We lost one B-17 to a German fighter before we reached Frankfurt. The bombardier had to adjust the norden bomb site on our target through heavy flak and cloud cover. After totally obliterating the German Hiddernheim Engine Factory (top left picture) my squadron of B-17s banked right towards the new course heading while still under flak attack. I was looking out the left waist window when something exploded on the left wing (top right picture). Black smoke began to belch out of engine number two and the plane began banking out of control. The pilot must have been wounded from the explosion. Our plane collided with one plane (bottom left picture), then another. Then those two planes collided with each other. (bottom right picture) The second plane was left with no wings (top) while my plane and the third one (middle and bottom) were left with only a quarter wing. Nobody was able to bail out. I died; game over. It was mayhem.
I’ve been playing this PC game called “B-17 Flying Fortress”. It's an incredibly vivid WWII flight simulator for the B-17 Bomber. You have to learn every operation in the plane as well as for the missions. The flight out is always terrifying because we’re being attacked by enemy planes. The flight back is always long because I have to keep patching up my wounded crew. Usually it takes me 2 hours to complete a mission successfully (without time skips it would take 8 hours out and 8 hours to return.) A complete waste of time? No, I listen to Hugh Hewitt while I'm playing (radio operator too)! It's so wonderful feeling like I get to touch a bit of history and have something vaguely in common with my military as a civilian.