Hurricane: The Plane That Won the War

Britain’s first wartime fighter plane, the Hawker Hurricane, shot down more enemy planes than any other fighter. With November 6th 2025 marking 90 years since its first flight, there’s no better time to celebrate this legendary aircraft and its pivotal role in the Battle of Britain.

Often eclipsed by the legend and aerial heroics of the Spitfire, the Hurricane was the authentic warhorse of aviation history. Stable, rugged, less expensive to build -- and far more easily repaired and maintained than the Spitfire -- the ＂Hurri,＂ as it was affectionately known, proved to be the most fearsome fighter plane in aerial combat -- at a time when Britain’s survival was at stake like never before.

In 1940 the Hurricane made its mark: more than half of the 1,200 German aircraft that were shot down in the war were taken down by Hurricanes. At the time, the RAF could call on 32 squadrons of Hurricanes and 19 Spitfires: the Hurricane was, in fact, the dominant British fighter plane, developing a reputation as a plane that could take more than a few hits from the enemy -- and continue to fly. The Spit was the aviation thoroughbred, superb until damaged. The Hurri was much stronger. The skilled airmen came from all over the world; one of them from RAF 80 Squadron would later become a very famous author -- Roald Dahl.

Using documents, letters, and firsthand accounts, this is the historic untold story of the Hawker Hurricane and the lives of the men and women who flew, helped design and construct, fit, and worked behind the scenes of the ’Hurri’, all contributing in ways big and small, to its outstanding success as a legend of World War II.

Jacky Hyams has written several bestselling non-fiction books, among them The Female Few: Spitfire Heroines of the Air Transport Auxiliary and Bomb Girls: Britain’s Secret Army, a history of Britain’s female munitions workers. She has written for many newspapers and magazines, including The Times, the London Evening Standard, Rolling Stone, and the Sydney Morning Herald. She lives in Brighton.