For the night of 25/26 December, LG 1 and I./KG 66 were once again assigned to minelaying, in. Target: Area “C” (03290–0328E). On Christmas morning, the latter unit had reported having only four Ju 88 S-3 serviceable, with another three probably serviceable by 13.00 hours and four an hour after that. The II. Jagdkorps was advised that these totals included an Einsatzkommando (its nature was not specified).

At 13.00 hours on the 26th, II. Jagdkorps ordered LG 1 and I./KG 66 to make a “concentrated attack” at 21.15 that night on the marshalling yard at Namur-Flawinne. Three aircraft were to carry out another operation, details of which were not given and orders for a second mission would follow.

The I./LG 1's Kommandeur, Hptm. Rüdiger Panneborg's crew as listed as missing from the Namur operation (Ju 88 S-3 WNr. 330976, L1+AB) as was that of Uffz. Gerhard Jahn (Ju 88 S-3, WNr. 330705, L1+KK). Two of Jahn's crew were captured by American troops but he and his Bordmechaniker were unaccounted for. A prisoner taken later in the month reported that Panneborg's place had been filled by the Kapitän of 1./LG 1, Oblt. Löbel, pending a permanent replacement.

A third loss was Ju 88 S-3 WNr. 330807, L1+EH, shot down by a night fighter west of St. Vith. The observer was unhurt but the gunner died and the pilot, Ofhr. Hans Lewek, and the radio operator were posted missing.

The three aircraft on "another operation" may have been those of 1./LG 1 which left Varel at 20.15 to patrol between Huy and Namur and release their loads of anti-personnel bombs on any military target they spotted. Leutnant Walter Schmidt flew L1+CH as far as Bonn at low altitude before climbing to 1,000 m. over the target area. At 22.15 hours about 10 km. south south west of Liège, they were hit by AA fire and abandoned the aircraft. The Americans captured three of the crew but Schmidt's fate was not known.

At 22.00 hours near Huy, the Ju 88 S-3 of 5./LG 1's Lt. Heinrich Schmidt also fell to AA fire after attacking road traffic around Namur. With the aircraft on fire, all four of the crew baled out near the front line and Schmidt was the only one taken prisoner, being found by American troops two days later. A veteran of 3./KG 55, he held the gold Frontflugspange for 110 war flights and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold.

The next night (27/28 December) was to be spent in restoring operational readiness and by 19.30 hours on the 28th, LG 1 could report its strength as follows:

At noon that day, II. Jagdkorps had ordered LG 1 and I./KG 66 to prepare a "concentrated attack" on the town centre of Liège. The I./KG 66’s time over target was to be 17.15 hours, taking a route from Paderborn to a point west of Euskirchen and from there a straight run in to the target from the east. Attacking height was to 16,000 feet using flares set to burst at 5,000 feet and ground markers. At 15.30 hours, the time of the attack was put back by 45 minutes and then an hour later it was cancelled entirely. Next morning, I./KG 66 was able to report that it had 12 Ju 88 S-3 serviceable.

At 14.00 hours on 29 December, II. Jagdkorps gave orders to 3. Jagddivision and Jafü Mittelrhein that “all aircraft carrying bombs” (which would include Ju 88, Ju 87 and Fw 190) were to make the attack on Bastogne that had been cancelled on the previous two nights. Presumably in view of recent American aerial resupply missions, orders were also given that any transport aircraft and gliders sighted were to be shot down. The Allies intercepted and deciphered this particular signal in time to issue a highest priority ZZZZZ warning to commanders in the field.

Two hours earlier, LG 1 and I./KG 66 had been told to prepare two concentrated operations against Bastogne, the first at 17.30 and the second at 06.30 hours. If target recognition for Bastogne could not be guaranteed, Liège would be the alternative. At 17.00 hours, I./KG 66 reported that an Egon aircraft was out of commission but clearly the raid on Bastogne went ahead without it.

On the 30th, Varel aerodrome indented for engine equipment for I./LG 1. Two days earlier a request had been made for the allocation of a first issue of Jumo 211 F and J for about 30 Ju 88 A-4. LG 1 and I./KG 66 were stood down on the night of the 30/31st December but the Bastogne area was to be the target again the next night for both bombers and Nachtschlacht aircraft. Between 17.00 and 17.10 hours, the bomber Gruppen were to make concentrated attack on stretches of road north of Bastogne, from Height 454, 1 km north west of Savy to Height 500, 1.5 km south east of Withimont. They were to carry fragmentation bombs and if the target was not clearly recognisable they were to bomb Bastogne itself or Liège. It was also intended to attack again after midnight. The I./KG 66 was told not to use its Truhe and Y-Verfahren aircraft for these missions.

At 18.30 hours on the 31st, Uffz. Gerhard Rössiger's 2./LG 1 crew was shot down near Arlon, Belgium. They were on the Bastogne mission, flying Ju 88 S-3 WNr. 330561, L1+AH, because their own L1+BK was unserviceable and had taken off from Varel with about seven other machines. Flying below cloud, their Ju 88 was hit in the fuselage by light AA, control was lost and all four were able to abandon the aircraft and arrive in captivity unhurt.

At 13.00 hours on 1 January, II. Jagdkorps told LG 1 and I./KG 66 that there would be no operations that night.

Note: all times are GMT (add one hour for Central European Time)