The Hawker Hurricane, long remembered as the 'other fighter' of the Battle of Britain. Available in large enough numbers prior to the battle, the aircraft proved to be the mainstay of the RAF and went on to record a formidable reputation as a robust machine offering its pilots a steady gun platform. In terms of victories over enemy aircraft it was the most successful of all British fighters.

This particular Hurricane was the aircraft of Wg. Cdr. Tom Neil DFC* AFC AE of 249 Squadron based at North Weald December 1940. After another long day of confronting enemy aircraft, the pilot has left his trusted aircraft in the safe hands of highly respected groundcrew.
Tom was one of the RAF's most successful fighter pilots, credited with 17 victories, the majority of which being claimed during the Battle of Britain.

This magnificent painting beautifully captures the atmosphere and harsh conditions endured by pilots and ground crew alike during the winter of 1940.

The canvas measures 24” x 14” / 61cms x 36cms and it is personally signed on the back in permanent ink by two famous Hurricane pilots:

Wing Commander Peter Ayerst DFC. Few RAF pilots flew operationally from the beginning to the end of the Second World War. Fewer still can claim to have experienced action from Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, El Alamein and the D-Day landings, to bomber escort duty in the closing days of the war in Europe. Peter Ayerst is one such man. Peter joined the RAF in 1938 on a short service commission and was dispatched to France when war broke out. After serving with legendary fighter ace Douglas Bader, Peter was posted to North Africa in 1942 where he was forced to crash-land his Hurricane in a minefield.

Peter flew Spitfires on intruder sorties over France before and during D-Day, on bomber escort duty against V-weapons sites and in support of mass daylight raids deep into Germany. Awarded the DFC in December 1944, he also flew as fighter escort to King George VI's Dakota. By the war's end, Peter had flown every mark of Spitfire and Hurricane in the RAF's inventory! This stood him in good stead after the war when he worked with famous test pilot Alex Henshaw: he was part of the flight-test crew when Henshaw rolled a Lancaster.

Air Commodore Peter Brothers DSO, DFC & Bar learnt to fly at the age of 16 and joined the RAF two years later in 1936. He first saw action in1940 when as a Flight Commander in 32 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, he flew his Hurricane against the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. He recalls this an intensely busy period, during which he shot down an Me109 - his first enemy aircraft;
by the end of August that same year his tally of enemy aircraft shot down, increased to eight. Awarded the DFC, he was transferred to 257 Squadron where he joined Bob Stanford-Tuck as Flight Commanders. Promoted in 1941 to Squadron Leader, Pete Brothers then took command of 457 Squadron (Royal Australian Air Force), equipped with Spitfires. A year later when 457 Squadron returned to Australia, Pete took command of 602 Squadron. In the early autumn of 1942 he went on to become Wing Leader of the Tangmere Wing, succeeding his old friend Douglas Bader.

By the end of the war Pete Brothers had amassed 875 operational hours over a 44-month period. He was credited with having personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more. He later went on to command 57 Squadron during the Malaya Campaign. Upon return to the UK Pete Brothers joined the V-Force, flying Valiant-4 jet bombers. He retired in 1973.

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