bomber units flew less than 4,000 individual bomber sorties during the entire year. In March 1943, Hitler ordered the appointment of an officer specifically to coordinate attacks on Britain. Dietrich Peltz was given command of IX "Fliegerkorps", part of Sperrle's air fleet for this task. By December 1943 Peltz had pooled 501 bombers. As Peltz organised the bomber command, German operations against Britain continued. The year began with 311 sorties in January 1943 which dipped to 176 the following month. It reached 415 in March before peaking with 537 sorties in October 1943 and concluding with 190 in December. That year 3,915 night bombing sorties were flown, costing 191 aircraft—March being the worst month with 38. The "Jabo" units flew 728 sorties and lost 65 aircraft. The total tonnage of bombs dropped was recorded as 3,576.