Hurricane Aces, 1939-40

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces #18

by Tony Holmes, Keith Fretwell (Illustrator)

The Hawker Hurricane was the Raf's first monoplane fighter, and it dragged the air force into a position where it could defend Britain in its 'hour of need'. Prior to the Battle of Britain, a number of squadrons equipped with the fighter had seen action firstly in the 'Phoney War', and then during the disastrous campaign in France. Pilots like 'Cobber' Kain had achieved impressive scores in the face of overwhelming LUftwaffe forces, and although the RAF lost no less than 386 Hurricanes during the Blitzkried, it gave many pilots valuable experience. Hawker fighters outnumbered Spitfires during the Battle of Britain by three to one, and downed far mor aircraft. Overseas, a handful of pilots put up stiff resistance against Germany's Italian ally in Libya and Egypt, and also over Malta.

Genres: Military History, Aviation, World War II, Battle Of Britain

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1998

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books offers up the remarkable story of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) first monoplane fighter - complete with photos and illustrations - and its record of achievement in combat from the Phoney War period through the Battle of France to North Africa and Malta during the early years of World War II.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the option, I could easily knock down my rating of this booklet another half star, on the grounds that it is over twenty years old and the topic could probably stand to be revisited. On the other hand, actual journalism apparently went in to this work, and it partakes of secondary sources that are probably none-to-available at this stage of the game. This is not to mention one gets some sense of the impact on British air defense as the cadre of pre-war pilots was ground down, and new trainees and refugee pilots were thrown into the meat grinder. There's a reason why "The Few" are venerated. In short, still worth reading.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellently researched book containing a lot of detailed information about Hurricanes aces from 1939-40, including photographs, a centre artwork section of 42 colour profiles of various Hurricanes, and some 1/72 plans of the Hurricane I including various sub-types. The text seems good, and reads very well. The photographs are well selected, and are captioned with an amazing amount of detail. One or two of the photos are a little grainy, even though they have appeared in other books sharp as a needle – perhaps something to do with the sourcing? The artwork profiles are useful as inspiration to modellers, but subject only to additional research as some of them differ in details to photographs of the aircraft that they purportedly represent. I am unable to comment on the accuracy of the plans.
I enjoyed this book, it was good to see detailed informative captions on well chosen relevant photos.