Big Week occurred in February 1944 which began the attrition war proper. The objective was to fulfil the Pointblank directive which included the destruction of the Luftwaffe fighter force. JG 1 remained in "Jagddivision" 3 but JG 3 was moved to the 1st and JG 1 was joined by I./JG 300. On 25 February the Eighth sent three bomb divisions to Germany—JG 1 intercepted the 2d Bombardment Division on its way to Gotha. Bär led II. "Gruppe" in a diving attack through the escort screen and claimed four B-24s while I. "Gruppe" made a head-on attack and claimed five. Very few German fighters were able to land on their own bases after the first intercept, and the new directive on assembly airfields was tried. The senior pilots landed and designated airfields and then led other pilots who landed with serviceable aircraft on second sortie against the withdrawing bombers, despite the mixture of units and equipment. JG 1 was led by Oesau on such missions. The RLV lost 46 fighters, 31 killed, 14 wounded while the Eighth lost 49 bombers B-24s and 10 escorts. The US bomber loss was high, but bearable. The RLV was not as successful on 25 February. 490 German fighters including JG 1 were sent against the Eighth this day, including night fighters and fighter school units. 31 US bombers and three US escorts were downed. The cost to Luftlfotte Reich was 48 fighters, 19 killed, and 20 wounded. The Eighth had lost 157 bombers during Big Week, and the US Fifteenth Air Force 90. Bomber Command lost 131 bombers. Eighth bomber strength fell from 75 to 54 percent, and its fighter groups from 72 to 65. The RLV lost 355 fighters, reducing it to 50 percent serviceability. More serious was the loss of almost 100 pilots killed alone. Though the destruction to German industry had been overstated, the air war had shifted irrevocably to Allied air superiority.