Ethics of pilots fighting for the sides in WWII

[Splitter]

Originally Posted by BadAim

I have to side with Splitter on this one, mate. It's us who should be afraid of "Homeland Security". So far as I know it's just SOP in Europe. I can relate to finding the Government strange and scary here though. I sleep with a .45 by my head.

Just one? I have one in my nightstand and the wife has one in hers. (This is one reason I don't cheat on my wife, btw.)

On topic:

People say IL-2 is just a game. Maybe it is to them. However, I try on occasion to put myself in the shoes of the men who flew these planes for real. It helps me feel a connection to the history.

History is not just about dates and names. It's about learning the lessons of history.

As an example, I had a strange kill the other day. With my last bit of ammo, I got a snap shot at an enemy plane I had been fighting in a rolling scissors. I knew I hit him, but it was a very short burst.

He went into a long, slow, descending left turn. I didn't know what his next move would be so I stayed above and behind. In short order, I became conviced that he was going down.

I know similar things happened to the real pilots and I got to thinking about what they would have been thinking in the same situation.

First, they probably started shaking from the adrenaline. Then they probably started hoping the other guy would get out (I have heard pilots talk about the first time they "saw" an enemy pilot die...before they viewed it as just shooting down planes).

When they realized the other guy wasn't going to bail, they probably started wondering if he was conscious or not. Were his flight controls and canopy jammed? Maybe he caught a stray bullet and was already dead or unconscious....they probably hoped for that because being aware through the whole descent would be a terrible way to die.

Then the surviving pilot, after seeing the foe crash into the sea, probably turned his plane toward home and filed his thoughts away until he could mull them over while having a pint.

I have to think that most pilots on all sides had some empathy for their foes. They all ran the very real risk of being trapped in a plane on its' way down or getting trapped in a burning cockpit. I think that's why "shooting someone up in their chute" was so uncommon.

Yeah, it's a game, but it is what you make of it. some people treat it like a game, others also see a connection with the past.

Splitter