I read with interest the article re Les Munro and the Dambusters.
My late older sister was very friendly with a Dambuster crew members named Max Dowman, in Kaponga, Taranaki in early 1943. I was 13 years old when WWII broke out in 1939, and I remember when the Luftwaffle were bombing London City. It was not the Spitfire which were the heroes of the sky, but the Hurricanes; they were the heroes which saved and won the Battle of Britain, with the ‘Spits'.
During the B of B in 1940, the Hurricanes had shot down 656 enemy aircraft, compared to the Spitfires 529. But there were many more Hurricanes at that time, and as the war dragged on, Spitfire production overtook the Hurricanes, as the ‘Spits' were a superior plane, but only 50km/hr faster, and easier to fly.
Against the Messerschmitt 109's, it was the Spitfire with 282 ‘kills' against the Hurricanes 222 kills, during the B of B.
Ernest Izett, Tauranga.
1 comment
Hurricanes heroes in Battle of Britain
Posted on 03-03-2012 14:33 | By algail
I was around in WW2 as a child and the Spitty was the glamour plane of the day, the Hurricane was seen by most of us lads as a kind of poor relation of the Spitty. Every boy inc myself that I knew had or was after a toy Spitty. The Spitfire is probably still the best looking fighter ever built. When one stands beside one as I did on many occasions as I lived near Hornchurch aerodrome one experienced and moment of awe. The Spitty's truly are ' A magnificent flying machine '. Many years ago an old boy from my college ( John Dodds ) in England put a spitfire engine in a car which became a very famous car ' The Beast ' The Police hated that car because of the crowds that gathered to look at it. One can Google John Dodds to see the car. Alastair Bethlehem
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