The use of and the dealing with the "F" words became second place to most all of the crewmen stationed in Europe.
Fog- Something that England was noted for and something extremely dangerous for all but the experienced of bomber crews.
Frost- Flying 'At Altitude' was a term that brought multiple problems for the entire crew. One was lack of oxygen at those heights and getting it only added to the discomforts each crewman faced. At Altitude also meant that the temperatures one had to endure were almost always below 32 degrees on the warmest of days. By mid 1944 most of the crews were using the electric flying suits but in the B-17 there was nothing to help keep the frost off of windows, masks, equipment and even some body parts.
Fatique- By 1944 the allied bombing program had escalated in order to soften the German war machine. The toll that took on the flight and ground crews in 1944 was unbelievable. No longer on a " Twenty Five and Home Alive" schedule, crews were expected to perform 30+ missions. The accelerated schedule also meant they were reaching the 30+ quotas in less time than their Pre- 1944 counterparts. The routine was relentless and fatigue became a factor they had to deal with. More missions + less down time = Fatigue.
Fear- Like fatigue, fear was something you dealt with. The stress of those long hours in the air facing attacks from fighters and flak was immense. In 1944 the German Luftwaffe (air force) threw everything they had at the allied bombers. There were attacks of as many as 500 fighters en-route to target. Then once over target the flak was as thick as the famous London fog, imagine hitting sharp edged metal shards at 140+ mph. Add in, if you couldn't ID the target you had circle around to take another run at it. Even if all bombs were away your trip home was once again through a maelstrom of refueled rearmed fighters. The fighter squadrons had that famed wolf pack mentality in attacking the waves of bombers. They were safer attacking the edges of these airborne armadas. This tactic took a heavy toll on the formations giving certain names to some positions like "Coffin Corner" or "Purple Heart Corner". With some of these battles lasting over four hours and more, it is no wonder fear was a four letter "F" word.
Focke-wulfs- The Focke wulf - Fw 190 Würger, was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter. The Huns sent 20,000 of these capable fighters at the allies before turning to more sophisticated Messerschmidt and the new propeller-less jet aircraft.
Fire- Most luftwaffe fighters were armed with two 7.92 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannons in the nose. These were swift and formidable fighters that had a lot of fire power. They sprayed the outer areas of a formation with a tremendous amount of deadly accuracy. Had the allied bombing not been effective the Luftwaffe would have been able to reach full production on the newest Me-410 and Me-262 and the weapons the bombers would have faced was two BK 5 cannons - which were used on the Panzer tanks as their main armament. This weapon had a 2" round that would allow the next generation of fighters to shoot at their targets from over 1,000 yards away, a distance at which the B-17s' defensive armament was virtually useless. So, the bombers would have been like helpless ducks on the pond.
Flak- The Germans produced an incredible number of Fliegerabwehrkanone or "Flak" guns to protect their major industrial areas and military installations. There was very little you could do to escape Flak. If you saw a burst to your front you could not swerve to avoid it because you would possibly fly into the next round or salvo. Worse than that you could possibly cross the path of another aircraft and cause havoc on the formation. When a round exploded close, the razor sharp shards penetrated through the aircraft's skin and careened off of the more solid surfaces. If you had a near or direct hit from an 88 mm or larger shell the aircraft would shake violently, drop or sometimes feel as though it would stall. Smoke, flames and shrapnel would rip through the aircraft doing damage as it went. Most of the time your only recourse was to keep flying, sometimes riddled full of holes, but still fighting. I can describe more vividly and grotesquely, the damage and toll Flak had on an aircraft but I'll leave it up to you to imagine the effect flak had on the crewmen.
Flame- "Flames were everywhere, they were all around us!" These were the words of an airman to a doctor tending his wounds. His plane had been hit with the debris and exploding fuel tanks of another B-17 which lost control and swerved right into their flight path just as it exploded and burst into flames. The airman was wounded by pieces of the exploding plane. The tail gunner bailed out over enemy territory thinking that it was their plane that was on fire. Fuel, ammo and oxygen tanks made the B-17 volatile, a veritable flying fire bomb.
And of course, last but not least there was always the constant presence of what the superstitious airmen called the:
" Five Fickled Fingers of Fate "
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