Under the RADAR: The Hawker Hurricane & No. 303 Squadron
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- The Hawker Hurricane was the first #RAF monoplane fighter aircraft and the first with a retractable landing gear. Although less known that the Spitfire, it was the main fighter during the Battle of Britain. Kris Hendrix, Researcher at the RAF Museum London, talks about this interesting aircraft and how a group of Polish pilots achieved tremendous success against the Nazi Luftwaffe.
This video was filmed and edited by Ania Flaszczyńska, a volunteer at the RAF Museum.
Thanks for including the polish squadron 303.
A fine dissertation on one of my all-time favorite aircraft! One correction, though. The term "canvas" is often used to describe the fabric covering over a framed structure. Actual canvas would be WAY too heavy for aviation use. What was used was Irish linen secured and treated with aircraft dope to shrink and seal it prior to painting. The frame work under the covering was wood which made repairs simpler and quicker in many cases. The Spitfire got most of the glory during the Battle of Britain but the Hurricane brought down more enemy aircraft and was more "tolerant" of less experienced pilots. As was said, the RAF wanted the Spitfire but they needed the Hurricane.
Indeed Rudy, canvas is not the correct technical term for (Irish) linen. However, it is the term which was commonly used.
You are very right.
303 habe the best K/D ratio in the whole RAF in WWII.
No they didn't.
Great video and thank you for the Polish pilots who helped defend humanity in the WW2 conflict.
The Poles of 303 Squadron , never to be forgotten , EXCEPT on the Victory parade that followed WW 2 - that's gratitude for you .........NOT
This goes unfortunately also for the Free Polish Navy as well as the Polish brigade of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski.
At least Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands wanted to give the brigade the highest Dutch award - the Military Order of William ("Militaire Willemsorde") - as acknowledgement for their bravery and sacrifices made during the liberation of the Netherlands, especially during their landings at Arnhem during Market-Garden. Again politicians intervened as that would "anger the big three". Only in 2006 the order was given to the successor of the Brigade with probably none of the original members being alive to witness it..... politics, eh
The Poles were a mad lot, not just as pilots but also in the navy as well as the army. They often went much closer to the Germans than was considered sensible, but as a result created much more damage. At the final battle of the KMS Bismarck a Free Polish Destroyer was present; she went flank speed towards the Bismarck - getting much closer than any of the other ships - and shot at the Bismarck with every gun and torpedo available, while at the same time flashing a message at the Bismarck : "We're the Free Polish navy, and we're gonna kill you".
And that wasn't the only time the Polish navy distinguished themselves with acts of insane bravery.
Sadly the Allies never honoured those free polish forces as they should have had. They were explicitly excluded from the post-war victory parades. Including them would have angered the Russians that already claimed Poland as their own.
ORP Piorun
Indeed, as the dutchies.
Really nice video, congratulations. And thanks a lot for mentioning the one Czech in 303. squadron. Sgt. Josef Frantisek was the best WW2 Czechoslovak pilot, until his death. Lone Wolf 👍 Great respect to all these heros
If you want to see more about 303 squadron look up forgotten heroes. 1 polish pilot remarked that the hurricane was a wonder to them, in Poland their fighters could barely intercept the bombers and only had 2 to 4 machine guns and to suddenly have the performance and firepower of the hurricane their morale shot through the roof and exacted a bloody revenge
303 squadron in combat flew totally different to the r a f. One hurri. Much higher than the rest. Giving better info. To his colleagues. As opposed to the rafs. Big wing. Took a long time for the r af, to realise this. I was fortunate enough to know a Polish 303 pilot as a young boy. Never said a word about his time in 303. As time went on and I grew up I would ask his English wife about him. Very interesting. I also had a signed copy of the history of 303. Sad to say I lent it out never to see it again. Chris.
christopher alan cawte , I had a Polish friend who was with 315 Sq, also with an English wife😉. Met him here in So Cal, he lived quite a life, after the war he went to Argentina and worked with the Germans on Juan Peron's jet project(Kurt Tank, Adolph Galland, Hans Ulrich Rudel,etc). He was amazed when he told me these names that I knew who he was talking about, but not as amazed as me listening to him tell me these stories. Sadly he visited Poland to see his sister(had only been back once since the war) and came back with pneumonia, turned to lung cancer and passed in 2000. Such the Continental gentleman. I can imagine the English women of the day would have been very smitten with their character.
Jpriest, thank you for your info . Disgusting how Churchill treated the polish forces at the end of the war, utmost respect for the polish nation,
@@christopheralancawte7584 Bullshit. Churchill protected Poland by reaching a deal with Stalin. Churchill made it clear the UK went to war to assist Poland and would not countenance postwar Soviet control. At Yalta, Roosevelt made secret deals with Stalin from which Churchill was excluded. Poland was awarded to the Soviets. Churchill was in literal tears of frustration as he explained this to his personal detective. Churchill could do nothing about it, because the UK was on the brink of bankruptcy and relied on US support. Churchill was dumped in the general election and was replaced by a pro-Soviet PM. Want to blame somebody? Blame Roosevelt and Attlee.
Roosevelt made a similar deal with Stalin about Greece. Unlike Poland, Churchill already had the British Army in Greece. The British Army fought battles against Stalinist communist guerrillas in the streets of Athens and prevailed.
@@raypurchase801 + I could no have put it better myself mucker.
@@henryvagincourt4502 Thanks.
Poland was indeed betrayed, but don't blame Churchill.
Dad, A New Zealander.. enlisted in the RAF in 1939... ended up flying sorties in the Battle of Britain,, Africa, then defended Singapore.. as the last aircraft out of Singapore... then defended Ceylon.... Volunteered to go on the first Chindit Expedition as a RAF liason officer behind Japanses lines in Burma... then flew out of Imphal ground attack against the Japanese... Loved the Hurricane and got him through safely... (luckily for me :) ...... Returned to NZ in 1945 to retrain on Corsairs.. as the war ended... Rejoined the RAF in 1948 as flight instructor on Vampires in Holyhead and Gwelo, Zimbabwe..
PS.. I really get annoyed at how the Spitfire gets all the aclaim... as recently as the BBC suggesting the Spitfire was the plane that won WW2....
Well done your Dad, yes that pisses me of as well, its the name a bit like the "Tiger" tank, "Spitfire "
What a great story! From an Aussie to you poms and pols, well done!! Wish you all the best!
My thanks, as a Pommie, to Australian Services. It is sad that so many have forgotten your incredible contributions, like holding Tobruk. Our thoughts go deeper than just respect, it is love for your gutsy character and determination.
The best Polish 303 Squadron in the RAF rules forever.
Thanks to Poles from Squadrons 302 and 303 who took part in the Battle of Britain, German is not spoken today in Great Britain.
Honor and glory to Polish heroes.
Is that what the war was about, was it? Fighting for the right to not speak German?
@@Birdy890 I think it was if you you knew something about nur fur Deutsche in trams and staff then yeah!! That's what We fought for!!!!!!!!
Not forgetting the partisans in the annexed factories in Czech that were making duff bombs. London would have been a lot worse offing not for them.
@@hoonaticbloggs5402 Poles forced to work in German arms factories also damaged bombs falling on England so that not all of them exploded. Many of them were shot for it.
@joe blogs 603??? Show me.
See the new film "Mission of Honor" about the 303 squadron
I was in London this past summer, as I was walking towards Hannants hobby shop, I discovered the RAF museum. I thoroughly enjoyed my time walking through there.
Poles... we are Poles not "Polish".
303 squadron did shoot down 18% of enemy planes over battle of britain. And they fought Just for 3 WEEKS. Later when germans started to bomb britain with v-1, v-2 squadron was send to shoot down those missiles. But they changed v2 direction by lighly hitting it on side with their wing, So it changed course and did Little or no dmg. They didnt want to waste ammo in case of metting germans
At the end of the war, the British government shat on those Polish aircrew by deporting them back to Poland. An utterly despicable act that can never be forgiven.
The other factor that caused a worldwide reaction was its armament. 8 machine guns was more than double the number of weapons fitted to its contemporaries.
One of My Dad's friends was a commercial pilot and he became friends with a WW2 Fighter Pilot Turned Commercial. He said the the Polish Pilots were the bravest and craziest men he'd ever seen and were affectionately known as "Guests of the Squadron" because the second a Nazi plane was seen they were off. Nothing, no orders, mo danger, could stop them short of being shot down in flames. Much Respect and Love, my guys.
Hawker Hurricane.
Is there anything more to say?
Thank you! Looking forward for the next one.
Nice, the fuselage was, however, made from wooden stringers and plywood formers reinforced with tubular steel.
Thanks for a great , but short review on the real heros of the Battle of Britain,.
303 , and all the Hurricane pilots that flew in that conflict . They also were used in every conflict of the war. Sea Hurricanes (Hurricats), catapulted from ships and then ditched in the ocean near a friendly ship. The Battle of Malta. The Desert , to name but a few.
Spitfires were not available in enough numbers to win the Battle of Britain alone , the much overlooked Hurricane , and the men who flew them ,deserve much more credit than they get.
4:35 and Soviet Union, please don't rewrite history. Thanks anyways.
Thanks to Tommy Sopwith and Sydney Camm ,we all owe you a lot.Not everyone knows that "Hawker" was Sopwith`s company so really dear Tommy saved us in both wars and beyond ,from "pup" &"Camel" through "Hurricane " to "Harrier" ; astounding!
Good job, thanks for this short story about the Hurricane and the Polish fighters. The only problem is 3:33, Poland was attacked by the Germans and Soviet Russia in 1939.
And the groupe Captain was Canadian
303 also had a British and a Canadian pilot.
I don't know about British, I know about John Kent "Kentovski"
@@qusseck Ronald Kellett
While celebrating the bravery, skill and success of Polish "Kościuszko" 303 sqd, the top scoring RAF squadron of the battle of Britain (pipping 603 Sqd by one aircraft), also remember the other nationalities who flew as part of the squadron during the battle and who contributed SO much to its success.
Polish "Kościuszko" 303 Sqd total kill tally - 58.5 confirmed kills
Squadron commander, Sqd Ldr Ronald Gustave Kellett (British) - 5 confirmed kills
"A" Flight commander, Fl Lt John Alexander Kent (Canadian) - 6 confirmed kills
"B" Flight commander, Fl Lt Athol Stanhope Forbes (British) - 7 confirmed kills.
Sgt pilot Josef František (Czechoslovakian) - 17 confirmed Kills.
We in the UK remember ALL the pilots (and NOT just the Polish ones).
The Hurricane seems to get over looked in history because of the Spitfire taking all the glory. There were more Hurricans in the Battle of Britain and they mostly went fot the German bombers while the faster Spitfies went for the German fighters. It was a partnership.
And..1939.09.01. WHO help from G.B.,(great??)
A wonderful , timely design . The closer spacing of the 8 browning mg's , especially with armor piercing and incendiary ammo , was surprisingly effective , especially when tuned to a 300 yard range. One terrible fault was a 50 gallon fuel tank directly in front of the cockpit. The pilots were brave , selfless men.
Hi Mark, could you say a little bit more about the fuel tank, please?
@@RoyalAirForceMuseum I believe that I read about this many years ago.There was a famous hospital in England at the time that specialised in the treatment of burns , and where valuable work was done in the development of special procedures and reconstructive therapies. Many of the patients were apparently Hurricane pilots , who suffered terrible burns while trying to bail out of crippled planes. If I remember correctly , this was made especially dangerous by the cockpit quickly filling with flames and dense smoke from a large(50 imp.gallon?) fuel tank just forward of the pilot. As I said , I may be wrong about this.
@@RoyalAirForceMuseum I believe that I read about this many years ago.There was a famous hospital in England at the time that specialised in the treatment of burns , and where valuable work was done in the development of special procedures and reconstructive therapies. Many of the patients were apparently Hurricane pilots , who suffered terrible burns while trying to bail out of crippled planes. If I remember correctly , this was made especially dangerous by the cockpit quickly filling with flames and dense smoke from a large(50 imp.gallon?) fuel tank just forward of the pilot. As I said , I may be wrong about this.
And I used to hunt pigs in Australia with an old mark3 Lee Enfield , and .303 180 grain sporting ammo certainly got that job done at 300 yards , oh yes!
@@markhasleton6403 Hi Mark, indeed. The famous guinea pig club: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_Pig_Club You may be right about the fuel tank, but many fighter aircraft, including the Spitfire, had a fuel tank in front of the pilot.
He got a couple of things wrong there, oh well, no one knows everything...
Those planes look like they're in great shape. I wish I could see them in person.
My Grandmother was Polish
Best plane ever !
Which movie was the scramble sequence from? It looked more recent than Battle of Britain.
we took some footage from the trailer of Hurricane. ua-cam.com/video/6s2poY9gTLE/v-deo.html
@@RoyalAirForceMuseum Thanks I'll check it out!
Classic aircraft
Very rarely mentioned nationalities of pilots in documentary materials, and under current government even rarer. By now all "Brits" would speak German, which actually would be so bad, due to current economic and political development in the UK : )
All Brits would speak German? I think not. You over estimate the British people's inability to learn a foreign language. We would do what we alway did and shout. It worked for hundreds of years with the Empire so why change now
Complete bollocks. The truth being if it hadn't been for the British Empire the rest of Europe (and the western Soviet Union) would have been left writhing under the nazi jackboot until the present day. Mind you saying that, seeing the German dominated EUSSR they're STILL busy beavering away at European domination.
Did the crew members of 303 squadron return to their homes or stay in UK after war?
They never go back to soviet Poland because they will be mourder in prisons :( So they have to stay and work as bartenders... forgotten for many years. They fight for nothing, never see free homeland :(
This Poles which back to country were murder by soviets, because they were considered enemies of communism
The Hawker Hart is a Hurricane predecessor? A two-seater with an 'open' gun turret? Wouldn't the Gloster Gladiator and Hawker Fury be better described as Hurricane predecessors as these examples share same single crewmember/fixed guns features?
Poland’s pilots where not really advanced but sure the british worked harder but I guess the polish worked harder then us..
They were highly trained, motivated and had combat experience, once they got the hang of these new planes there was no holding back.
man?? the aliens are smart 2 yrs from bi plane to high speed hurricanes m e109s spitfires no one the wiser.
They had a high kill rate because they attacked the bombers as they flew the slower hurricanes.
The spitfires took on the fighters
That may have been the plan, and surely it was often like this, but looking at combat reports it is obvious that both Hurricanes and Spitfires attacked bombers and fighters. Whatever plan there may have been, it quickly went out of the window and they attacked whatever enemy appeared in front of them.
@@RoyalAirForceMuseum I think the information on type of planes downed shows it did effect the statistics.
Can't imagine many hurricanes would be able to shoot down the far superior 109s
@@interabang Both had their strengths and weaknesses. It would be incorrect to say that the Hurricane did not stand a chance. Have a look at Jerry Scutts's book 'Messerschmitt Bf-109: The Operational Record'. He provides some figures (only those verified) :
Me-109 vs. Hurricane: 153 Me-109s destroyed vs. 272 Hurricanes destroyed is a kill ratio of 1.78-1 in favor of the Me-109.
Me-109 vs. Spitfire: 180 Me-109s destroyed vs. 219 Spitfires destroyed is a kill ratio of 1.22-1 in favor of the Me-109.
@@RoyalAirForceMuseum This david David is an UA-cam's antipolish troll. Please don't feed him.
👍 🇵🇱 🇨🇦
You need to research the aircraft structure and repairs.
Just who are you aiming this video at?
You should make a video of the gloster meteor
Isn't it just as well Hitler and Goering, for some reason were dismissive of the advantages of the Me262 earlier in the War. Well it all academic now.
The me 262 had speed but no brakes making it less effective than many people imagine!
I suspect enclosed cockpits are a lot less drag too?
that depends. They add weight though.
RaFałki z RAF
I wonder how the battle of Britain would have turned out if the Spitfire was not on the scene and we had 100% Hurricane squadrons. Would Britain have kept them at bay?
I would think so. Especially as there would have been more Hurricanes, because they were easier to produce.
Three quarters of German planes were shot down by Hurricanes. So the battle of Britain would have been won without the Spitfire, but lost without the Hurricane.
I don't think an exclusively Hurricane or Spitfire force could have won.
The two made a great team, the slightly slower Hurricane could out manoeuvre the Bf 109 in most circumstances below 20,000ft, above this the Spitfire was a little better than the Bf 109 until in the 30,000 ft area.
Using the Spitfires to disrupt the Bf 109 fighters at altitude prevented them descending upon the Hurricane en-masse freeing the Hurricanes to mostly focus on the bombers.
As an interesting aside, the Bf 109, in the Battle of Britain, were not permitted to dogfight the Hurricane, only to carry out dive and zoom attacks due to the Hurricane being able to out manoeuvre the Bf 109.
There were 33 Hurricane Squadrons and 19 Spitfire Squadrons in the Battle of Britain.
Thank you.