PLANES HUT WON BATTLE OF BRITAII

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 5

PLANES HUT WON BATTLE OF BRITAII

HURRICANES' ROLE

Destroyed 1216 In Total 2125 Enemy Aircraft

N.Z. Press Association—Copyright; Rec. 1 p.m. LONDON, July |

Figures to prove that the Hurr cane fighter plane played a bigge part in winning the Battle c Britain than the Spitfire, wer quoted by Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, i the annual meeting of the Hawke: Siddeley Aircraft Company, Limitet of which he is chairman.

Mr. Sopwith said that at the ou break of the war the Roj'al- A: Force first-line fighter force coi sisted of 500 Hurricanes and 30 Spitfires. Within less than 1 months, by an unprecedented effot at the critical time of the Battle c

Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith

Britain, the R.A.F. was able to pi 32 squadrons of Hurricanes into tl

air, representing 65 per cent' of th total force participating and bein responsible for three-fifths of th

Luftwaffe's total losses. There wer 12 more. Hurricane squadrons thai Spitfire squadrons. • The Hurricane destroyed 1216 of a total of 212 enemy aircraft destroyed, am accounted for more enemy plane than all other fighters and anti-aii craft batteries combined.

Mr. Sopwith disclosed that* Tern pest fighter planes, which are als produced by his company, destroyed 750 flying bombs. He said tha during the war the company and it associate companies produced 40,00 front-line aircraft. The turnove exceeded £500,000,000, and the pea. total of employees was 100,000.