"Hurricane" film trailer drops….

Looking forward to this. As soon as I saw “Polish” and “303 Squadron” in my head I heard “Repeat please…..!” Love that scene in the BOB with the Hurricanes and Buchon stand ins peeling off behind the oblivious CO.

It will not be a masterpiece but then again neither were many of the films we grew up watching!

In a few years time I will be watching it with my nephew and hopefully building Airfix with him.

The flying scenes look cool!

Hi Snapper,

Loss circumstances were unknown to the Germans at the time. I think “Feindbeobachtet” means that enemy was observed. Presumably, they radioed that they had observed the enemy which was the last contact before the loss?

was nice to watch the filming at White Waltham

trumper – Snappers post 36 seems to suggest that the B24 did make it back, if they are separate descriptions of one and the same incident from different perspectives?

Quote from Snappers post 35 ” Soon afterwards an SOS was heard from the Liberator, now some 20 miles away, the convoy was unable to help and it was thought the aircraft went down into the sea.”

What a shame ,i assume these men were never rescued 🙁 possibly saved the convoy .

Thanks Aviart! Just trying to work out some of the abbreviations before sending it on to Jimmy!

Humphrey Lestocq Gilbert, Later Mr Turnip, Flying Officer Kite and one of the chaps in Angels One Five was posted out of 609 Squadron after riding a horse through the mess. Proper horseplay. This trumped most of the debaggings, feeding of mess bills to goats and trapping journalists in rooms with wound-up goats. And a pistol being fired one time too from memory. And the theft of the Kaspar lucky cat from the Savoy. Can’t recall fist fights being mentioned in the squadron’s ORB though.

Regarding the fight scene, it is well documented that even mess functions had outbreaks of brawling ,foodfights and what is called horseplay. Would you rather have the sanitised version ? Friction between military and civilians happened when alcohol was consumed and tempers flared. Military police patrolled known hotspots. Extreme examples in the UK included shots being fired.

The central problem affecting films about the 1940s is that there are few if any, people left to act as advisers on the military, social and cultural values prevailing at that time.

The resulting production is often inaccurate, childish and overlaid with the attitudes and verbal expressions in present day use creating an illusion – which is what film production is about – that doesn’t quite work. This can jar on the viewer.

Will ‘Hurricane’ be a block or, ball buster !

Regarding the FW200 incident in post #35 and #36:

28 Jul 1943 – Fw 200 C-4/U3 – WNr.0177 (GC+SF) – F8+FK – 2./.KG 40 – (Atlantik) – unbekannt (Feindbeobachtet) – 100% – Uffz. Heinz Meyer, (F.2) Ofw. Rudolf Woschek [vm.] / (B) Gefr. Edgar Arnold [vm.] / (Bf) Ofw. Heinz Link [vm.] / (Bf) Fw. Franz Hillebrandt [vm.] / (Bm) StFw. Hans Zacher [gef.] / (Bs) Uffz. Georg Kiener [vm.] All POW except StFw. Hans Zacher +

Back briefly to the black/white undersides thing – it is indeed a timeframe issue. Firebird mentioned 257 having black/white in November 1940 – this was due to a fresh order from Fighter Command to do this in November, which lasted until March 41. The previous spate of doing this was officially ended – off the top of my head – on June 7th 1940, though I’m sure it wasn’t instantaneous ‘on the ground’.

After googling ‘Weta Workshops Panzer IV’ I have to say that’s pretty damn convincing…

…properly ‘dressed’ in a movie it would be almost impossible to tell it from the real thing!

The running-gear is particularly good and that is the part that usually lets down any running replica.

Creaking Door

I suppose the armoured vehicle enthusiasts have issues with films as well…

Brother…..do we ever!!!

I know, there are a list of ‘observations’ on a photo I took of a Weta Workshops Panzer IV – so it happens to the best in the movie business!

I have problems with the fisticuffs..I thought Raf pilots were better disciplined..What is this Rocky 12?

While the CGI in the trailer for ‘Hurricane’ obviously leaves a lot to be desired, and I appreciate that the filmmaker will be on a fairly limited budget, I suspect today’s cinema audiences ‘demand’ CGI in action-themed films, or at least the filmmakers think they do. Personally, I’d rather filmmakers went for more subtle air-to-air footage of (real) aircraft trailing smoke or large-scale models falling on fire; those sorts of effects can be extremely convincing, especially if shot in a ‘documentary’ style, from the limited viewpoint of one of the protagonists, rather than the unrealistic God’s-eye-view that seems to be the norm from those that produce the CGI.

However, the thing that really bothered me was the number of punches thrown by the pilots on the ground; is that a true reflection of how the (presumably) Polish pilots conducted themselves during the Battle-of-Britain?

Thank you for posting those accounts Snapper; fascinating!

Jim sent me a link in response to a question he posted on another forum which resulted in:

“Don’t know if I ever told you before but can you imagine being able to track down a particular event that took place at 1932 hrs on Wednesday, 28 July 1943?”

On 28 July 1943 a Liberator from the 480th ASG, pilot Elbert .W. HYDE, engaged a FW200 and destroyed it. One crewman, top turret gunner James G. Kehoe, was killed in the engagement and the B-24 was damaged, returning on three engines (#1 gone) to find the base fogged in. All nine surviving crew members bailed out safely and the plane crashed near Craw Field. The body of Sgt. Kehoe was recovered therefrom.

the following passage from “Stalking The U-Boat” by Max Schoenfeld:

“On July 28, while on convoy escort, aircraft E-1 flown by Hyde intercepted a FW 200 attempting to attack a convoy straggler. A sharp engagement followed at just above sea level, with the B-24 attacking the FW 200 from astern. Hyde closed to 600 yards and the action continued until the German aircraft crashed into the sea. … The action and German’s plane crash into the sea took place before an enthusiastic audience in the convoy, which enjoyed an excellent view of the engagement and the rare pleasure of seeing retribution meted out to an enemy that had often plagued them…”

Hyde received a DFC for this action, and one was awarded posthumously to Sgt Kehoe as well.

I posted this years before:

Convoy SL133 left Gibraltar on 23rd July 1943 on the final leg of its homeward bound run from Sierra Leone accompanied by the last two Cam ships in service, the Empire Tide and Empire Darwin. It was nearly nine months since the launching of pilot Norman Taylor on 1st November 1942, and with the knowledge that they were returning home to a disbanded unit where they had missed all the farewell parties and where postings to unknown destinations would be awaiting them, a certain lack of zeal on the part of MSFU crews might have been excused. Fortunately no such relaxation was discernible. It was known that sailings from Gibraltar were always reported by German agents watching from across the Bay of Algeciras. The pilots, two on each Cam ship, were unproven but keen. The FDO’s were two of the most experienced and long serving on the unit. Recent reports of Condor sightings did not encourage carelessness or complacency. And two days out warnings were received of possible Condor attacks. The convoy consisted of forty ships, in eight columns of five. Empire Tide was leading the extreme port column, Empire Darwin the starboard. At 2025 hrs on the 26th, with the convoy 250 miles off Cape St.Vincent, a four engined Condor aircraft was sighted flying at about 1200 feet some 12 miles away, the Condor was over a thousand miles from base, on reconnaissance. Next day the cruiser Scylla took up position in the centre of the convoy, to give maximum cover from her anti aircraft guns. Thirty six hours passed, then came news that a Gibraltar bound convoy 120 miles to the north east, was being attacked by eight Condors and that ships were being sunk. Consequent on the disbandment of MSFU this convoy had no Cam ship protection. That afternoon, with Empire Tide at readiness, a radar blip indicated an aircraft at 35 mile range but nothing was visible. Soon afterwards a fault was detected on Empire Tide’s catapult and Empire Darwin took over guard. The FDO on Empire Darwin was John Pickwell, above average at aircraft recognition and following some radio chat about an unidentified aircraft he soon picked out and positively identified a Focke Wulf 200 coming up from astern on the starboard side. The two pilots were sitting on the fore hatch just below the port wing of the bridge, playing cards with the sea crew. Leaning over the bridge Pickwell quietly warned the pilot on watch, “You’d better get in your aircraft Jimmy. There’s a Focke Wulf 200 over there” As the card players looked up he pointed to starboard. Instantly the crew ran to their posts as action stations sounded. Simultaneously with Pickwell’s sighting a USAF B-24 was sighted dead ahead The convoy was passing roughly due west of the Condor base at Bordeaux, 800 miles distant, and from the experience of the southbound convoy two days earlier it seemed likely that several more Condors were in the area. With scattering clouds at 3,000 feet increasing to six tenths at 10,000 feet with many blue patches, conditions for the Condors were good. With this in mind the SOE was content for the Hurricanes to be held in readiness for the major attack that was likely and he asked the Liberator aircraft to intercept the condor. For several minutes both aircraft were lost to sight then re appeared on the opposite side of the convoy down to 150 feet and with the B 24 astern but closing. The gun battle between the two looked like a dual to the death and both aircraft were taking hits. Suddenly the port engine of the Condor burst into flames and the pilot jettisoned the bomb load, only to hit the sea and overturn. Soon afterwards an SOS was heard from the Liberator, now some 20 miles away, the convoy was unable to help and it was thought the aircraft went down into the sea. Minutes later two more Condors were sighted approaching at high level. Empire Darwin turned 15 degrees off course in order to launch Jimmy Stewart but before he could be launched Pickwell spotted another Condor at 500 feet, ten miles to the northwest. Stewart could see the Condor, from where he was sat in his Hurricane, and at 1938 hours was launched. “Tally Ho”. The Condor climbed to 1,000 feet steering south then turned east. Pickwell was fuming, being unable to raise Stewart on the radio but Jimmy had no need of vectors, he had the Condor in sight and was closing in for the kill. The Condor took no evasive action as Stewart opened fire at 300 yards. Return fire was intense but inaccurate and Stewart made two attacks before his guns jammed and the Condor headed for a bank of cloud in the distance. Second Officer Francis, on the City of Exeter, kept the Condor in view and saw it crash into the sea; this was confirmed by Third Officer Nicholson of the Bactria. Returning to the convoy Stewart found the ships guns firing at a Condor which was up at 7,000 feet.

The main thing from that trailer that’s bothering me is the black and white undersides of the Hurricane.

303 were active during the Battle of Britain, not Dunkirk.

I think its whether the black-white is relevant to 303 Sqn rather than the timeframe, as it’s known that Bob Stanford-Tuck’s 257 Sqn DT-A Hurricane, with the red/white spinner had black/white underside in Oct/Nov 1940.