The Battle of Britain

The Hawker Hurricane

Photograph of a Hurricane prototype;  

Photograph of a Hurricane prototype

photographs

 

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The Hurricane saw action on all fronts during the Second World War and played a pivotal role during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 alongside its contemporary, the Spitfire.

Despite not being as fast as the Spitfire, the Hurricane...

The Hurricane saw action on all fronts during the Second World War and played a pivotal role during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 alongside its contemporary, the Spitfire.

Despite not being as fast as the Spitfire, the Hurricane accounted for more enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain than any other aircraft type, and in the first year of the war was responsible for almost half the Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed by the RAF due to the Hurricane’s effectiveness against the German bombers.

Designed by Sydney Camm to match Britain’s need for a fighter to match the threat posed by Hitler’s expansion of the Luftwaffe, the versatile Hawker Hurricane was effectively a monoplane version of the Hawker Fury biplane, and with a top speed of 340 mph was the fastest aircraft operated by the RAF when it entered service in December 1937.

Converted Hurricanes known as Sea Hurricanes also served with the Fleet Air Arm in a number of campaigns, most notably playing a vital role in the protection of the Malta convoys in 1942. Some early Sea Hurricanes nicknamed Hurricats because they were catapulted off the ship, were used to defend merchant shipping during the Battle of the Atlantic.

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  • Hurricanes of 73 Squadron, France 1940

    photographs

    Hurricanes of 73 Squadron, France 1940; Photograph showing Hurricanes of 73 Squadron in starboard echelon formation, France 1940

  • Hurricane Mk 1

    photographs

    Hurricane Mk 1; Photograph of a Hurricane Mk 1 of No. 1 Squadron RAF viewed from slightly above in its blast pen at Wittering, November 1940

  • Group Captain A G Miller DFC

    art

    Group Captain A G Miller DFC; Group Captain A G Miller DFC, Order of Lenin, 1944, by William Dring. This is one of a series of portraits of notable naval and air force personnel by the artist William Dring. Group Captain Anthony Miller DFC flew with 134 Squadron, based at Vaenga airfield from July to October 1941. The squadron, part of 151 Wing, were equipped with the Hawker Hurricane IIb. They provided fighter escort to Soviet bombers and trained Soviet pilots to fly their Hurricanes, which were then handed over to the Red Air Force.

  • Hurricane fragments

    vehicles, aircraft and ships

    Hurricane fragments; Fragments from a Hurricane aircraft shot down over Kent, 1940. This Hurricane aircraft P3147 was being flown by Pilot Officer Frederick Harrold, on his third operational flight with No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron RAF, when it was shot down over Deal in Kent on 28 September 1940 by Messerschmitt Me 109s. Harrold was 23 years old. His personal effects, including his uniform, a battered cigarette case, bent door key, identity disc, good luck charm, personal papers and photographs were returned to his family. They were bequeathed to IWM along with these relics of his aircraft.

  • Your Hurricanes in Action

    posters

    Your Hurricanes in Action; Poster illustrating how subscriptions from British Honduras have paid for the construction of Hurricane fighter aircraft for the Allied war effort and explaining the significance of the aircraft, stating, These planes protect British homes and industries from aerial attack and harass enemy shipping and transport. This is one in a series of posters featuring aircraft and equipment funded by contributions from Britain’s colonies.

  • Fighter Affiliation, by Walter Monnington

    art

    Fighter Affiliation, by Walter Monnington; Fighter Affiliation: Halifax and Hurricane aircraft co-operating in action, 1943, by Walter Monnington. This oil painting shows a Hurricane aircraft in flight viewed against the tail and mid-upper gun turret of a Halifax bomber. Fast fighter aircraft such as Hurricanes were sometimes used as escorts to help protect slower and vulnerable bomber aircraft from enemy fighters.