As Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland continued to build his victory record, Hermann Göring treated him as both a hero and a frustration. Göring still blamed his fighter pilots for failing to protect German bombers well enough to defeat Britain, even though the Luftwaffe had already been pushed toward costly night bombing. Galland stopped in Berlin to receive Oak Leaves for his Knight’s Cross, then traveled to Göring’s hunting lodge in East Prussia, where he met fellow ace Werner Mölders leaving in irritation after being detained there for days.

Göring welcomed Galland in theatrical fashion, congratulated him, and then delayed him further by offering him a hunt for one of the lodge’s prized stags. Galland killed the animal the next morning and wanted to return immediately to his unit, but Göring insisted on keeping his promise to Mölders that Galland would also be held for several days. While Galland remained there, news arrived of another major daylight raid on London in which the Luftwaffe suffered heavy losses.

The new losses deeply shook Göring, who could not explain why his bombers kept being mauled. Galland believed the answer was obvious: German leadership had badly underestimated the RAF, which remained spirited and well supplied with new aircraft despite repeated claims that it was nearly finished. With Göring distracted and dispirited, Galland finally obtained permission to leave, taking his stag’s head trophy with him. During this same period, Japan formally joined Germany and Italy in the Tripartite Pact.

In Berlin, journalist William Shirer received a secret visit from a Luftwaffe bomber crewman who offered a different view of the air war. The airman said German crews admired RAF pilots, especially a swaggering pilot known for keeping a cigarette in his mouth. He also described the growing strain of night bombing, with crews flying frequent missions on rigid schedules to avoid collisions, and admitted surprise that weeks of attacks had done so little visible damage to London.

As the raids failed to produce collapse, Joseph Goebbels became increasingly perplexed. German intelligence kept insisting that the RAF was nearly destroyed, yet Churchill remained defiant and Britain showed resilience rather than surrender. That resilience now affected Germany itself: with another winter of war looming and Berlin children being evacuated, public anxiety and discontent were rising. Goebbels tried to contain the damage by calling the evacuations voluntary and threatening concentration camp punishment for rumor-mongers.