II./KG 1 returned to the front under the command of IV "Fliegerkorps" after action in Italy and the Mediterranean. Equipped with the He 177s, the bomber group flew against railheads from June 1944, as the Soviet summer offensive opened. It was ordered by "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring to attack tanks and act as close air support. Using the heavy bomber in this way was disastrous: "Oberstleutnant" Horst von Riesen carried out the orders with reluctance and lost two on the 26th, another two on 27th and a fifth bomber on 28 June. It bombed rail yards at Kalinkovichi and Gomel, and at Velikaya Luki on 26 June. Fuel shortages forced the group to be withdrawn and disbanded on 28 July at Brandis. Flight personnel were sent to I./JG 7, operating the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter jet. It was formally renamed I./JG 7 on 5 September 1944.