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Aviation History
1944
1944 - 1757.PDF
AUGUST 24TH, 1944 FLIGHT 209 THE LAST OF THE MANY which came out to raid the convoys. In the North African campaign Hurricanes played a leading part throughout, and towards the end the R.A.F. sprang a sur prise with the Hurricane IID tank-buster armed with two 40-mm. high-velocity guns, which played havoc with enemy armour. Of the total number of Hurricanes produced, which, by the way, is well over the ;ta,ooo mark, a considerable Apportion has been sent to "Be U.S.S.R., where the Rus sians, like ourselves, found that in the hands of skilful pilots the machine was more than a match for German fighters on account of its high degree of manoeuvrability and powerful armament. The. first rocket projectiles to be fitted to a single-seater fighter were installed on a Hurricane, and on September 2nd, 1943, the first rocket attack by a squadron of Hurricanes was made on the dock gates of the Landweert Canal in Holland with results that were comparable to those of the M6hne Dam attack. During the war, the Hurricane has proved itself in all theatres of action from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from France to Burma and Ceylon, and back to France again. It has operated where no other fighter could go, from landing strips that have been little more than mud- patches, from snowfields, from desert sand. All credit is due to the ground crews who have kept them flying under Hawker workers were somewhat sad at the thought of starting on their last Hurricane. The banner explains some of the reasons for their affection for the old war horse. these conditions; they appeared to achieve the impossible, and if the machines had not been Hurricanes it would have been impossible. The versatility of the Hurricane has never been sur passed by any other aircraft—one expert puts the number of variants at 163; although in reality this figure includes all the possible permutations and combinations of some twenty or thirty basically differing types. This versatility, combined with its high performance and fine flying quali ties, together with the unyielding courage and tenacity of the fighter pilots, has made the Hurricane one of the most outstanding machines in the history of aviation. I Ol 'II AlISTEItS PREVENT When R.A.F. Heavy Bombers Mistak CATASTROPHE and ed casters when it sud-"" hat the R.A.F. their intended L"he fcJk- "Jdloti who prevented isl(»tj«tito^e_«aMCaI)t. B. Halsey, of I*^eNffle^st?9uTCapf. G. H. Piddock, of Birmingham; Captf K. Spiller, oi Taunton; and Capt.jR. C. Hughes, of Chester. The firstifiree of these are in thP nrljarpn* ph**Kf"-aph (left to right) taken on the day of their adventure. Available accounts of the incident are somewhat vague, but it seems that, through an error in identifying a wood, our forward troops were seen to be in imminent peril of receiving the hammer ing intended for some German panzers near by. A number of Lancaster's had already released their bombs when the four little Austers immediately made for the spot and, bumping violently above the billowing black smoke, let off their Verey light signals to turn the bombers away. Flying through the murlr between the bombers and their mistaken target, the risk those four pilots took needs no elaboration. But their signals were seen and disaster averted.
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