Britain’s tough trio flying high for victory

SIR – Contemporary booklets on the Battle of Britain mentioned three aircraft: the Hurricane, the Spitfire and the Defiant (Letters, March 13).

The last was a two-seater singleengine fighter with a manned rotating gun turret behind the pilot, containing four .303 machine guns.

It was first used over Dunkirk and had great initial success against the Messerschmitts, which attacked it from the rear (because the pilots thought it was a Hurricane). They got a surprise when the gun turret peppered them, but they soon got wise. The Defiant was later used as a night fighter and was not developed.

However, the Hurricane was a true maid-of-all-work, fighting in every theatre of war, including Russia and Burma. It even had two very heavy cannons installed for use in the North African desert as a tank-buster.

Despite its fabric cover and the amount of wood in its construction, it was a remarkably tough aeroplane. Patrick Skinner Saxmundham, Suffolk SIR – Every day in the summer of 1940 I watched the squadrons of Hawker Hurricane fighters flying off from RAF Northolt to meet the enemy in the skies above southern England.

I have always tried to point out the vital role of the Hurricane in the Battle of Britain. The manufacturers should also be commended for having the foresight to increase production after the plane first flew in 1935.

Humphrey Platts

Manthorpe, Lincolnshire

SIR – My father was a Wing Commander in the Battle of Britain. He flew Spitfires and, occasionally, Hurricanes.

He found the Spitfire a beautiful, responsive plane to fly, while the Hurricane was a more stable gun platform. Having been shot down and badly burned in the battle, he then taught young men to fly Lancaster bombers.

Our planes were all superb, as were the brave men who flew them. Timothy J F Smith Cropthorne, Worcestershire