German pilot training was, at that time, more thorough and less hurried than the British programmes. After the heavy losses and failures against the French over Verdun in 1916 and against the British at the Somme, they had reorganised their air forces into the "Luftstreitkräfte" by October 1916, which now included specialised fighter units. These units were led by highly experienced pilots, some of them survivors of the Fokker Scourge period. and had been working up with the first mass-produced twin-gunned German fighters, the Albatros D.I and D.II, comprising a total of nearly 350 aircraft between the two types.