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"We feared the Typhoons most of all. These aircraft continued to attack a target in spite of heavy ground fire, coming round again and again causing complete devastation. This created low morale from which we never recovered. I was lucky to survive - the only means of escape was to get out of your tank and run like hell" ... German ex-tank commander visiting the Typhoon D-Day Museum, Shoreham.
After the success of the Hurricane it was with eager anticipation that the RAF looked forward to receiving Hawker's new replacement for the ageing Battle of Britain fighter. But when the Typhoon arrived it was a disappointment. Originally planned as a high altitude interceptor, its rough, tough design made it too slow and not sufficiently manoeuvrable in high-level dogfights, forcing the RAF to look for another role for their new aircraft.
It was not long before this sturdy aircraft, with its distinctive frontal radiator scoop, had become the benchmark of all ground attack aircraft to serve in World War II. At the time of D-Day and during the Allied advance through Europe, the Typhoon became the backbone of the 2nd Tactical Air Force's ground attack Wings. Deadly at low-level, and fast - it could top 400mph at low altitude - the Typhoon could outrun the Me109 and Fw 190, and was robust enough to take the considerable flak damage that ground attack inevitably attracts, and to get its pilot home.
Heavily armed with cannon, rockets and bombs, the Typhoon's sharp-shooting pilots became the scourge of the German ground forces, exampled by the action at Mortain on 7 August 1944 when Typhoons wiped out the 1st SS Panzer Division. The Typhoon's brute force profile, lethal armament, and wide undercarriage, so well suited for the temporary grass strips used by the advancing Allied air forces following the Normandy invasion, is graphically portrayed by Gerald Coulson's fine study Normandy Sunrise. Here, in the brightening morning sky, Typhoons are prepared for the first sortie of the day. One has already fired up its big, powerful engine, blowing up whirlwinds of Normandy dust; ground crew hover, ready to remove chocks prior to taxi and take-off. A second is readied, while the remainder of the squadron, widely dispersed around the temporary field, are about to set about their deadly missions of the day.
Normandy Sunrise is available in a main edition with 3 signatures and a Battle for Normandy edition with 7 signatures.
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