Eli5-What happens with drop tanks,debris and spent ammo casings in an aerial battle?

Question

Example:1944:20 000feet over Germany,a few hundred B17 s and escort fighters are attacked by say 50 Luftwaffe aircraft. Drop tanks are dropped,most aircraft miss their shots,expended ammo casings is raining down,aircraft are shot up etc. What happens?

In: Other

Answer 1

The drop tanks are dropped. They land where they land. Of course, WWII Europe was significantly rural, so low probability of tanks hitting anything significant.

For aircraft, what happened with casings were mixed. Some designs discarded them, others naturally collected in the aircraft ([common for bombers](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/258816309814058190/)).