Crowood - Hawker Hurricane

8/13/2019 Crowood - Hawker Hurricane

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H WK RHURRI NE


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wkerHURRI NE

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cknowledgeDlents ontents

Peter Jacobs 199

To Christopherand Matthew who a t t h e ages of justsixand four already know so much aboutthe Hurricaneandthe Bat t le of Britain.

First published i n 1 99 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury MarlboroughWiltshire N82HR

All right reserved. No part of this publication m ay b ereproduced or transmitted i n an y f or m or by any meanselectronic or mechanical, including photocopy recordingor any information storage and retrievalsystem withoutpermission in writing from the publishers.

Hurricane ProductionSquadrons and LocationHurricane Order of Battle 1939 45Squadron CodesHurricane Pilots Killed During the Battle of BritainHurricane Aces

1 DESIG A D DEVELOPME T2 THE FALL OF FRANCE3 BRITAIN ALONE THE UMMER OF 19404 THE HURRICA E MARK II5 MALTA THE FORTRESS I LA D6 BE EDICT FORCE MURMA SK RUS IA7 THE DESERT WAR8 THE FAR EAST THE FORGOTTEN WAR9 EUROPE10 THE LAST OF THE MA Y

AcknowledgementsForeword by qn Ldr Pat Wells D 0Introduction

Appendix AAppendix BAppendix CAppendix DAppendix EAppendix FBibliographyIndex

Peter Jacobs

Delve the Editor of F1Y Jast who providedme withmany of them most belongto theF1Y Jast archive ; F it L t Andy Thomas ,and others , also contributed photographs.

Without continuous support and co-operation from these organizations andi n di vi d ua l s b o ok s u ch as mine wouldnever be written.

My final thank always go t o my closef ri en d K en D el ve w ho during one coldand wet d ay i n an office at RAF Firming-Icy started me on t hi s seemingly never-ending road of writing.

Coningsby, he has the advantage in thathe flies the Hurricane of t he B at tl e o fBritain Memorial Flight in hisspare time

Not all tho e who contributed are menwho flew t he Hu rr ican e; o me h av ebecome associated with thisgreat aircraftthrough a husband who flew it. In t hi scontext, thank you t o A ud re y H aw a ndK ri st in a zcze n y fo r providing me withmaterial that I have managed to include.From the hi torical point of view I thankt heA i r Historical Branch,the RAF Muse-um a tHendon, the Imperial War Museumandthe Public Record Office at Kew.

For t he photographs, I thank Ken

A b oo k such as t h is could not have beenwritten without help from many people. Ihave been fortuna te to mee t and corr e-spond wi th many wonderful people and Ithank all t hose who have he lped m e. I npar ticular I would l ike to thank Pat Wellsfor writing the foreword. Several years agoI managed to track Pat down in outhAfrica and we h:we tayed in touch since.Thanks to him, for his contributionsoverthe y ea rs . I w ou ld a ls o Ii ke t o thank mycolleague and friend Sqn Ldr CliveRowley f or h is contr ibut ion to the finalchapter;a lthough Cliveand I have flowntogether in t h e Tor na do F3 at RAF

British Library Cataloguing Publication DataA catalogue record for thisbookI available from the British Library.

B 1861261268

Typeset by Focus PublishingPrintedand bound in Great Britain by Butler Tanner, Frome

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oreword CHAPTER ONEesign n evelop lent

The Sopwith Came provedto beone ofthe most successful fighters on theWestern Frontduringthperiod ofthe FirstWorld War

flight to t he c on ce pt o f verticaland landing. He was born in 1bought hisfirst aeroplane in 1910a couple of years he had pr oved ho ne o f t h e country s finest piloturning his attentions to the m a nof aeroplanes.

One member of Sopwith st e am d u ri n g the ear ly yea rs wHawker, who became the c om papilot. Born in Australia, Hawkerwyear younger t h an T h om a s o p wm oved to England to find work, a nthe SoplVith Company whenformed, in 1912. He saved his mfund flying les ons, a n d e a rn e d hlicence within a couple of years.S op wi th o mp an y s t es t p ilot ,involved in the design of everyaircraft during the First World Wahe abloidTh e S op wi th o mp an y s first aircthe single-seat biplane, theTabloid, w h ic h m ad e a n impre sivde but at Hendon in 1913. The foyear the c om pany a c hieve d r e m

than for any other purpose. After all, thevery existence o f t h e newly formed RoyalAir Force was still being questioned.

In order to understand the Hurricaneand how it came about, it is important tou n d er t a nd the pe ople a nd the companythat made this successstory pos ible.

OriginsThe Hurricane wa built by HawkerAircraft Limited. The c om pa ny h adit s o ri gi ns i n t he S op wi th A vi at io nCompany, f ir st formed by Thomas

opw ith a t K ingston- upon- Tham e s , justoutsideLo ndon, in 1912.In common withm a nyne w c om pa nie s a t the time, the yha dplenty of new ideas, b ut t he ir facilitiesduring the earlydayswere rather primitive- its first building ha d formerly housedKing ton s ice-skating rink.opwith and wkerTh e life of T h om as O c ta v e MurdochSopw ith s pa nned m a nyge ne r a tions of aircraft design, from the f ir t d ay s of powered

Thomas Sopwith one ofthe firstmanufacturersofaeroplanes; he formedthe Sopwith AviationCompanyin 1912 from w i developedHawkerAircraft LimitedAs with any classic aircraft, the HawkerHurricane did not simply appearovernight. Th e origins of all the famousaircraft that m ad e t h ei r n a me d u ri n g t h e

econd World W a r t e n d to go back to thefirs t day of powered flight, a nd t o thedevelopment of the aeroplane as a weaponduring the First World War. The Hurricane is no exception. I t w as developedfroma number of well-known aircraft builtby H a w ker A ir cr a f t Limited d ur in g t helate 1920s and early 1930s, but it true origins can be traced way back, to the Sopwith Tabloid single-seat aircraft whichfirst arrived o n t h e a via tion s c e ne in .The reason for beginning the story of theH a w ke r H ur r ic a ne 0 far back is becausethis most famous aircraft was the pr oductof a famous de s igne r w ho wor ke d f or afamou c om pany dur ing a period of postwar apathy following the e nd of the war toend all wars . A l th o u gh t h e First WorldW ar h ad s ee n the rapid progress o f t heaeroplane as a weapon of war, post-warBritain saw the aeroplane as more likely tosucceed a sa form of tr a nspor tation r a thereter Jacobs

Squadron Leader Pa tWe ll DSO

Peter Jacobs has covered the most important aspects about this most famousaircraft. The fact that the Hurricane flewoperationally on every day of the war, andin every theatre, is well made a nd h e hasspent m u ch t i me r es ea rc h in g the lesserknown marks a nd h a c ov er ed the lesdoc um e nte d the atr e s in w hich the H ur ri

cane operated; the Battle of France, Malta,Russia, the Desert and the Far East areallcovered as w el l as s om e de taile d a ppe ndices w h ic h c o nc l ud e h is work. Mostimportantly, hiswork is well illustrated bys om e e xc el le nt p ho to gr ap hs , m an y ofw h ic h h a ve not be e ns e e n before. I salutePeter Jacobs for writing such an excellentbook on this most famous and well-lovedaeroplane.

M a ny o t h er s c o ve r one pa r tic ular the a treof operations or one specific campaign;excellent examplesare Twelve ays in ayby Brian Cull, Bruce La nde r a nd H e inr ic hWeiss, and The attle Britain by RichardTownsend Bickers. This book covers theHurricane eighty years, from the originso f t h e single-seat fighter to the display ofthe Hurricane at a ir s ho ws t oday. Inbetween, i t f oc us e mainly on thecampaigns in which i t fough t, f rom thewell-documented Battles of France andBritain, to the lesser-covered arenas, suchas Ma lta a nd Russia. It also includes technical inf orm a tion a bout the aircraft, i tssystems and it armament, aswellas detailsa bouts om e of t h e m e n w ho flew it. Finally,de ta ile d A ppe ndic e s c ove r specifi aspecto f t h e aircraft and the q u ad r on s a n d m e nwho flew it. Enjoy the book

Introduction

ervice in M al t a a n d t he n o n to orthAfrica for the war in the desert. My finalflight was from Malta back to Tunisia aftera tta cking s e ar c hlights in icily whichwere causing problems to the airborneforces during that invasion.

An e xc eptionally s turdy aircraft, theH ur r ic a ne ne ve r e ve r le tme dow n e xc e ptfrom battle damage) and how my aircraftstayed t o g et h er a f te r Adolf Galland sassault on mein 1940, with 132 machinegun round and 64 cannon shells, is amy tery to me. Incidentally , I o n ly e v erhad one mid-air collision. Whilst flying aC ur tis s Moha w k a t an OTU in the MiddleEas t a p up il f lyi ng a Hurricane collidedwith me; the Mohawk was a wreck, b u t t h eH u rr i ca n e w e nt on t o c om pl ete t heexercise

Much has be e nw r itte n a bout the Hurric a ne o v er the years, but I believe that

hoursaway) has stopped me writing moreThe Hurricane is o n e o f t h e classicfight

ers of alltime.It was designedand builtforwar and i t p layedasbiga part as any otheraircraft in achieving final victory in 1945.A remarkable total of 14,533 Hurricaneswere b u il t a n d the aircraft served operationally on every day throughout hostilit ie s. I t wa s at the forefront of Britain sdefence in 1939, and it h e lp e d t o e ns u refinal victory in the Far E as t i n 19 45 . Inbetween, it erved in eve ry operationaltheatre, and in every possiblerole, and thisis covered in some detail in the book.

Many words h av e b ee n w ri tt en a bo u tthe Hurricane; ix ty year could hardlyhave passed without that happening On eo f t h e most complete works o n t h e subjectis The awker unicane by Franc is KMason, while other excellent worksinclude the Hllrricane at War Parts 1 and 2by Chaz Bowyer and orman Franks.

A one w ho h ad a will affair with theHurricane it is a great privilege to beinvite d to write the foreword to this book.The Hurricane wa built inseveral marks,some of w hic h little is known of, a n d t o o kpart in air battles on every front, even theBattle of the Atlantic from the end of acatapult. It seems that every operationalt as k was pos i bl e in a H ur r ic a ne a nd Ibelieve that had the radiator not beenwhere i t was then s h e c o u ld h a ve succe s-fully carried a torpedo

My first flight was in June 1940, havings p en t t h e previous eight days at a fighterOT on pitfires There was l i t tle tim e tolearn during the summer of 1940 butfortunat Iy I survived a nd w en t on tocomplete nearly 300 operations on Mark [sand [Is; these included the Battle ofBri ta in, f ighter sweep s over northernFrance, flying of f H M Ark Royal for

For a s l on g a I can remember, my interestin the RAF s fighter pilots has had a majorinf lue nc e on my l ife: in my opinion, theheroics o f t h e Few during the summer of1940 a re s ec on d t o n on e. I have alwaysbeen equally fascinated by the Hurricaneand pitfire aircraft in w h ic h t h ey flew.When I wa y ou ng er , I could ne ve r ha veimagined how this f a sc inationa nd a dm ir a tion would pr ove to beso m uc h m ore thanjusta passing interest.

[ joined the RAF straight from collegea nd h av e b ee n lucky e no ug h t o e rv e onsome oft he most famousfighter squadrons.My interest in the history of thosesquadrons led me to w r iting a nd, when Iwas given t h e c h an c e to wri te about theHurricane, I jumped a t t h e opportunity tolearn more about this c as ic fighter. Theexperience h as p ro ve d t o be compelling;only the size of the b oo k { an d theine vita ble de a dline , now less than twelve

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DESIGN N EVELOPMENT

The PrototypeThe H .G . H a w ke r Engine e r ingLimited be c am e H a w ke r Air rain 1933. In t he a me year, Cammt h at t h e future of aviation l ay iplane design and proposed the ba l ow -w in g monoplane fighproposal wasreceived with uncet he A ir Ministry (as w ere a nother new ideas a t t h e time). Thein Europe wa stillstable, and m afelt there wa n o p oi nt in r issums of money on n ew a nddeSigns. Fortunately, the fore igprivate aircraft indu try, and inpeople l ike yd ne y Camm and

opwith at Hawker, led to thbeing funded hy the comp


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DESIGN AND EVELOPMENT DESIGN N EVELOPMENT

Behind thecockpit hood was thedistinctive aerial installation.

The cockpithood was a slidingarrangement of rectangularappearance.

were operated hydraulically.The c en tr e s ec ti on o f t he w i

single unit a t t ac h ed t o t h e fuselapoints. It consisted of two continuconnected y ribs and drag bracinin t h e c e nt r e s e ct i on of the wfitted the main fuel tanksretractable undercarriage. Ther iag e a s se m bly c o ns is te d of t wcantilever shock-absorber strutst h e o u tb oa r d ends o f t h e c e nt rf r on t s pa r. I t r e tr a ct e d inwarmechanism activated y Dowtyrams; these retracted the wheelscentre-section s pm s, w i th the

d es ig n, c au se d p ro bl e ms i n the twistingstresses of t he wing. The p r ob le m w assolved y the drag m e mb er s r u nn i ngzig-zag between the s pa rs - the primarystructureof the w ing f o rm e d a f r am e, w iththe d r ag m e mb e rs s tiff e nin g the overallstructure. Fabric was then placed over thewing and firmly attached to the wing ribs;the attachments to the ribs w er etightened, causing the f ab ri c t o stretchtight. The portion o f t h e i nn er w ing w ascovered wi th l ight metal and was,therefore, strong enough f or w a lkin g on.Metallic s pl i t t ra i li n g- e dg e f la ps w er efitted a t t he i nn er e nd o f t he wing, and

outputof 1,050 h p a t 15,000feet 4500m).The PV12 later b ec am e t he M er li n C ,which w as f it te d t o the prototype, andf ro m i t c ar ne the Merlin ll, which wouldl at er be i ns ta ll ed i nt o t he p ro du ct io nHurricanes.

For Sydney Camm and h is d e sig n te amthere was one immediate question w hichh a d to b e a n s w er e d. S hould the aircraft bedesigned along the lines o f t he team sexperience - using air cr aft structuretechniques that w e re f a miliar - or shouldthey try to e x plo r e u n fa m ilia r te rr ito r y,and d es ig n a f i gh te r of a s tr es s ed - sk inconstruction) The f o rm e r w as the moreobviousanswer and, in th eo r y, w o uld lea dto a much quicker r e su lt. D e sig nin g a n e wconstruction w o uld in vo lv e b u ild in g n e wjigs and tools, which would probably lead delays. The designteam could illafford suffer any p ro bl e ms , s o t he m or et ra di ti on al m et ho d o f u si ng f ab ri ccovering won the day.

In the fuselage the longerons were madeof c ir cu lar - s ec tion s te el tu be s w it h t hediagonal zig-zag struts running betweent o p a n d b ot t om longerons made of duralum in . B r ac in g w as b y streamline tie-rods.As the primary structure of the fuselagewas of rectangular section, it wasnecessaryto a dd a s e co nd ar y structure to give therounded shape. This secondary structurewas made of wooden formers and stringers,with the formers being attached to thelongerons a nd t he stringers carrying thef a br ic c o ve r ing . The fabric coveringextended from the stern to lev el w i th t h epilot sseat; forward of this point, the fuselag e w as c o ve r e d w ith lig ht metal panels.

Immediately in f r o nt of the cockpit wasthe reserve fuel tank and, in f r o nt of that,between the fuel t a nk a n d t h e e n gi n e, wasa f ir e- p ro o f b u lkh e ad . The Rolls-RoyceMerlin engine was mountedon asteel tubestructure in the nose of the fuselage, withlarge detachable panels ensuring easya c ce s s f or maintenance. The radiator ofthe l iq uid - co o lin g s y ste m w as mountedunder the fuselage, with an o v al a ir intakein f r on t o f t h e radiator and a rectangularopening behind i t, in sid e which a hingedf lap a llow e d the p il ot t o c on tr ol thea m o un t o f cooling. The early Hurricanesw er e f it te d w it h a t wi n- bl ad ed woodenpropeller. This w as la re r c ha ng ed o n t heMkl to a Rotol three-bladed constantspeed wooden propeller.

The wing structure was a mix of oldconceptsand newdesign. The depthof thew ing , n e ce s s ita ted y t he c an ti le ve r

pecific tion F 6 4With increasing instability in Europe, theAir Ministry requirement for a newfighter became more urgent. SpecificationF .3 6/ 34 was i ss ue d i n 1 934 . K no wn a tHawker simply s the Hawker monoplanefighter , build ing ofthe prototype K5083)began in October 1 9 34 . I n the same year,R ol ls -R oy ce h ad c or ne up w it h a n ewengine, the PV 12, w hich produced an

1933. The d es i gn o ff ic e, l ed b y S y dn eyCamm, worked on p lan s f o r a n e w a ir c ra f t,initially known s the Fury Monoplane.The e a rly d e sig n p r op o se d a s im ila r f us elage to that of the existing Hawker Fury a lo w- w in g monoplane design of 2 8 f ee t 840cm) wingspan and a f ix ed undercarriage. The a ir cr a f tw a s to b e p o we r ed y asingle Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine, producing660 hp,w hich w ou ld g i v i t an estim at ed t op speed of 280mph 450kph).

The project was given t he n am e H ot spur , although this name was l at erdropped and used for another project.

firstproductionHurricane 11547l which made itsmaidenflight on 12 October 1937.

withtail struts a slightlydifferenthood design and a retractabletail wheel. theprototype K50831red slightlyfromthe productionHurricane.

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DESIGI A DEVELOPMENT

31ft On40ft On13ft in11 It 0 in57 sq ft20 sq ft

LENGTHWINGSPANHEIGHTPROPELLER DIAMETERWING AREA TOTALTAILPLANE

The Engine

Airframe Dimensions Hurricane M

The Ro ll - Roy c e Merlin II englater, the improved Merlin IIIbecame the standard powerplanHurricane Mkl. Originally knowMerlin G, the Merlin II engd e sig ne d in 1 93 7 and built at Dera 1 2- cy li nd er , upright-vee,glycol-cooled engine that produchp a t 16,000 f ee t 4 OOm at 3,The installation of this modifie

nece sitated a f ew changes to thetheengine mounting(which ledification in theshape of the cowlalso to the design o f t he radiastarting magnetos werefitted on tside of the engine, and the carbuintake was centrally mounted benforward part of the fuselage. Thecol radiator and oil cooler were ha duct under the cen tra l part oflage; the oil cooler was sanbetween the two e lements o f thradiator.The first propeller fitted to

Hurricanes was f ixed-pitch, twand made of w oo d. I n addition

fuselage, wasmade of Iightmeta lThis wa the area walked on by theground crew. The rest ofthe wingered in fabric, except for the leadiwhich weremetal. The s plit f la psmade of Iight metal and were buiunderside o f t he wing, runningradiator casing to the aileroa iler o ns , h o we v er , w er e f a br ic-The extreme tip of the outerwinwas detachable, a de ign f e atu rwould help enormously when Hwere crated up and shipped to othational theatres. Aircraft l ightinwing consi ted of the landing la mcentral area o f t h e leading edge,aircraft s navigation l igh ts lo c ateforward wing-tips.

The carburettor air intake. located under theforward fuselage.

offeras much protection as possible.Therew as a lso a r e in f or c ed section o f t h e upperfuselage immediately behind the cockpit,t o he lp protect the pilot in theeven to f acrash landing. Behind this, o n t he uppersurface of the fuselage, was the distinctiveaerial i nst a ll a tion, which c ar r ie d theaerial from just behind the cockpit to thetop of the tail-plane.The rear p ar t o f t he fuselage included

the tail s e ct ion , but housed little o r noequipment. The tail section consis ted ofthe ta il it e lf , the rudder and the elev torsThe rudder effectively took up the rearhalf of the tail section, with a rudder postpas ingvertically through the middle. Theleading edges o f t h e tail section w er e a llmetal, but the rudder was fabric; the taillight was mounted halfw ay u p the rudder.There w e re v a rio us f ixe d and balancedtrim ta bs ,a s w ell a s a built-in mass balanceat the top of the tail. Although theHurricane was originally de igned with are trac table ta il-wheel, the product ionMkls were fitted with a f ix ed D ow ty t ai l wheel.The wing section can b e v ie we d a s an

outer section on e ac h side, and a centresection that housed the retractable undercarriage. The upper surface o f t he i nn erpart of the wing, which j oi ne d t he

The largeglycol radiatorand oilcoolercanclearly beseen housedin aductunderthecentrefuselage.

irst roduction irfr meCompleted during la te 1 93 7, Ll547 wafi r t f lo wn by Hawke r te s t p i lo t Phil ipLucas on 12 October 1937. This firstproduction airframe differed only verys lig h tly f ro m the prototype; the mainmodification was to the engine - it waspowered by the Merl in II engine in p lac eof the Merlin C.The HurricaneMklwadl feet (930cm)

in length, just over 13 feet (390cm) inhe igh t and had a w i ng sp an of 40 feet(12m). The fu elage had three p a rts , a sfollows:The forward part of the f u se lag e - f ro m

the leading edge o f t he wing to the prop el l er - w as p ur el y the engine compart men t tha t housed the Rolls-RoyceMerlin.The central part of the fuselage essentially, the area above the w in g) w as a llcockpitand equipment. The cockpit hoodw as a sliding arrangement of rectangularappearance, providing one easy wayof distinguishing the Hurricane from the pitfire. The front windscreenwas bullet-proofa nd o n t op of t he h ood w as a r e ar - vie wmirror. Immediately in front o f t h e pilot,and behind hisscat, was armour-plating, to

should pre ent a series of expan ion plansfor rearming the armed force, to assure thesecurity of Britain s world-wide commitments. The first, Expansion Schemeapproved in July 1934, proposed amaximum front-line strength, stated thatt he RAF w ou ld b e r ea dy f or w ar in eightyears time, and identified Germany as themo t likely opponent.The most importantplan, cheme approved i n F eb ru ar y1936, indica ted an overall in cr e as e in a ircraft strength,and propo cd tha t the RAFshould have in service 500 Hurricanes and300 Sp itf ire s b y March 1939. By coincidence,the scheme was announced in thesame y e ar a s the RAF changed its structure. These changes led to the formation ofFighter ommand, under Air Marshal SirHugh Dowding.During 1934, Hawker Aircraft Limited

bought Gloster Aircraft Company, whichhad one o f t h e la rg es t a ir cr a ft f a cto rie inthe country, at Brockworth, near Gloucester. By June 1936, the nameHurricane hadformally been given to the Hawker F.36/34project. The company received a n o rd erfor 600 Hurricanes and production beganimmediately. However, the decision to usean improved Me rl in engine delayed thefinal completion o f t he first productionaircraft (L1547) until the following year.

Early productionaircraft were fitted with fabricwings andailerons. althoughthese had beenreplaced by metal clad wings by theoutbreakof war.

The Hurricane MKI

Lt PoW.S. George Bulman and, accordingto h is r e po r t, initial fears abou t the aircraft s handling qualities p rove d t o beunfounded. In many ways, flying the lowwing loading ofthe monoplanedesignwasde cribed as not dissimilar to flying thesingle- eat biplane fighters o f t he time.More fl ights of K50 3 proved successful,with the aircraft achieving a top peed of325mph(520kph) at 16,500 feet (4950m).

I n F eb ru ar y 1 93 6, K 50 3 w as deliveredto the Aerop laneand Armament Experimental Establishment (A AEE) atMartlesham Heath, where it went throughmore trials before the Hurricanecould beaccepted into RAF serviceThere was only a handful of difference

between K5083 an d t he airframe thatwould soon become the standard production variant. K5083 had tail strut f itte d aa precaution against anticipated buffetingof the tail, but these were soon removed Ital 0 h ad a n early development of wheelfairings for the retractable main undercarriage, a retractable tail-wheel, and a slightlydifferent cockpit hood design. It was powered by the M er li n e ng in eand h a d a tw in bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller,whichw ou ld l at er b e m od if ie d t o a c on tr ol l ab lep it c h d es ig n a nd , l at er , t o a t hr ee -b la de ddesign withsome variationsbeing made ofmetal, and some of wood). The engineexhaustswere al 0 different on K 50 3 , w i t hmore of ast ubdesign; the production aircraftwould laterhaveflame-trapexhausts or ejector exhausts. Gentle dives showed that theaircraft wascapable of 310mph(495kph)or3,150rpm, whichevercame first.

SchemeThe lack of stability i n E ur op e l ed theGovernment to suggest t h at t he military

irst lights nd TrialsBy la te 1 9 35 , the prototype was finished.The f ir t f li gh t of K50 3 was made fromBrooklands on 6 ovember 1935; theoverall silver appearance o f t he aircraftw as a spectacular sight. The pilot w as Fit

leaving a smooth surface free of drag.This inwardly retracting undercarriage

w as u nlik e that o f t h e Hurricane s counterparts, the pitfire a nd t he Messerschmitt Bf 109. Thi design feature meantthat the Hurricane had a w ide w h ee l track- the distance between the t wo m ai nwheels was wider thanon others - and thismade the Hurri ane s t ab le but e as y t omanoeuv re o n t he ground. The undercarriage was hydraulically operated, andthere was a secondary method - ahydraulic hand pump - to lower the undercarriage in theeven to fan emergency.The outer wing sections were also built

on two spar, similar in construction to thecentre ection. Ailerons fitted on the trailin g e d g e had a m e ta l f r am e wo r k but werefabric-covered. The canti levertail sectionalso had a m et al f ra me wo rk with fabriccovering. The fin was built integral to therear fuselage, a nd t he original design prov ide d f or the tail-wheel t o r e tr a ct into ac a sin g in the rear section o f t h e fuselage.

ncetabs fitted tothe rudder andelevators.

tail section consistedof thetai l . fabric coveredelevators.

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Performancefiguresfor Merlin II/III Engines erlinII Merlin I II erlinII Merlin III Merlin II erlinIII

R 3 000 3 000 2 600 2 600 2 200 2 200BH P 1 225 1 100 980 960 700 690BOOST 10 +9.8 +6.2 +5.9 +2.5 +2

n earlyHurricane klshowingthe two-bladedpropeller and machine-gun ports. the bottom of the cockpit. T herea r ed u n de r ca r r ia g e warning lighin trument panel; this cameon wthe throttle was less than one-thia nd t h e wheelswere notdow n and

The emergency undercarriage-system was activated by selectingcarriage down in the n o rm a l wthen by o pe r at i ng t h e hydraulp u mp . I f this did not work, the pioperate a red-painted f oo t p edreleased the w h ee l lo ck , and thecarriage could fall and lock downown weight.

The w h ee l b r ak e s a nd t he gmechanism were operated pneumAir was stored in a cylinder, at a mpressure o f 3 0 0 p.s.i., and provideservices by an engine-driven comThe w h ee l b r ak e le v er w as lo ca tecontrol column, w ith a catch to rbrakes on f or p ar ki ng . A t ri pl eg a ug e f o rw a rd o f t he c on tr olshowed the a ir p r es s ur e in the pn

y t e m a n d a t e a ch brake.The Hurricane w as f itte d w ith

which allowed it to operate at allaThe oxygen bottle w as lo ca te d jthe pilot sposition o n t h e st8rho8

carriage s el e ct or a n d fl ap l eve r wassufficient tooperate it. The leverwas situated o n t he r ig ht s ide of t h e c o ck p it a n dh ad a neutral position for both undercarriage and flaps. To operate the flaps, thes e lec to r le ve r w as m o ve d to the outboardposition a nd t he flap indicator, situatedbelow the selector lever, showed the position of the f la ps , m a rk e d UP andDOW ext to the leverwas an undercarriage elector safety catch, d e sig ne d top r ev e nt i n ad v er t en t e l ec t io n o f wheelsup while the aircraft was o n t he ground.The c at ch h ad to be turned clockwisebefore the selector lever could b e m o ve di n to t h e wheels up position.

The under a r ria ge p o s itio n indicatorwas located o n t h e top left part of the maininstrument p a ne l. I t w as e lec tr ic a lly p ow ered and consisted of tw o p air s of light:green to show that each main wheelwa int h e d o w n a n d locked position, and red tohow that t h e m a in w he el s w er e u p and

locked. There wa a dimmer s w itc h in thec en tr e o f t he i nd ic at or for night flying.When the wheelswere up, the pilotc ouldsee them through t w o s ma ll w in do ws i n

wasfitted t o t h e rear o f t h e leftside o f t h ecockpit and there w as a r ed p o we r f a ilu rewarning light o n t h e leftside o f t h e m a ininstrument panel, marked POWER FAILU RE , w hi c h c a m e o n w he n t h e g e n er a to rwas not chargingthe accumulator.

Apart from the v a rio us a ir cr a ft in str uments, gauges and aircraft services select or s, e le ct ri ca l p ow er was p ro vi de d t omany different switches. Working aroundthe cockpit, f r om le ft to right, electricalpowerwas provided to the following: radiomaster switch, cockpit lighting, landingla mp s , w e a po n s w itc he s , heated clothingsocket, navigation l igh ts, w in ds c r ee n d ei ci ng p um p, and IFF identificationfriend-or-foe ) switches.H y dr a ulic p r es s ur e w a u se d to operatethe Hurricane s undercarriage and flaps; anengine-driven hydraulic pump providedt h e c o rr e ct o pe r at i ng p re s su r e. A handpump was located o n t he right side o f t h ecockpit f or u se in an emergency should thehydraulic system pressure fail i n t he caseo f a n e ng in e failure or a h y dr a ulic pumpfailure). For the pilot the y s te m w as e as y- straightforward operation o f t h e under-

The Hurricane M k l u se d 1 00 octane fueland w as b ui l t w it h t wo m ai n s el f- se al in gfuel tanks, o n e o n e i th e r side o f t h e c e n t r es e ct i on o f t h e fuselage, each holding 33gallons 150 lines). In addition, there wasa r e se r ve t an k o f 2 ga ll ons 127 litres)fitted between the fire-proof bulkheadandthe instrument panel in the front sectiono f t h e aircraft. T hesethree tank gave thel urricane a to tal of94 g al l on 4 27 litre)of fuel. The f ue l f ee d to the engine was bya n e n gi n e- d ri v en f ue l p um p. Normaloperation w as t o u se f ue l f ro m t he m ai ntanks before changing over t o t h e reserve,although i t wa s p os si bl e t o use the fuelfrom the reserve tank first.

For the pilot, the operation o f t h e fuelsy tem wa quite simple. The main fuelcockcontrol was s i tu a te d o n t h e left sideofthe cockpit and w as f itte d w ith a s p rin glo ad e d s a fe ty p late , which prevented thefuel inadvertently being turned off. Thefuel contents g au g e w as lo c ate d o n t her ig ht s ide of the instrument panel, abovewhich w as a g a ug e selector switch markedP OR T C E TRE-STBD . By selectingany of the main or r e e r ve t an k t he pilotcould see h ow m uc h fuel remained ineach. ext t o t he content g au ge w as afuel-pressure warning light. The normaloperating pressure for the fuel system was8-10 p.s.i. If the fuel-pressure warning lightc a me o n w he n o p er a ti n g a t high altitude,nominally above 20,000 feet 6000m),showing that the p re ss ur e w as b el ow 6p.s.i., the pilot wa a bl e t o p re s ur iz e themain and reserve tanks by operating a fueltank pressurizing cock, fitted t o t he leftside of the cockpit and marked A T MO PHERE and PRE S RE .

The a i rc ra f t w as f it t ed w i th a 1 2- vo l tgenerator that supplied the electricalservices. The generator s w itc h w as f itte dt o t h e leftside o f t h e cockpit. voltmeter

Aircraft Systems

p l at i ng t o p r ot e ct the pilot. The coolanty st em w as thermostatically controlled,

t h e r a di a to r b ei n g b y- pa s e d u nt i l thecoolant reached the required temperature.Coolant temperature ranged between 140degrees Fahrenheit 60 degreesc e nt i gr a de ) , t h e m i ni m um f or ta ke - of f ,and 275 degrees Fahrenheit 135 degreescentigrade), the maximumduringcombat.The airflow t hr ou gh t he r ad ia to r wascontrolled b y a f la p le v e r o n t h e l ef t i de ofthe cockpit.

The ControlsThe throttle lever was s i tu a te d o n t h e leftside of the cockpit. The airflow throught h e c o ol a nt radiator and oil cooler wascontrolled b y a le ve r on the leftside of thepilot sseat. The carburettor was controlledby a slow-running cut-out, operated bypulling out a knob o n t h e right side of thecockpit. A n external powersupply for the

t a rt e r m o to r was connected through apanel o n t he starboard engine cowling.Alternatively, two handles for hand-starting the engine w er e s tow e d in the undercarriage recess. Engine-starting wascarriedout by s wi tc hi ng o n t he t wo i g ni t io nswitches o n t h e leftside ofthe main instrumentpaneland using a starter push buttonand boostercoil push button, both locatednext to the ignitionswitches.

The engine self-sealing oil tank, w ith acapacity of9 g a llo ns 4 0 .5 litre ) ,w a s builti n to t h e forward p ar t o f t h e p o r t wing, justinboard from the fuselage, and protectedby armour-plating. Oil was fed to theengine through a f i lt er and cooler. Oi Ipressure a n d t e mp e ra t ur e g au ge s w er efitted o n t he right side o f t h e m ai n instrument panel. Oil pressurewas normally 6080 p .s .i. , w ith a m i ni m um o f 45 p.s.i. Oiltemperature ranged between 5 9 d e gr e esFahrenheit 15 degreescentigrade), whichwas t h e m i ni m um t e mp e ra t ur e f or ta ke off, and 2 21 d eg re es Fahrenheit 105degrees centigrade),the maximum permitt ed i n combat.

Immediately b eh in d t he e ng in e waslocated t he h ea de r t an k for t h e e ng i ne

oolant, containing two gallons of glycoland air. Behind t he h ea de r t an k, a ndimmediately in front of the cockpit, w er e afire-proof bulkhead for obvious reasons),the reserve fuel t a nk , a n d some armour-

identical to that o f t h e M k l l , b u t t h e modified engine p ro ve d t o b e m or e r el ia bl e.One o f t he main d iff e re n ce s w as in thedesign o f t h e propeller shaft, which meantthat either a Ro to l or a de Havilland prop e lle r c o uld b e f itte d. The engines werebuilt by Rolls-Royce at Derby and Crewe.

ed the design ofthe mainriagelater provedto b e o n e ofthe

ane sstrengthswhen operatingfrom ruggeds.

exhaust werefitted, and other modto the airframe made, including

to the undercarriage legfairings,a m or e rounded windscreen.

performance of the improvedIII, developed in 1 9 39 , w as almost

ction Hurricanes were soon fitted with aeel.

14 15


10/99

DESIGN N EVELOPMENT D ES IG N A D EVELOPMENT

was one ofthe firstbatch of 600 Mklsbuilt by Hawker, and entered service during 1938.

TIME2mins4mins 30 se6mins 30 se9mins 30 se13 mins

35 OOOfl/10500m36 000ft/10800m2 420ft/min at 125m/min at 330

SPEED MPH/KPH168/269180/288196/314213/341232/371

SERVICE CEILINGABSOLUTE CEILINGMAX RATE OF CLIMB

Time to altitude, HurricaneMkl

Ceings and rate of climb, Hurricane

FROM TAKE-OFF TOALTITUDE FT/Ml5 000/150010 000/300015 000/450020 000/600025 000/7500

flaps lowered to reduce the speedas possible; the undercarriage,should remain up. The a t ti t ud e ocraft on ditching should be tail-clbankecl turn, to prevent the radiat

RANGEIN MILES/KM830/1330800/1280775/1240730/1170695/1112

Bestrange andspeeds at various altitudes, HurricaneMklHEIGHT FT/Ml

5 000/150010 000/300015 000/450020 000/600025 000/7500

Hurricanes of 56 Squadron before the war. At that time,the aircraft s identification letter wasnoton the rearfuselage, bu t is justvisible underthe exhaust manifold.

panel the hood had to be fully opened andthe release lever, located o n t h e right sideof the cockpit, moved aft and upwards. Ifit was necessary tojettisonthe hood, therewas a hood lever o n t he left s ide o f t hec oc kp it ; t hi s h ad t o b e operated sharplyforwards and upwards. If necessary , thepilot could furtherassist the hood bypushing it upwards. The pilot s notes for theHurricane alsoadvise the pilot to lowerhishead in the case of h o od j e tt i so ni n g, t oavoid any possible injurylIf the pilot had to make a forced landingon the ground, the recommended procedure was to move the propeller speed control fully aft and gliding a t a b ou t 1 30 m ph 208kph). W it h t he undercarriage andf laps up the gliding speed was between120-140mph l90-225kph) ,wi th a v er yflatglide angle. Over the sea it was recommended t h a t t h e pilot should abandon theaircraft rather than trying to ditch. However, if ditching was t h e o nl y answer, thecockpit hood should be jettisonedand the

th is was never a problem. A s soon as theaircraft was off the ground, the undercarriage was raised. In order to carry out thisslightlyawkward technique,the pilot slefthand would h a ve t o c o me off the throttleto hold t h e c o nt r ol c o lu m n, while theright hand transferred to the undercarriageselector lever. To avoid a n y c h a nc e o f t o omany revs in f ine p it ch , t he preferredtechnique was to throttle back wh ilemaintaining a slightly steep climb beforeraising the undercarriage, after w hich thehands could once again swap position, tochange the pitch and reduce the boost. Forsome pilots o n t h ei r firstsolo, and for a fewtrips after, the undercarriage safety catchcertainly caused problems, and i t was notunusual to see the aircraft d ip d ow n a tthi s point This slightly complicatedtechnique was not necessary on the laterva ri ant s o f Hur ric ane, whi ch hadconstan t-speed propellers; the rpm was set,and left during the selection of undercarriage up .)

After take-off, t h e h oo d wasclosed andthe seat re-positioned once again. The allround view out of the cockpit wasdescribed as extremely good. At cruisingspeed the controls felt comfortable andstable; the ailerons remained light andvery responsive. During hard manoeuvring,however, it was easy for the pilot tobe too aggressive and pull more eithert ha n h e was used to, or was comfortablyable to take.For landing , the speed was ini t ia llyreduced to 1 50 mp h 2 40 kp h) w he n t h ewheels were lowered. The final approachwas carried o u t a t about90mph l45kph),with the propeller in fine p it ch a nd t hef laps sele cted d own . Al th ou gh t hestalling speed was not much less than theapproach speed, typically a b ou t 7 0 mp h llOkph), the H urricane wasdescribed bysome as relativelysimple to land, althoughcarehad to be taken not to lose too muchspeed duringthe final approach,due to thedrag of the aircraft.

If the pilot had to abandon the aircraftin flight, the recommended procedure wasto decrease speed a nd t h en dive o v er t h eside. It was important for the pilot not tos ta nd o n t he seat before jumping, a s thi swou ld resul t in h im h it ti ng t he aircraft stail-plane. Of cou rse, i t was not alwayspossible for the pilot to follow this recommended procedure

For a r ap id ground exit, there was anemergency detachable panel o n t he starboard side o f t h e c o ck pi t . To jettison the

wheel o n t h e leftside ofthe cockpit, w ithan associated indicator next to i t. Rudderbalance was controlled by a small controlwheel, also situated on the left side o f t h ecockpit. The flying controls c ou ld b elocked by attaching a b ra ck et t o thecontrol column - justbelow the spade grip,for locking the aileron controls, and twos trut s, for locking the rudder b ar andcontrol column.

As with any ta il-wheeled aircraft, inorder to taxi the pilot needed to heable tosee around the nose o f t h e aircraft, so thes e at o f t h e H u rr i ca n e had to be as high aspOSSible As little time as possible wass pe nt o n t he ground, particularly in hotclimates, to avoid any c ha nc e o f t heengine over-heating.

Once the aircraft was ready, the seat wasre-positioned, the t rim s et , the fuelmixture set to r ich, t h e t h ro t tl e frictiontightened, the pitch s et to f in e, the flapstested, and the radiator half-closed.

D uring the first p ar t o f t h e take-offrun,the aircraft would occasionally swing, but

Flying th e Hurricane

a combat-capable Mkl i nc re as ed to6,6001b (3000kg).

The main instrument panel o n t he Hurricane M kl was l oc at ed c e nt r al l y a n dconsisted o f t he s ix bas ic f ligh t ins t ru ments, three on t op a nd t hr ee b en ea th .The top row included (from left to right):an airspeed indicator, artif icia l horizon,and a c l im b a n d d e sc e nt indicator. Thebottom row ( from lef t to r igh t) inc luded:an altimeter, direction indicator (compass), and a t u rn a n d slip indicator.

The Hurricane was designed as a longitudin al ly s tab le a ir craf t. The controlcolumn wasa spade-like design and incorporated the gun-firing push button and theparking-brake lever. The rudder b ar wass t an da r d a n d adjustable. The elevatort r im m in g t a b was controlled by a hand

4 910/2232670/305200/90160/73660/3006 600/3000

BARE WEIGHT EMPTYEQUIPMENTPILOT AND FLYING EQUIPMENTAMMUNITIONFUEL AND OILTOTAL WEIGHT

Weights of the HurricaneMkl n Ib/kgl

aircraft. The oxygen supply cock wasatedon the left side o f t h e c o c k pi t a n doxygenregulatorjust to the leftside ofmain instrument panel.

p r ot o ty pe H ur r ic an e h a d beenwith an all-up w eight of 5,700lb

The bare weight o f t h e producH urricane Mkl wasjust over 4,9001b

and more than 650lb (295kg) ofgave the basic weight o f t he

at nearly 5,6001b(2545kg). Armedeight OJ03in Browning machine(see Chapter 4), the all-up weight of

16 17


11/99

DESIGN N EVELOPMENT DESIG N EVELOPMENT

Pilots of 87 Squadron carrying out a briefing for thecamera.

LOCATIONTangmere8iggin HiNorthWeaBiggin HiHenlowDigbyNorthWeaDigbyBiggin HiDebdenDebdenNorthollNorth WeaWitteringFiIonDigbyTangmere

SQUADRON1 Squadron3 Squadron17 Squadron32 Squadron43 Squadron46 Squadron56 Squadron73 Squadron79 Squadron85 Squadron87 Squadron Squadron5 Squadron213 Squadron5 Squadron504 Squadron605 Squadron

RAF Hurricane Squadrons and locatio1September 1939

W9232, another Gloster-built Mkl.speed of345mph (552kph) a t 154500m).The second h al f o f 1 93 9 w a

equipping as many of Fighter Coms q u ad r on s a s p o ss ible w ith the Hand Sp itf ir e, in preparation f or wGermany. By theend ofSep tembthe last aircraft of the first batchHurricanes o rd er e d h ad b ee n comalthough only some 300 had b e eered to the seven teen Fighter Cosquadrons so farequipped. The oteither been delivered overseas orvarious trainingand maintenancethe UK. Although Fighter Commsti II s o me w ay f r om its p r ef e rr e d sthe effort made by the productionmeet ing the demand for the Hr e pr es e nt e d a r em ar k ab le achie

urther fielHawker alsoreceived orders for Hurricanesfrom the Eastern Mediterranean and theMid dle Eas t. Per sia o r d er e d eighteen airc r af t, to b e m o dif ie d with tr op ica l a ir f ilters. However, the f ilte r m o dif ica tion h a dnot been fully adapted by the outbreak ofwar, and only one a irc r af t L2 07 9 ) w asdelivered before t he e nd o f [939. Turkeyr e ce ive d f ifte en u n mo d if ie d H u r ric a ne s inSeptember 1939. Hurricanes were alsosentto Fin la n d, Romania and South Africa,although few of th e se e a rly e x am p le s s awaction during the war. Polandordered oneHurricane f or e v alu a tio n ; th is a ir c r af t w asdelivered just before theGerman invasion.[ n Fe br u ar y 1 9 39 , George Bulman hade st ab l is he d a n ew s pe ed r ec or d for theHurricane in U606. This aircraft carriedthe civil registration ofG-AFKX and hadb e en f itte d w ith a n improved Merlin [[Iengine (with a constant speed uni t a ndRotol constant-speed p r op e lle r ) . Fitte dw ith b a lla st to represen t a ful l weaponload, the aircraft had a n a ll-u p weight of6,4001b 291Okg) and achieved a l ev el

need f or m or e capable combat aircraft.Be lg ium o r d er e d twenty Hurricanes inMarch 1939, the first aircraft beingdelivered the following month. [n addition, acontract was set u p f or a further eightyairc ra ft t o b e built under l ic en c e b y A v ion sFairey in Belgium.[n 1938, Yugoslavia had placed an initialorder with Hawker f or tw e lv e HurricaneM kl s , w i th the f ir st tw o a ir cr a f t (Ll751and Ll752) beingdelivered to Belgrade inDecember 1938. This was followed by asecond order f or i m pr o ve d M k[ s to bedelivered during 1 94 0. I n addition, somefifteen Hurricanes w er e b ui lt underlicencein Belgrade and Zemun, giving theYugoslav Air Force about forty Hurricanesby the t ime it entered the war.

Overseas Contracts

uropeAs the Second World War approached,many European countries recognized the

n dThe initial order for 600 Hurricanes hadsaturated the Hawker production lines atKingston-upon- Thames, Brooklands andLangley. When anot h er o rd er c ame induring 1 93 8, for a f ur th er 1 ,0 00 Hurricanes, Hawker sub-contracted the workout t o i ts other company, Gloster AircraftCompany at Brockworth, near Gloucester.Hurricanes w e re a lso built in Canada bytheCanad ian Carand Foundry Companyof Montreal. Twenty Hurricanes from thefirst batch of aircraftbuilt by Hawker wereshipped to Canada, s o me f or u se a s patternaircraftfor the production variant,and theothers a s tr a in e rs f or theRCAFThe f ir st a ir cr af t b ui l t i n Canada was

P5 17 0 , w h ich b e ga n construction in Feb ruary [939and was completed by the endo f t h e y ea r. I t m ad e i ts r st f ligh t f ro m StHuber t a i rpor t on 1 0 J a nu a r y 1 94 0. Theproduction rate in Canada was m os timpressi ve, and a to ta l of more than 1,400Hurricanes w e re b u ilt inCanada before thee nd o f t he w ar . [ n common with otherB ri t is h a ir cr af t b ui l t under l ic en ce i nCanada, the Canad ian-bu il t Hurr icaneswere designated as Hurricane MkXs. Thesea ir cr a f t w e re p o we r ed by Merlins builtunder l ic en c e in the United States by thePackard Motor Corporation; the engineswere sent bo th to Br ita in and Canada forin s ta llatio n in v a rio us a irc r af t, in clu d in gthe Hurricane and the Lancaster. Packardh a d b e e n granted a licence to produce Merlins in anticipation of a like ly s h or ta ge ofcapacity at Rolls-Royce, although, in theevent, this never p r ov e d to b e a p r ob lem .)

The most s ign if icant modif ica t ion tothe structural design of the aircraft wasto replace the fabric-covered wings withall-metalones. The first Hurricane to befitted with metal-clad w ing s w as U877,which f irs t f lew on 28 Apri l 1938 Thenew wingwas not onlystronger t han theoriginal but also lighter.These modif ica t ions improved the

overall performance of the Mk[,increasing its top speed t o 3 35mph at17,500 feet. However, it would be somet ime b ef or e many p rodu ct i on a ir cr af twere fittedwith the new wings, andmostof the early aircraft were completed withfabric wings.

Whenthe order for Hurricanes increased work was sub-contracted to the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth.This Mkl V6635 wasbuilt at Brockworth. and served with249 Squadron during the Battle of Britain.

taken p lace. The t ai l -w he el h ad b ee nfixed, havingoriginally beendesigned toretract. Th is was to ease the design ofthe a irc raf t and remove the risk of thetail-wheel failing to lower; the mainundercarriage le gs , f or example, couldlower under grav i ty if the hydraulicsystem had completely failed. There wasalso the addition of the fin to the lowerside of the fuselage at the rear, designedto prevent the aircraft from spinning.The engine exhausts w er e a l so furthermod if ie d a nd , e ve nt ua ll y, the twob laded prope lle r was replaced by athree-bladed constant-speed propeller,I I f ee t i n diameter, built by either Rotolo rde Havi l land .

o Service

too early. Then i t w a s a mattervaca ting the aircraft as q ui c kl y a s

There was al so a fi rst ai d kito n t he inside of the de tachab leand a c ro w b ar s to we d t o t he r ig htpilot sseat.

first Hurricanes to enter service withRAFw e re d e liv e re d to SquadronNo rt ho lt ; t he f ir st f ou r a ir fr am es

ar ri ved j ust before1937, with the remainder

delivered during early 1938. On 10ruary 1938, the squadron s

officer, Sqn Ldr John Gillan,the 325 miles (520kph) from

Edinburgh, back to ort hol tminutes - a m o st im pr e ss ive a v er a ge

speed of 410mph (655kph) TheGloster Gauntlets were soonand with in a c ou pl e of months

One Squadron was fully equippedh s i xt e en H ur r ic an es . The second

to be equipped with the newwas 3 Squadron a t Kenley,

er the command of Sqn Ldrh Lester, with the first

t arriving during March. The thirdto equip was 56 Squ ad ro n a t

Weald, under thecommand ofSqnCharles Lea-Cox, which b e ga n to ta ke

of its first Hurricanes j us t a fewks later.the time the t hi rd s qu ad ro n h adequipped, some fifty Hurricanesb ee n d el iv er ed t o t he RAF a nd a

of changes to the basic Mkl h ad

9


12/99

THEF LL OF FR N E

CH PTER TWO

quadwhen

as both sides prepared for the onthat would la ter c om e. This pe r ioknown a t he P ho ne y War , gp i lo t s v a lu a bl e t i me in the air toknow the Hurricane better and towhat its l i mi t at i on s m i g ht l a tecombat. t flying carried outquadrons in F ra nc e c on si s

formation taerics, wi th the ocpatrol a ga ins ta ny r e por te de ne m yFirst EncountersEven during the P honey W a r , ththe occasional early encountert h e H u rr i ca n e pilots and the LuThe RA F s f ir st f i g ht er claim o fcame on 3 0 O c t ob e r 1939, w he nPeter Boy Mould of 1 Squadron dea reconnaissance D o rn i er D o 1 7Hurricane L 42 f ro m V assin co uengagement t o ok p l ac e t o t he w etown of Tout and, such was thprofile of this first success, Mouldan im m e diate a w ar d o f t h e Di tinFlying C ro s D FC ). H e w e nt o nwith the squadron throughout thof France and was eventually cr e l is e ven c onf ir m e d k i ll s b efo r e r e tuthe UK.

A nother young Hurricane pilotan early impact in France wasCobber Kain of 73 Squa dron. H ethe first ace five confirmo f t h e war.

The first victory for 5achieved on 21 November,

LOCATIONOctevilleRauen

howed it elf well capable of operatingf r om l ess than p e rf e ct t ri ps , the underc a rr ia ge pr oving a n i de al d e si g n f or suchoperations. However, there was l i t tle a iractivitydu ring the early months of the war

SQUADRONSand 73 Squadrons85and 87 Squadrons

Hurricanedeploymentto France 9 September 1939ORGANIZATION

SF irComponent

Pilotsand ground crews with a souvenir of an early success, Lille Seclin, November 1939.

Early Days

the Hurricane, injuly 1 93 . S i m i l ar l y , thetwo Debden squadrons, 5 and 7

quadrons commanded by qn Ldrs j.O.Oliver a nd j .S . D ew ar respectively) hadboth b ee n e qu ip pe d w it h G la di at or s,converting to the Hurricane throughoutthe ummer of 1938.

T he Ph on e yW a rFollowing t h e G e rm a n a dva nce thr oughPoland i t w as unclear exactly what wouldhappen next. The French felt reasonablys e cur e w ith the Ma ginot Line and Britain scontribution of s e nding the BEF and foursquadrons of Hurricanes was as muchpolitical as m i l it ar y; these Br i ti sh f o rceswere intended to upplement the Frenchf or ce , w hic hc ons is ted ofabout ,000 air-craft of al l t y pes.

The fir t Hurricanes to be sent to Fr a nc ew e re v e ry e a rl y M k ls , which w er e f abr i c-covered a nd h ad two-bladed propellers.Considering its short period in service, theHurricane proved a most reliable fighter atthat ti me . It was stable i n f li gh t and Hurricanes of 85 Squadronpicturedat Lille Seclin during an inspection by King George VI Decem

a n o r ga n iz at i on k n o wn as t he A ir C om ponent, under t h e c o m m an d o f t h e AO ,Air Vice-Marshal C H. B . Blount, OBEMC The overall c o mm a nd o f t h es e t woair organizations was g i ve n t o Air MarshalA .S. B a rr a tt, C B C M G MC

To FranceThe f ir st f ou r H ur r ica ne s qua dr ons allarrived in France on 9 September 1939.The original i nt en ti on o f all fours qua dr ons f or ming the Air C omponentwas unsound, as the AASF had no fightersquadrons attached to it. Therefore, i t w asdecided that t w o H u rr i ca n e s q ua d ro n s1 and 73 quadrons) would be attachedto the AA F under t h e c o nt r ol of 67W in g, w hi le the other t w o s q ua d ro n sremained as the A ir C omponent, underthe control of 60 Wing b as ed in theRouen- Boosarea. To replace the tw o H urr ic ane qua dr ons tr a ns f e rr e d from the AirComponent, tw o G la dia tol s qua dr ons 607 and 615 quadrons) were sent toFr anc e ,unde r the control of 61 Wing.

The two Hurricane squadrons attachedto t he A A F I and 73 Squadrons) werelocated a t O c te v il l e with 85 and 87S q u ad r on s , b o t h p a rt o f t h e A ir C om po nent, based at R o ue n . A l l four squadronsw er e a s experienced as any other in theRA F a t t h e t i m e; a II had formedduri ng therapid build- up pr ogra m m e of 1938, andhad pent a y e ar to eighteen months gaining e x p er i en c e w i th t h e H u rr i ca n e, andde ve loping ta ctic s in pr e par a tion for war.W h e n t h e or de r c a m e for the squadrons todeploy to France, I Squadron commande d by qn Ldr Bull Halahan) h a d b e eno ne o f two H ur r ic a ne qua drons at Tangm e re . B as ed t h er e s i nc e 192 , it hadoperated the Hawker F u ry as part o f t hefighter defence for the UK throughoutthemid-1930s, before converting to theHurricane in October 1 93 8. B as ed atDigby, 73 S quadron commanded by SqnLdr j.w. M or e) h ad b ee n e qu ip p ed w it hGloster Gladiators before converting to

would need fifty fighter quadrons i f i t w ast o s ta nd a c ha nc e o f de f e nding B r ita inagainst a German attack, and that figureh ad b ee n assessed to meet t he t hr ea tcoming from Germany. Should Franceandthe Low Countries be invaded, then fiftysquadrons w ou ld be a b ar e minimum, athe threat w o u ld b e that much cl oser, so i tw as v i tal that Franceshould not fall.

When Prime Minister eville Cham-b er la in m ad e t h e d ec is io n to send theBritish Expeditionary F or ce B EF ) toF r ance, i t consisted mainly of Fairey Battleand Bristol B le nhe im light b o m b er . T h eyw e re a s i g ne d to an organization known asthe Advanced A ir t ri ki ng Force AASF),under t h e c o mm a nd of t he A ir OfficerCommanding AO ) AASF, Air Vice-M a r h a l PH.B. P la yfa ir, B CV O MCThese aircraft w o ul d b e n o m a tc h for anyGerman fighters, so four quadrons of Hurr i can es, a total of ninety- ix aircraft, weresent to pr ovide fighter protection as part of

he all rance

for the pilots of 87 Squadronat Lille Seclin, November 1939.

the outbreak of t he e co n d W o rl d War,RAF h ad j us t o ve r 1,500 front-line

aircraft, with up to another 2,000reserve. The figures may sound impres-

b u t j us t over 500 were front-lineers, with around 300 more i n r eser v e,

i l e t h e Luftwaffe pote ntia lly ha d s om ea irc r af t av ai lab l e; i n this context,

s ituation can be s ee n t o b e f ar moreThe pr oduc tion r a te of Hurricanes

st ead y, but t h e e n ti r e fighter rein-e m e nt pr ogra m m e was still a fewbehind schedule. Some 6 0 H ur ri

h a d b e en c o mp l et e d, b u t o n l y halfs er vi ng w it h F ig ht er Command s

- l ine qua drons . C ons ider ing the factHurricane was Britain s front-line

a t t he outbreak of war, and thatseventeen fighter s qua dr ons ha d so

b e en e q ui p pe d , t h e R A F was still somehort of full strength. It h ad b ee n

ssed b ef or e the war t ha t t he RA F

20


13/99

TH F LL O F F RA CE TH F LL O F F RANCE

L1767 at Martlesham Heath during the PhoneyWar .

LK an aircraft of 87 Squadron. Tletter, p ai nt ed on t he right sideroundel, identified an individual athat squadron. The Hurricane sqin France a lso had unit markingtai an aircraft of 85 Squadron hadhexagon, and an aircraft of 87 Sqwhite arrow.

The Battle of France,May 1940 ay 94For t he RA F i n F ra nc e t he schanged on 10May 1940, when tairwar began.

With hindsight, the PhoneyWahave been bet ter used with respere in forcement of Hurr icanes t oVital information gained from resance sorties and intelligence dufirst week of May had fai led to ccertain powers that a German invthe Low Countries was imminesudden German advance duringhours of daylight on F ri da y,s eemed to catch many by surp

LOCATIONVassncourtRouvresLille/SeclinLille/Seclin

SQUADRON1 Squadron73 Squadron85 Squadron87 Squadron

RAF Hurricane Squadronsand locations inFrance, February 1940

the ground hadbeen unsure of an aircraft sidentity and had taken shots at it anyway.This had a lso happened in the air, withnervous pilo ts mis-identify ing aircraft. Infact, th is problem was not just associatedwith France; i t wou ld continue to be aproblem duri ng t he early stages o f t heBattle of Britain, and, indeed,would nevergo away throughout the war (and neverr ea ll y h as ). H owev er , p ai nt in g t heruddersseemed to put the Hurricane pilotsmore at their ease.

The other ways of identifying the individual Hurricane squadrons was by thecode letters pain t ed on the fuselage t o t heleft of the roundel; for example, VYidentified an aircraft of 85 Squadron and

o f t he P ho ne y War proved politicallypet ty to the military. RAFbomber crewswere not allowed t o b om b targets onGerman soil, for fear of reprisals againstthe F re nc h. I n addit ion, neighbouringcountriessuch as Belgium, still neutral atthat stage, did not want t o be s ee n to beinvolving themselves; in one inc i den t,Sqn Ldr W Coope of 87 Squadron had toforce-land his Hurricaneon a main road inB el gi um e ar ly i n November, a nd th eaircraft was interned by the Belgians. Thisturned out to b e the first of many examplesof Hurricanes being interned. (Of course,the situation was later to change Indeed,Brita in supplied the Belgian Air Forcewithsome Hurricanes earlyin the war, andmor e - eventually about for ty in total were built under licence in Belgium.)

Hurricanes of 87 Squadronat Lil leSeclin,March 1940 during a practice air attack.

Identifying ircraftTher e h ad b een increasing problems ofidentification during the early months ofthe war , s o the rudders of the RAFHurricanes were painted in full red , whiteand blue vertical stripes. There had beenseveral occasions when French gunners on

fields during the wintermonths,There was a generalwish not to risk too

many front-line Hurricane squadrons inFrance, so the four Hurricane squadronswere supplemented by two squadrons ofGladiator Mkls(607 and 615 Squadrons),which moved to Merville on 5Novemberto reinforce t he A ir Componen t o f t heBEE A month later, both squadronsmoved to Vitry-en-Artois, whe re t he ywould remain until re-equipping withHurricanes during March and April 1940.

As the year c ame t o an end, the period

Vassin cour t a few day s later . The twosquadrons initiallybased at Rouen, 85 and87 Squadrons, were both re-Iocated to rvi Ile a t the end of September, andthen on to Lille a t the beginning ofNovember.

Accommodat i on and working conditions for the pilots and ground crewsserving in France var ied f rom extremelylavish to v ry basic (wooden huts) ,depending on the location. Most o f t hea ir fi elds were of poor quality, anddeteriorated t o no th ing more than muddy

Pilots of 73 Squadron were amongthe first involvedin the air fighting overFrance towards t he e nd o f 1939ll three ofthese pilots achievedfame duringthe campaign: leftto r ight) Fg Off Ginger Paul, Fg Off

Fanny Orton.and the legendaryFg Off Cobber Kain.

it ions in Francethe pi lots and ground crews o f t he

squadrons the first few monthsbusy, not because of extensive air

iv ity but because o f th e n umb er ofthe s qua dr on s m ad e, F or 73

after its first arrival in France atHavre, there were moves to cteville

Norrent Fontes a t t heendof September,to Rouvres on 9 October. At the

t ime , 1 Squadron also left OctevilleNorrent Fontes, before moving on to

i e L ee d es tr oy ed a He nearlogne, Educated a t Char t erhouse,

Hugh Anthony Lee had alwaysdestined for a career in the RAF,

Lord Trenchard as a godfather l HetheRAF in 1935 a t t h e age of just

teenand was among the first to arriveF ra nc e i n September. The number of

achieved by Lee over France is unbut is believed to have been nine;

was awarded the DFC in March 1940,wed bya Distinguished ervice Order

in May, S ad ly , f or L ee , the warvedto bea relatively short one; he was

chasing three Bf 110s out to s e a 8August 1940.

Howell sufferedfromearly politicalwhen heforce-landedhis Hurricanein

umin December1939 andhad to retreaty acrossthe Frenchborder.

22 23


14/99

TH F LL OFFR NCE TH F LL OFFR NCE

Belgium. More pat rol s were f loH urricanes of 56 quadron whbeen moved from its base a t N o rt hto G ravesend and of 7 quadronhad b e en d e ta c he d from De bM a rt l es h am H e at h . A l th o ug h aGroup asset, a nd n ot formally asse i t he r t h e AA F or A ir C omponHurricanep ilot of 7 Squadron wmuch in t h e t h ic k of the actionlarly during the late afternoon whbecame caught up with Bf 109s pat h e D u tc h sector. The result o f t hair hattie which followed was threeand two HS 126s destroyed; thekills were c re di te d t o S qn LdrTomlinson Fg Off Dickie MeredS gt C harles Pavey, with the two Hbeing destroyed by Fg Off Jel lardandS gt Wynn. The quadron alsoshowever, with four Hurricanes shotwop i lot s, F it L t Michae l D onneOffGeorge Slee, werekilled, a n d t htwo were taken as pri oners of war

Throughout I 1 May the Luftwacontinued attacks against Frenchfrom first Iight, and across the loBelgium the storywa m u ch t h e sathe H urricane pilots the day progrvery m uc h t he a me way a the pday. This time, however, there eebe n o p ar ti cu la r p at te rn t o t heU nlike the first day, which had eefollowing the dawn attack thererest on II May, with attacks hy Do

25

May 94The following day, m or e H ur r ic a ne sbecame involved in the air battle . TwelveH ur r ic an e s o f 32 Squadron based atBiggin Hil l , were s en t t o Ypenburg in

de t royed. Mo re t ha n 2 00 H ur ri ca neorties had be n f lown ; for ty -two enemyaircraft were confirmed a de troyed, forthe loss of seven Hurricane.

Hurricane operating bases northern France

South fr ican acePit Off lbertLewis of 85 Squadron who achieved seven kills in France during theweek 12 19 May

with much confu ion and uncertainty. Allacross northern F ra nce , as far as theBelgian and Luxembourg border Hurricanes from each squadron h ad b ee ncrambled t o m ee t the first waves o f t he

G erman attack. By .00 a.m. things hadbecome relatively q ui et a nd t he A ir S ta ffback in England began t o p u t i n to a c t i o n areinforcement plan. Three mor e l ur ri cane squadrons were immediately sent toFrance. During the early afternoon 67Wing was strengthened at B etheniville bythe arrival of sixteen Hurricanes of 50 ISquadron from Tangmere. The squadronwa immediately in action and by the lateafternoon had claimed i ts f ir st k il l - a DoI7 n o rt h o f Vouziers, shotdow n by Fg OffDerrick Pickup. The other two squadron3 and 79 Squadrons were s e nt t o reinforceMerv il l e. In addition f li gh t w er e a ls omoved a ro un d w it hi n the s ec tor , I

quadron providing aircraft to Berry-auBac, and 7 quadron moving to Lille toreinforce the central area.

The p a tt e rn d ur i ng t h e a f t e rn oo n o f May wasvery m uc h t h e a me as during thef ir t hou rs ; Hurricanes being cram bled,engaging t he e ne my a nd t he n landing,refuelling and scrambling aga in . I th ad , infact, a lso been a bitter day of fighting forth French Belgian and D utch pilots. Forthe H urricane pilots, darkness brought toa n e n d a day that none would ever forget.Large ections of the French, D u tc h a n dB el gia n a ir f orces h ad a lr ea dy been

Northern FranceThe same air battle over northern Franceduring the early hours of 10 Maysaw fiveHurricanes of 1 quadron scrambled fromVassincourt to patrol the Metz area. Theysoon encountered a lone Do 7 on areconnaissance sortie, and promptly shotit down near Dun-sur-Meuse. At Vitry-enA r to i s t h e s to ry had been s im i la r for 607Squadron; operating in sections of threethe pilots m e t a n yt h in g f rom a s in gl ereconnais ance aircraft to a force of fortybombers. Down to the south-east near theborder with Luxembourg, two sections ofHurricanes one each f rom 87 Squadronand 607 Squadron had joined forces toattack two reconnaissance HS 126s;d u ri n g t h e following few m in ut e b ot hwere hot down both were credited to gtGareth owell.

The n hours of d ay l ig ht h a d b e en afrantic periodfor the Hurricane quad ron ,

Thionville. The same bombers were alsointercepted by f ou r H ur ri ca ne o f 7S quadron; one Do 7 wa shot down byHarry Mitchell bringing the second kill ofthe morning both for t h e q u ad r on a n d forMitchell.

Hurricanes of 5 Squadron and 607Squadron had also been scrambled to meetthe first wave of attack. The former scrambled from Lille to meet a group of Hs 126sand us Leading Red ection was FI t LtBob Boothby, w ho d e t royed a Ju nearMons. Alsoscrambled, to patrol thesectoro f t h e M a gi n ot L in e, wa s 1 q u ad r on a tVassincourt; t he y h ad to wait a n h ou rbefore i g ht i ng t h e enemy. Leading theection Fit Lt Prosser H anks shot down aDo 17. At the same time, another sectionof 73 Squadron had been scrambled tomeet mor e Do 17s approaching Rouvres.

Tempora ri ly b ased a t S en on 87Squadron was a ls o in a c t io n d ur i ng t h efirst two hour s of the battle. Thesquadron s first victoryo f t h e daywas credited to Fg Off Harry Mitchell w ho shotdown a Do 7 to the south-west of Senona t 4 . 30 a.m. Less t ha n h al f a n h ou r later,twomore Hurri anes of73 quadron werescrambled from Rouvres. Fg O ff C obberKain destroyeda Do 7 t o t h e east ofMetzhis sixth confirmed kill o f t h e war. hortlyafterwards, the squadronachieved i ts e cond kill o f t he m or ni ng w he n it commanding officer, Sqn Ldr J.W.c. More,de t royed a r ec on na i a nc e H e III near

Pilots of 56 Squadronat North Weald during spring 1940. Picturedleft to r ightare Fg OffHolden SKnowles OC56 Squadron FIL Coghlan PitOffWicks PitOffSuttonand PitOffDryden This squadronwas heavilyinvolvedin the air fighting overFranceand detached acrossthe Channel on a regularbasis

24

t he Fr ench Ar me e de l Airsome 600 fighters, many of

were almost obsolete . evertheless,e that were not obsolete looked to be

force, w hencombined with thereinforcements. As p ar t of the2nd Regiment Escadrille 2/1/2hadit t r en gt h e l ev en H ur r ic a ne that

the survivors from Belgium.e Low Countries

main German advance through theountries began a t a b ou t 4.00 a.m.

that day there were s ix Hurricaneavailable to meetthe onslaught:

quadron was based at Vassincourt towest of Nancy, 73 Squadron at Rou

s, 85 S quadronat Lille, 87 S quadronat607 S quadron at Vitl y-en- rtois ,615 quadron was operating in two

hts from Merville and Abbeville.s da wn broke, and t he Germanbegan, Hurricanes were immedi

to meetthe air threatoverand northern France. The first

to engage t he e ne my wereof 73 q u ad r on w h i ch h ad b e enled from Rouvres to meet a groupofbombers a t ta c ki n g t h e airfield.


15/99

K Drydenwith parachuteat Doverrai l station

l s throughout the day. This time,was morefighter escort evident, wi th

bombers being backed up by Bf I lOs,Bf 109 s car ry ing out various sector

The d ,y ended with the Hurri aneclaiming more than fifty enemy air

during the day, for the lossi r t e n Hurricanes.areth Nowelld been a busyday fo r the pi lots of 7

and in particular for gt Garethe ll . Bor n i n Cheshire, 27-year-old

wa one of t he q ua dr on s o ld erHe hadalreadyclaimed hisfirst v icd ay earlier w h en h e s h o t d o wn a

I 0 near Longwy, followed t h e n e x t daytwo H 126s and a Do 17 confirmed,a fu rth er Do 17 shared. The quadronds were subsequently lost during theevacuation from France, but he isd to h av e s ho t d ow n a t least four

e Do 17s on 11 May. He wasawardedimmediate Distinguished Flying Medal

and bar,with a citationstatingthat

THEF LL O F F RA CE

he had destroyed twelve enemy aircraftduring the week. It ha become impossibleto confirm ordeny this claim- some ofthesuccesses were probably shared with otherp ilot s - but owell s was undoubtedly aremarkable a c hi e ve m en t , a n d s uc h n um bers also emphasize the ferocity of the airwar over France.

Nowell was laterseriously w ounde d a ndburnt during an engagement inJune. Aftera long per iod of recovery, he returned tooperational f ly ing ami wa eventuallycredited with ten in div idua l k il ls ,although thisfiguremay havebeen as highas sixteen. y 94By 12 May the German advance wab e gi n ni n g t o make significant progresintoH ollandand through Belgium.Hurricanes of 151 q ua d ro n had also enteredt h e a r en a, h av i ng d e ta c he d from NorthWeald t o M ar t le sh a m H e at h . It m adesen se to car ry out pat rol s f rom bases insouthern England, as t he e rma n aireffortwasvery much againstFrench and Belgianairfields. The lurricane was an ideal

26

aircraft for the e p at ro ls - i t was only ashortdistance to the area, a nd t he Hurricane s fuel economymeant that i twas ableto pat ro l for some con iderable time.There wa n o t h r e at t o t h e pilot oncetheywere o n t h e ground, and they wereable tor e t u nd i t ur be d b ef or e returning acrossthe C hannel.

Orders were issued to reinforce t h e R A Fcontingent in France fur th er , with fourmore Hurricane squadrons. The plan wasfor the first unit to arrive that same day,a n d 5 0 4 q u ad r on was sent immediately toVitry-en- rtois . Three more squadronswould follow across t h e C h a nn e l duringthe followingsix days -151 Squadron al 0to Vitry-en-Artois, and 213 and 601Squadrons to Merville. W i t h t h e G e rm a nadvance reaching new heights, these extrareinforcements brought the total numberof H urricane squadrons based on Frenchsoil t o n in et ee n, t he h ig he st n um be r o fHurricane squadrons in France a t a n y o n etimeduring thisfirst periodofthe war. Thesquadrons were not all located together, ad e ta c hm e n ts a n d f li gh t w er e operatedfrom different bases on everal occasion.This servedtwo purpose: itsplit the a se t sa cr os s a l ar ge r a re a, and also reducedl os ses r es ul ti ng f rom t he f re qu en tattacks by t he G er ma n o n those F renchairfields from w hich the H urricanes wereoperating.Other ontributionsThe Hurricanes of the AASF and AirComponent undoubtedly bore t h e b r un to f t h e b a tt l e inMay 1940 - the pilots hadlittle o r n o reaction time before meetingany n u mb e r o f e n em y aircraft, and weregiven little o r n o rest between orties- butmany more squadrons were involvedfromacross t he h an ne l. Man y sorties wereflown across the Channel by other Hurricane uni t s, a s wel l a s by Spitfires, Battlesand Blenheims. There wasalso the contribution by squadron from Bomber Comm a nd , b o th in France a nd a t h om e, w it hn i gh t b o mb i ng o f G e rm a n pos i tion car ried out by Whitleys and Hampdens. Thiscontribution from other unit towards thedefence of the Low C ountries and northern France cannot be underestimated.

The f ir st two Vic to ria Cro sses o f t heSecond World War wer e won i n F ra nc eduring the morningof 12 May. Five FaireyBattles of 12 quadron based at Amifontaine were tasked with attacking vitalroad bridges o ve r t he A lb er t C an al a tV ro en ha ve n a nd Veldwezel t, in an

Fg OffRoland Beamontserved with 87 Squadronduring the Battle ofFrance andlater becamechieftestpi lot with EnglishElectric where he flew theCanberra lightning TSR 2 and Tornado prototypes

attempt to halt advancing units of theGerman Army. Led by Sqn Ldr Bul lH alahan,eight H urricanesof 1 quadron,based at Berry-au-Bac, provided fightercover for t he a tt ac k. The oppositionencountered by t h e a t ta c ki n g force wasfierce, with a large number of Bf l09s inthe air and heavy ground fire in the targetarea. Despite the h e ro i c a c ti o n o f t hepilot of I Squadron in helping the Battlecrews g et t o t he t ar get area, the twoBattles in the first section were soon hotdown by Bf l09 s. Led by Fg O ff D onaldG a rl a nd , t h e t h re e Battles in t he e co ndection carried o ut t he ir a tt a k, but,against overwhelming o d d , two were hot

down by ground fire a nd o ne was forcedd own o on after. The attack by Garlan Isaircraft had caused significant d a ma ge t othe we t e rn e n d o f t h e Veldwezelt bridge;as a resul t, bo th he an d his observer,gt Thomas Gray, were pos thumous ly

awarded the Victoria Cross.The m is si on p ro ve d s ui ci da l, w it h

n on e o f the five Battles surviving. The

THEF LL OF FRANCE

PitOff Ken Tait a New Zealanderserving with No87 Sqn wassuccessful inFranceand laterduringthe Battle ofBritain before he waskil led inactionduring August 1941

Hurricanes of 1 Squadron did not faremuch better. Pit Off Ray Lewis managed tobale out,havingbeen shotdow n by o n e o fthe Bf 109s. Sqn Ldr Halahan a nd S gtFrank Soper had to force-land theirHurricanes, having also been overcome bythe superior numbers o f t h e Bf109 . Of theother five Hurricanes, two were severelydamaged, although both pilots recoveredtheir ircr ,ft to base and were unhurt.

With 1 quadron providing fightercover for the Battle attack during themorning, the pilots of 501 q u ad r on a tBetheniville bore t h e b r un t of 67 Wing sinvolvement in the a ir f igh t ing overnorthern France . For 501 quadron, thefirst main encounter of the day h a d b e en a t7.00 a.m., when it h ad b ee n scrambled tointercept a force of He l ls beingescorted byBf Il . In the hard fight thatfollowed, four o f t he He l ls were shotdown. The squadron was in actionaga in late r during the day when moref ight ing took p la ce to t h e n o rt h -e a st o fBetheniville, in the area of Sedan.

27

Although twoDo 17s were shot dsquadron los t i t econd pilot ofwhen Fg Off M ic ha el m it h ws h ot d o wn by a Bf 110 to t heSedan.Hurricane LossesThe day had een s everal a ibetween the R AF Hur ri canecontinued onslaught from the LThe increasing number of enemyentering the orbat shows how difR AF H ur r ic a ne s a n d t h e o r he r Eairforce pilo tswere making it form an s. A far as the H urricane piconcerned th ey were doing ascould possiblybe expected. The innumber of Mes erschmitts wa sttell. During thenext two d a y , thiHurricanes were shot down bfighters. Although more than fifaircraft h a d b e e n s h o t d o w n by thcanes, the Luftwaffe could affordfew bombers and fighters; t he Rnot. MoreH urricanesand pilotacros t he ha nne l in a n a t t em pt h e s i tu a ti o n, b u t t h e Luftwaffe numbers would eventually win

There was an increasing n uheroic actions by the H urricaneFrance. In o n e b a tt l e during theof 14 May, H urricanes of 6 7 Scame acro s an attacking forceHS 123 e scor ted by more thanl09s near Louvain. During thethat followed, ten enemy aircraftdown, including four by Fg ff Ianan Australian pi lot a tt ac he dsquadron f rom 245 Squadron.four ofthe squadron s Hurricanesshot down, withall four pilo tskil

A n ot h er g al la nt young Afighter pilot lost asa resulto f t h e a14 May was Fg Off Leslie Cliq ua d ro n. A s i n many cases, t

circum tances of his death,number of kill he achieved, areHe wa h ea vi ly i nv ol ve d w it hfighting during April a nd t heweek of May, achieving up toconfirmed kills, all but two o f wshot downduring the five-dayperingup to his death. During the m14 May , s ix a i rc raf t were scraintercept a large formation of Bfthe airfield of Berry-au-Bac. Dufollowing a ct io n, t hr ee o f 1 qHurricanes were shot dow n, iLeslie Clisby, who was s ee nspirallin to earth to the south o


16/99

THEFALL O F FR A C E THEFALL O F F R A CE

S/L Johnnie Dewar awarded the DSO anhis outstanding leadership while commaSquadron during the Battle of France;sadsoon to lose hislife during the Battle of B

29

north. The Hurricane s q ua d r on s w e reforced to move backtowards the c oa t andi t wa s only a matt e r of t im e b e fo r e theA llie w e re d e fe a ted . The bitter aerial warin the skies over France duringthis periodbrought further a p pe a ls f ro m Fr an c e. On16 May, Winston Churchi l l flew to Parisfor further talk, but t he RAF was alreadydown t o i t s minimum squadron strength ifBritain was to stand any chance of opposing the Luftwaffe, should Francefall.

Winston hurchill was committed tos a vin g Fr an c e, b ut R AF Fighter Command Commander-in- hief ir HughDowding stood firm. Dowding felt that he-imply could not afford t o s end a ny morefighter squadrons acros the hanne . Hewas working o n t he assumption t hat t heRAF needed at least Fifty s q ua dr on s i f i tw as t o s tand any chance of defeating anassault on Britain by the Luftwaffe. Fighter Command was already down to twothirds of that number. According toDowdingit was, simply, impossible for theRAF to doa ny m or e. I n a le tter to the AirCounci l , dated 16 May , D o w din g w r ote :

I mlN POint out that within the la t few Jay,the equIvalent of 1 ,quaJmm have heen ,entto France, t ha t t he Hurricane squaJromremaining in thi, country are ,eriou,lyJepleteJ,cllld that lhe more squadron:-, which arc s e nt t o

This Hurricane of 85 Squadron shows adistinctivewhite hexagon following its return f rom Francein

LOCATIONAnglureMervilleLille/Marcq and MervilleAbbevi e and MervilleLi Ile/Seci in/NorrentFontesGayeMervilleLi e/SeclnLille/Marcq and MervilleLille/Marcq/Abbeville/Vitry en ArtoisMervilleAbbevi e and Vitry en ArtoisAbbeville/Lille/Marcq/MervilleVitry en Artois/Lille/MarcqAnglureLi e and Norrent FontesMerville/AbbevilleNorrent FontesMoorseele

2535504601607615

RAF Hurricanesquadrons and locations-18 May 194

145detachment5213

SQUADRON1317325673798587

n impossible situ tionDuring the two-day period of 15-I6 May,the Germans broke through the defencesofSedan in the east and forced the A iest o w it hd raw t o the R i ve r E sc au t i n the

a ir w ar over France, which would standboth t hem and Fighter Command in g o o d

te a d f or the Battle of Britain. The youngpilots who wen t t o F ra nc e without anycombat exper ience would return toEnglandas combat veteran.

Fg OffRoddy Rayner achieved fivekills whileservingwith 87 Squadron during the Battle of

The commandingofficer of a remarkable group of fighter pilots-1 Squadron - duringthe campaign inFrance. S/L Bull Halahan sixthfromleft) is surrounded by aces from the Battle of France including Fg OffLeslieClisby second from left), F/L Prosser Hanks fourth from left). Fg Off Boy Mould fifthfrom left). FgOff PaulRichey fourth from right), and Fg Off Iggy Kilmartin third from right).

during the war. The second-highest scoreofthe warwas achieved by Hurricane pilotFrankCarey, who s e rv e d w ith 3 quadranduring thecampaignover France. He shotdown four He l ls on 1 May, and addednine m or e kil ls t o hi s t al ly during thefollowing four days; he wasawardeda DFCand bar, to a dd t o h i s D FM gained w ith 4 3Squadron earlier in the war. Carey waseventually credited w i th t we nt y- f iv eHurricane kills before t he e nd o f t h e war.

The man who wen t o n to be the RAF stop-scoring pilot o f t he Battle of Britaina lso f ir st made hi mark in France. gtGinger L ac ey w a a ls o an ace by t heendo f t he Battle of France, having achievedf iv e k ills w h ile s e r vin g w ith SOl Squadronover France. Ginger Lacey went on tobecome the third top-scoring Hurricanepilot of the war, with twenty-threeconfirmed kills.

The Han. Max Aitken becamean a c e inju s t tw o d a ys in Fr an c e. Serving with 6 1quadron , he destroyed three He III ,

tw o J u 7s and a B f I 1 0 i n a p er io d of justover tw e nty - fo u r h o ur s between 18 19May. Ai tken went on to achieve fourteenconfirmed ki ll s s ev en i n H ur ri ca ne s)before t heendof t he war.

At no other t im e in the w ar d id s o manya ce e me rg e i n s uc h a short period of time.Before the Battle of Fr a nc e w as o ve r , theRAF had at leastforty confirmed aces, ands e ve r al m o re unconfirmed. All the pilotsgained valuable combat experience in the

Watty Watson 87 Squadron.

Acesw e re s e ve r al p ilo ts f r om I Squadrond is tin gu is he d th e ms e lve s during

day. Fg Off lggy Kilmartin frombrought h is p er so na l s co re toCanadian Fg Off Hilly Brown

d eight kills during the week; SgtSoper scored ix kills during the

week; there w er e f iv e ki lis i n f ou rFg Off Pau l Rich ey , FitLt Pr os s erand Fg ff Boy Mould; and Sgt

Clowesalso became an ace duringsame week.

achievements of I quadron wereamazing, but pilots o f t he

Hurricane squadrons involvedin theng over France t the t im e w er ess heroic. Among the high achievers

Squadron during the same periodFg Off obber K ai n; F it L t John

who brought his personal tally toand Fg ff Fanny Orton, whoseven c o nf ir me d k ills. Fr om other

theSouth A f r ic a n Pit Off Lewof 85 Squadron achieved seven ki

w e ek , w h ile Pit Off Dennis Davidgt Gareth Nowell, b ot h o f 7

scored at least eight kills eachthe week.

numberof pilotsfirst made their markn ce and later wen t on to achieve

fame as top-scoring Hurricane pilots


17/99

TH F LL OF FRANCE

Pit Off Dennis David was o n e o f the mossuccessful pilots to have served with 87he achieved at least eight kills during thFrance and was eventually credited withkills.for which he was awarded the DFCDavid remained in the RAF after the waras a group captain in 1967.

fi ghter pi lot s from the AASF Aponentand Fighter Command wekilled or taken prisoner of war dua few weeks.The RemainingSquadrons

ot all t he R AF H urri canes w ed ra wn a cr os s the Channel.squadrons remai ned i n France fthe evacuation from French airfieMay- the twooriginal Hurricanthe AASF 1 and 73 Squadrons Anglureand G ayerespect ively -

quadron also ba sed atcontinuing t o f ig ht a r ea rg ua runtil mid-June.

Thi move to keep Hurricanesr ig ht u p to the bitter end wasr at he r t ha n represent i ng a sicontributionto the effort. ForFrasituation b e ca me m or e i mp os sievery day that passed. A s t headvance continued during early Jthree squadrons withdrew to airfieer the coast. They were briefly rby the arrival of 7 SquadrEngland and a d et a ch m en t

8-17 June

2-11 June11-17June

3-7June7-15June

15-18June8-14 June

14-16 June16 June

DATE3-14June

14-17 June17-18June

Pit Off later Gp Capt) Dennis David. CBEDFC and bar AFC - 87 SquadronBorn in Surrey o n 2 5 July 1918. Denns Davd joinedthe RAFVR in 1937. Aftertraining he was posted to87 Squadron, andwas among the first to be sent t oFrance folowing theoutbreakof war. Although he didnot achevehis first confrmed kill unti 10 May 1940an He 111 in the area of Senon. he enjoyedremarkable success throughout the following ninedaysof intense air fighting. He destroyed aD o 1 7 onthe same day, another D o 1 7 and aJu 87 durng thefolowing day, and a H e 1 11 o n 1 2 M ay, m aknghiman ace in just three days. By 19 May, his personalscore had rsen to eight. although the citation to hsDFC andbar credits hm with eleven k i s .

Davd enjoyed m ore success with 87 Squadrondurngt he Ba tte o f Britain and, by theend, broughths total to fifteen; the l as t k i was with 213Squadron after hs post ng as a flight commander inmid-October. After a brief spel fying Spitfires with152 Squadron he was rested from operatonal fyingandbecame an instructor,durng which tme he wasawarded the AFC and prom oted t o t he rank ofSquadron Leader.

After a perod in the Mid dle East, Davd waspromoted t o t h e r an k of Wing Commander in July1943 and givencommand of 89 Squadronin Ceyon,where he flew Beaufghters. The following year hecommanded Minneriya and Kankesanteran. afterwhich he waspromoted to the rank of Group Captain.At the end of the war he remained in the Far East untilreturning to the U K i n 1946. Denns Davdrem ainedin the post-war RAF, retiringfrom the service in 1967.

contribution from the fighter squadronshas oftencome under criticism the pilotsd id a ll that wa possible considering theoperating range from their home airfieldand the overw helming numbers o f t heLuftwaffe bombers. The loss of Hurricanesand Spitfires during May was devastatingi n t er ms of the fo rthcoming defence ofBritain and the loss of experienced pilotswas even m or e d is as tr ou s; n ea rl y 1 00

Le MansDnaId

Le MansEchemines

RaudnNantes

ChateaudunAncenis

Chateau Bougon

LOCATIONChateaudun

Nantes/Chateau BougonStNazaire

RAF Hurricane squadrons and locations, June 1940

73 Squadron17 Squadron

SQUAORON1Squadron

501 Squadron

242Squadron detachment)

THE F LL OF FRA CE

Operation DynamoThe RAF g r ou nd c re ws w er e l ef t t o getb ac k t o E ng la nd by a ny p os si bl e m ea ns .They joined the thousands of retreatingBritish and F r en ch f or ce s t ow ar ds thecoast and the eventual evacuation port atDunkirk. A lthough the majority o f t heHurricanes had withdrawn to England itwas s ti ll n ec es sa ry t o p ro vi de v it al a irc ov er o ve r the Channel p or ts if theevacuat ion of the men was to be possible.This vital air support was flown from thefighter airfields in southern England andamounted to some 200sorti esper day.

Under Operation ynamo the evacuation of the British forces at Dunkirk beganon 26 May andduring the following weeknearly 350 000 t ro op s w er e evacuatedfrom the beaches and port. RAF fightersflew nearly 3 000 sorties in support of theevacuation during the period most in thearea of Dunkirk itself destroying nearly200 enemy aircraft for the loss of morethan 100 RAF fighters Although this

F ra nc e i n a ny a va il ab le a ir cr af t. Oneremarkable incident i nv ol ve d P it OffLouis Strange DSO M DFC a formerpilot w it h t he R oyal Flying C orps whowas ent t o M er vi ll e t o o rg an iz e therecovery of straggling Hurricanes. Hefound himself withjust one partly serviceable Hurricane left wi th n o o n e t o fly itback to England. Just short of his fiftiethbirthday and never having fl ow n a H urri cane before he considered that h e h ad noalternative but to take the controls. Thejourney home was hectic; he was attackedand chased bya number of Bf 109s whichhe managed to shake off before finallylanding at Manston. For t his remarkableaction Louis Strange w as aw arded a w el ldeserved bart o his First Worl d War DFC.

northern France during 7 and 1 8 M ayresulted in the British withdrawingfurthert o w r ~ the coast.By the end of 18 May the German forceshad reached the areas o f C am br ai a ndbeyond and littlestood betweenthem andthe vital ports. This area which had witn es se d s uc h t er r ib le f ig ht in g l it tl e m or ethan twenty years before was once againto be the scene of devastation. Thi timehowever there was n o c ha nc e o f defendingtowns such as St Quentin and Arras asthe Germans rolled th rough the Somme.The airfields at Lille were abandoned a

Documents

Crowood - Hawker Hurricane