Hurricane At War: The RAF’s Most Important Fighter of World War II

A vivid, cockpit-level portrait of one of the Second World War's most overlooked yet decisive aircraft. Drawing on a remarkable collection of first-hand testimony, Chaz Bowyer recreates the lived experience of serving in the cockpit of the Hawker Hurricane during the Second World War. Despite being the world's first operational eight-gun monoplane fighter and the first RAF aircraft to exceed three hundred miles per hour in level flight, the Hurricane's achievements have long been eclipsed by the legend of the Spitfire. Yet it was the Hurricane that bore the brunt of Britain's air defence during the Battle of Britain, and which went on to serve in every major theatre of the war. Through pilots' recollections Bowyer traces the Hurricane's story from its pre-war development to its combat service over France and Britain, and across Russia, Malta, Sicily, Greece, and even Burma. These accounts reveal an aircraft of exceptional adaptability, employed as a day fighter, night-fighter, and even as the rugged 'hurri-bomber', and cherished by the pilots and ground crews who flew and maintained it. Hurricane at War is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the true operational heart of the RAF in the Second World War, and will appeal to all readers of military and aviation history. 'when you have read Chaz Bowyer's fascinating account of the Hurricane at War, interlaced as it is with the experiences of some of those who flew this great fighter on widely differing tasks in many lands, ... you will certainly agree that the Hurricane was true to its name - to the enemy's great discomfort it 'raised the dust' wherever and whenever it appeared!' Group Captain T. R. Cleave, CBE