The Hawker Hurricane - Sources and Links

The Hawker Hurricane - the RAF's forgotten fighter star of the Battle of Britain.

"Uneven Odds"
by Robert Taylor
From the Military Gallery
Queens Parade Place,
Bath, BA1 1NN, England

Sources and Links for the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, RAF Coningsby, Lincoln..

Hawker Restoration Ltd, Sudbury, Colchester, Suffolk.

Imperial War Museum Collection, Duxford, Aerodrome.

Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, near London.

Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford, Shropshire.

Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome.

The Fighter Collection, Duxford Aerodrome

Angels One Five a 1951 feature film in black and white. 105 minutes.
Staring Jack Hawkins, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray "And John Gregson as Pilot Officer Baird"
Associated British Picture Corporation Ltd.
A Templar production. Produced at The Associated British Studios, Elstree, England.
Screenplay by Derek Twist. From an original story by Pelham Groom
Produced by John W. Gossage and Derek Twist
Directed by George More O'Ferrall

In June 1940 Squadron Leader "Tiger" Small (Hawkins) is in charge of the RAF fighter base at Neethley. After the fall of France action is restricted to skirmishes with the Luftwaffe while preparations are rushed through for the battle to come. Pilot Officer Baird, straight from training and full of his own skill in following flying rules to the letter, arrives in a brand new Hurricane to join the squadron. Unfortunately his landing at the same time as the battle scared old hands of the squadron means that he suffers a difficult settling in period. The story follows the flowering of Baird as a war pilot, a man and a fully rounded personality while the squadron fight the Battle of Britain.

The film features a great number of ground and air views of Hurricanes loaned by the Portuguese Government. Made with the assistance of the Air Ministry, the RAF and Hawker-Siddeley.

"Going Solo" by Roald Dahl (ISBN 0 14 010306 6) published by Penguin 1986.

Roald Dahl 1916 – 1990.
Winner of The Mystery Writers of America award in 1954.
Host and writer for the TV series “Tales of the Unexpected” of 1979.
Winner of The Millennium Children's Book Award of 2000.
But also a war hero flying Hurricanes.

The book covers Dahl’s early manhood from sailing to Africa as one of the last generation of “Empire Builders” to his return to England after being invalided out of active service as a fighter pilot. Dahl vividly describes being sent to Greece as a novice combat pilot to join a handful of Hurricanes covering the Allied evacuation of 1941. Despite facing an Axis air force of over 1,000 aircraft, he survived to fight another day. That “other day” was the Syrian Campaign, based near Haifa, Palestine/Israel, flying his Hurricane not only against the Luftwaffe but also the Vichy French Air Force.

"Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly" by David Niven (ISBN 0 241 10690 7) published by Hamish Hamilton, London 1981.

You may think that this is a mistake but this novel of wartime romance contains a graphic description of a "Hurricat" action in the North Atlantic. The Hero of the story volunteers for service without realising the details of how his Hurricane will be used in mid-Atlantic. (The rugged Hurricane would catapult from a ramp of a merchant ship if enemy aircraft were sighted. The rocket powered launch was, however, the easy part - the landing after protecting the convoy was not catered for!) See pages 76 - 86.

The facts are that 35 "Catapult Armed Merchantman" (CAM) ships were used during 1941-43 until enough aircraft carriers became available for convoy protection. CAM Hurricanes shot down at least 6 enemy aircraft.

"Hurricanes Over Malta" by Brian Cull & Frederick Galea. (ISBN 1 902304 91 8) published by Grub Street, London, 2001.

"Based on the widely acclaimed 1987 Grub Street publication Malta: The Hurricane Years , Brian Cull’s Hurricanes over Malta is a fully revised and updated account of the RAF and Commonwealth pilots who flew Hurricanes in defence of Malta between June 1940 and April 1942. Most of the Hurricanes which held this tiny outpost were flown from the decks of aircraft carriers or bases in North Africa, while a handful of fighter pilots arrived by Sunderland flying boats............Since the earlier publication, a number of important personal diaries and journals have come to light, and these have been widely quoted to give atmosphere to the story and relay the thoughts of some of the pilots. The impressions they provide are a fitting tribute to their courage, aspirations and fears. The book is further enhanced by the personal experiences of FIt Lt (then Sgt Plt) James Pickering AFC, who flew Hurricanes with 261 Squadron, and who has also kindly provided the Foreword and many of the previously unpublished photos to be found within."

V1.3 - 29 January 2005.