However , the Luftwaffe lost 277 planes , 62 to Allied fighters and 172 mostly because of an unexpectedly high number of Allied flak guns , set up to protect against German V-1 flying bomb/missile attacks and using proximity fused shells , but also by friendly fire from the German flak guns that were uninformed of the pending large-scale German air operation .
However , the `` Luftwaffe '' lost 277 planes , 62 to Allied fighters and 172 mostly because of an unexpectedly high number of Allied flak guns , set up to protect against German V-1 flying bomb attacks and using proximity fused shells , but also by friendly fire from the German flak guns that were uninformed of the pending large-scale German air operation .