The Bomber Group at the Rear was totally without escort and I doubt any made it to target. Perhaps we were held on runway too long or mis-communication but we were left behind to perish. We took a few fighters down with us and hopefully all the crews were able to bail as I was able to. Still was great fun and intense to be part of a large mission like that. 
What happened to the Escorts is my only question and did they abandon thier duty of protection to chase kills. 
The problem with bombers not being integrated into the
group is, more often than not, because they don't heed
prelaunch instructions or are AFK when they are given.
Also, some pilots launch bombers in their favorite skin outside
of the mission editor. This can also pose a problem because
their loadout may not be the same as the mission group.
I have run many, many bomber missions. If pilots raise their
flaps before takeoff and roll when the order is given, they
almost always stay in tight formation. When pilots miss these
cues, or they start to navigate aggressively, they always fall
behind. Please remember, when launching a formatiion in bombers,
the joystick is your enemy.
Last night's bomber launch directions allowed them to maintain
their launch runway heading for the majority of the first leg
of the mission. This was done to facilitate a tight formation
because the entire group could then just launch and auto-climb,
without having to touch their joystick until reaching the rally point.
After reaching the rally point and merging, the lead group should have
throttled back to allow the rest of the squadrons to group up on
the lead. I don't know if that happened as I was in a fighter this time out.
The only time I would attribute bad formations to the bomb group
commanders is when they (1) launch before the entire group has spawned,
(2) if they do not call the launch "by the numbers", or (3) if the formation lead
does not throttle back upon reaching combat altitude to allow stragglers
to catch up. Other than that, its almost always pilot error.
Fighter escorts are always tasked to stay with the main body as they
will attract the majority of the enemy's attention. Stragglers are
indeed on their own until they can catch up to the main bomber group.
There is safety in the pack.
Stragglers should inform the group lead that they are falling behind
and if the bomb group has not yet reached combat altitude, stragglers should
level to close the distance. Even if you are lower than the group when
they are engaged, you will still have the benefit of the fighter escorts
being close by.
I don't know if any of this applied to your situation but I'm putting it out
there for everyone to digest. Flying bombers in formation isn't as easy
as flying a fighter. Pilots need to keep their heads in the game and pay
attention to course and speed changes. If they miss even one of these cues,
they will invariably find themselves outside of the flock being pounced
on by ravenous wolves!
All that said, bomber lead is by far the most complex job. They have to always be
mindful of the state of their formations and must adjust speed and navigation
to insure the tightest formation possible before meeting resistance. If they
fail to make those adjustments, the bomber force will look like a flock of
pigeons instead of a death star in the sky.
