Among his activities was the theft of a Hawker Hurricane Mk IIa serial number W9147 of 55 OTU based at RAF Usworth, near Sunderland, in which he flew to Flushing in the Netherlands on 19 September 1941.
During World War II its Gloster Aircraft Company produced the famous Hawker Hurricane fighter, and following the war it gained renewed fame for producing several notable aircraft, including Britain's first jet aircraft, which was test flown here.
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The company produced the Gloster Gladiator; Hawker Hurricane; Hawker Typhoon; Gloster Meteor and Gloster Javelin and its runway became famous for the first flight of Sir Frank Whittle's turbo-jet aircraft.
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In 1939 the company built 1,000 Hawker Hurricanes in the first 12 months of World War II and it delivered its last of 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942.
The base is part of Britain’s heritage, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight formed in 1957 to commemorate the Royal Air Force's major battle honours, with a Lancaster, five Spitfires, two Hurricanes and a Dakota.
His own machine was under repair at the time; so, he had to requisition an older aircraft - a Mark I Hawker Hurricane - kept in reserve as a spare.
During the Second World War the station was home to Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons and to Douglas Bader, Guy Gibson, and poet John Gillespie Magee.
He became known on June 23, 1941, when he flew his damaged Hawker Hurricane into action against Soviet bombers, managing to gun down two (perhaps three) enemy aircraft.
The B Mark VI incendiary bullets were first issued in June 1940 and tested operationally in the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire in the air battles over Dunkirk.
No. 133 (Fighter) Squadron was formed here in June 1942, flying Hurricanes and Harvards.
Hurricane, Spitfire and Mustang aircraft are recorded as flying from Longside airfield to provide protection for eastern convoys.
They used Lucknam Park's beech and lime tree lined driveway to park their Spitfires and Hurricanes – the huge trees providing camouflage.
It was the location for No. 1414 (Meteorological) Flight equipped with Gladiator, Defiant, Hurricane, Spitfire, Proctor and No. 1569 (Meteorological) Flight equipped with Hawker Hurricanes.
Babdown was built in 1940 as a relief landing ground (RLG) with two grass runways and a flare path for No. 9 Service Flying Training School initially flying Hawker Audaxes before changing to Miles Masters and Hawker Hurricanes.
During the Second World War Henlow was used to assemble the Hawker Hurricanes which had been built at the Hurricane factory operated by Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, under the leadership of Elsie MacGill.
It was used as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) and Tactical Exercise Unit (TEU) for Hawker Hurricanes.
From opening until August 1943 the site was used by the RAF as an airfield for Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters.
The author Roald Dahl landed his RAF Hurricane at an airstrip at Ramat David early in 1941 and describes the German Jewish refugee children living there at that time in his autobiography 'Going Solo'.
The example pictured shows a hand, representing the merchant navy carrying a Hawker Hurricane to the USSR, to reinforce the Soviet air force.
Air Commodore Richard Kaye Hamblin (16 December 1906 - 30 August 1988) was a Royal Air Force pilot and as one of The Few was part of No. 17 Squadron RAF flying the Hawker Hurricane during the Battle of Britain.
The Hurricane fighter recalls the incident on 31 May 1940, when RAF Pilot Officer William Henry Hodgson, a New Zealander, engaged hostile bombers and fighters over the River Thames in his Hawker Hurricane, but it was hit and caught fire.
Kohler manages narrowly to avoid arrest and steals a Hawker Hurricane in which to fly back to Germany.
Concentrating on Birmingham's transport history, Move It contains all of the vehicles on display in Thinktank, including the LMS Princess Coronation Class steam locomotive, 46235 City of Birmingham, Railton Mobil Special, a Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane hanging from the ceiling, and Birmingham Corporation Tramways tram 395.
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Detachments of No. 607 Squadron RAF with Gloster Gladiator biplanes were based here along with No. 151 Squadron RAF Hawker Hurricanes before they were withdrawn to English bases in June 1940 during the Battle of France.
The RAF provided a certain extent of fighter cover with the Gloster Gladiators of No. 263 Squadron RAF and the Hawker Hurricanes of No. 46 Squadron RAF, although these were too few to continuously patrol the entire front line.
Once in Britain, and having passed basic flight training, the newly qualified pilots were sent for advanced operational training to an operational training unit (OTU) for two to four weeks to learn to fly Miles Master trainers, Hawker Hurricanes, and Supermarine Spitfires before being ostensibly commissioned as RAF officers and posted to front-line RAF fighter squadrons.
In November 1941 some Hawker Hurricanes were received for simulating dive-bombing and low-level attacks and in June 1942, de Havilland Tiger Moths were allotted for use in AA radar alignment checks.
As well as the training role, the airfield also housed an operational squadron from December 1940 with the formation of 96 Squadron which was equipped with Hawker Hurricanes.
On 23 January 1942, No. 615 Squadron (County of Surrey Squadron) Auxiliary Air Force, arrived from Angle aerodrome, equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters, operating there until 17 March when the squadron moved by train to Liverpool Docks, boarding the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
Squadrons of Bristol Blenheim bombers, Hawker Hurricanes, Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Typhoons operated from this airfield, and among the many pilots based there were such famous men as Robert Stanford Tuck, and Squadron Leader Douglas Bader, there as Commanding Officer of 242 Squadron.
During the Second World War the airfield operated a variety of military aircraft including Westland Lysanders that were later replaced by Supermarine Spitfires, Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants and a pair of Bristol Beaufighters.
Bauer claimed his first aerial victory on 15 May 1940 west of Bruges, a Royal Air Force (RAF) Hawker Hurricane.