the 109s vs bombers

[Nikademus]

Anyone done a recreation of Schwinfurt?

[Rocco]

For what it's worth, I recently read a journal kept by my wife's grandfather.  He was a radio operator for a B-17 in the 8th Air Force, 381st Bomb Group, 535th Bomb Squadron.
 
He kept a journal log after each of his 35 missions, talking about each raid and what all happened.  He seemed to be very afraid of Flak above all else.  He only mentioned interceptors a few times and said they were quickly taken care of by escorts.  He flew in late '43 and early '44 if I remember right.  He mentioned the Flak so often, you could almost feel it exploding around you as you read it.  But interceptors did not seem to be a major concern?  He talked about almost being killed by Flak numerous times, along with other crew members.  Holes in the wing, fuesalage, and so forth; Once he said he saw Flak hit near another plane and realized he didn't have his Flak jacket on so he went to put it on and seconds later the seat he was in had shrapnel from flak tear right through where his chest would have been.  9 inch hole through the fuselage.
 
I guess my experience from reading his journal was that the crew felt so confident in their escorts and .50's that the biggest fear was the Flak that hit out of no where.