In the Kyiv region, the rusty remains of eight British Hawker Hurricane fighters from the Second World War, which were sent by Britain to the USSR after the invasion of Nazi Germany in 1941, were found in the forest.
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It is reported by the BBC.
These aircraft were part of a package of allied military support for the USSR, paid for by the United States under the Lend-Lease scheme. Similar legislation is being used today by the US government to provide military assistance to Ukraine.
According to aviation experts, this is the first time that the remains of such a number of Hurricanes have been found on the territory of Ukraine.
It is very rare to find this aircraft in Ukraine,” notes Aleksey Shtan, head of the excavations. “This is very important for our history of aviation, because not a single Lend-Lease aircraft has been found here before.
In total, about 3 thousand Hurricanes were sent to the USSR between 1941 and 1944. Most of them were either destroyed in combat or later taken apart for parts.
But some were deliberately smashed up and buried after the war so that the USSR would not have to pay the United States – under Lend-Lease legislation, the Soviet Union was required to pay for any transferred military equipment that remained intact after the end of hostilities.
Such was the fate of these eight Hurricanes, found buried in a forest south of Kyiv:
- tools, walkie-talkies, machine guns and any useful scrap metal were removed from aircraft;
- then they were pulled by tractors from a nearby airfield, smashed to pieces and thrown into a shallow ravine;
- It is believed that after that they were covered with earth by bulldozers.
The remains of the aircraft were discovered recently after an unexploded bomb from the war was found nearby – the rest of the ravines were checked with metal detectors and so stumbled upon the Hurricanes.
The National Aviation Museum of Ukraine is now making painstaking excavations by hand. Museum staff strive to identify as many aircraft as possible so that they can be collected and put on display.
It is believed that there are only 14 refurbished Hurricanes in the world today that can fly.
At the end of World War II, Hurricanes were already considered obsolete aircraft and were used mainly for air defense. Yes, these eight “Hurricanes” were engaged in the protection of large transport hubs, including railway stations.
Source: BBC
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.