The Hurricats cover art

The Hurricats

The Incredible True Story of Britain's 'Kamikaze' Pilots of World War Two

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The Hurricats

By: Ralph Barker
Narrated by: Andrew Cullum
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About this listen

The incredible true story of Britain's 'Kamikaze' pilots of World War Two

'If we fail in this, then we lose the war.'

With the Battle of Britain won, Winston Churchill and his military chiefs faced an even more fearsome challenge in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Thwarted in his plans to invade, Hitler decided he would starve Britain into submission instead. Operating in conjunction with U-Boats, long-range Condor aircraft manned by élite German airmen attacked Allied ships far beyond the range of any land-based RAF fighters, with devastating results.

To counter the Luftwaffe threat, men from the RAF and Fleet Air Arm were asked to volunteer to be catapulted from the foredecks of merchant ships in specially modified Hawker Hurricanes. But with nowhere to land afterwards, it was a one-way mission.

If the British fighter pilots survived combat, they would have no option but to bail out into the North Atlantic and hope they were picked up by the one of the convoy escorts.

Survival was anything but certain....

©1978 Ralph Barker (P)2021 W. F. Howes Ltd Air Forces Armed Forces Military World

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Critic reviews

"An unforgettable tale of high-stakes action, ingenuity and raw courage. This war story's got it all." (Rowland White, author of Vulcan 607)

"Extraordinary...excitingly told." (Sunday Express)

"Masterly." (Daily Telegraph)

"Excellent...a first-rate account'." (Aviation News)
All stars
Most relevant  
facts sometimes overwhelming much easier in book form. good reading brilliant story that's my opinion

incredible story

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It's a little part of the Battle of Atlantic story but very interesting and well described. I have read something about CAM and brave Hurricane pilots but it's the first book where the whole story was delivered in a comprehensive way. Interesting indeed!

Interesting indeed

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Taking on the enemy, most of the time knowing your recovery will not be easy, is quite incredible. So much can go wrong, even after an attack. No wonder it was thought to be a Kamikaze mission. Having listened to this lesser known chapter of air warfare and the defence on convoys, it's obvious a lot of ships were saved just with the knowledge that these Hurricanes were able to rocket launch to protect the ships. A good listen.

Brave young men.

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