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Daniel-Wales-Images — Hawker Hurricane Mk.XIIa
Published: 2019-03-07 15:47:18 +0000 UTC; Views: 488; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 0
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Imperial War Museum Duxford 2016.Related content
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What's your take on the argument they were having recently on The Grand Tour concerning whether it was the Hurricane or the Spitfire that was the real hero of The Battle of Britain? The gist seemed to be that the Spitfire is a better plane, but there were more Hurricanes in the air at that time.
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My take is that neither aircraft was the hero. To pin Britain's survival during the battle of britain as being down to one machine belies the truth. The battle of britain was successful for Britain due to more factors than could be possible to list in this short reply. The men and woman that worked tirelessly to fly, maintain, re-arm and direct aircraft. The fact that radar was not only available, but used effectively, the strong will of all those in involved including the civillian population who worked to build war machines, kept the nation going and put food on the nation's tables. That is what turned the tables not a single aircraft. Even if we talk purely aircraft, there was far more going on than just Spitfires and Hurricanes. What about the Fairey Battles, Blenheim, Defiant. All played their part and were necessary.
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Certainly. I think the argument they were having was that today the Spitfire gets all the glory while the Hurricane is largely forgotten (at least where the general public is concerned).
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Once upon a time that may have been true, going on personal experience however, I don't think that is so much the case any more.
As soon as the topic of the Battle of Britain is raised, almost always somebody will pipe in stating that "actually it was the Hurricane... etc etc". So much so in fact, that it almost feels now that the Spitfire is the aircraft being overshadowed. After all, the Spit did still play a significant role in the battle regardless of the statistics suggesting that Hurricanes scored greater kills and was the far superior in terms of numbers. I feel that the Hurricane does now get it's fair share of the limelight .
I think what is often forgotten in these debates is that the war did not end when the Battle of Britain came to a conclusion. The truth is that during those early years, the Hurricane was able to be built in larger numbers and was easier to maintain than the Spitfire. During the height of the Battle, this made it the superior machine, as the RAF's ability to maintain it's strength and hit the enemy en mass is exactly what was needed. However, beyond 1940, once the pressure was off so to speak, the RAF needed fighter aircraft that could match it's enemy, and the Hurricane certainly was not the machine for the job. It couldn't be modified to a point where it was able to tackle the Luftwaffe's more advanced fighters. The Spitfire however could be, so much so that by the end of the war it was pushing out over 2000hp and could fly well over 400mph.
In short, the Hurricane may well be seen as a battle winner, but the Spitfire was a war winner. This is why it is loved by the British public more than the Hurricane.
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