Well, think of it this way.
A fighter escort will give an attacker very little chance of a second bomber attack, and this seemed the case over England as well as France/Germany.
The attacking fighter is now faced with another fighter, which he has to destroy in order to carry on. If he lets the escorting fighter get away, it'll be back the next day... so destroy it (and pilot) now, by any means possible. with attrition the fighters, or pilot abilty next time will be lower, then one would be free to hammer the bombers - This I would say is the reality.
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