There are a lot of ways to own a piece of Battle of Britain history: watches, pens, cufflinks and rings fabricated from Spitfire remains are commonplace, but an actual chunk of Rolls-Royce Merlin that still resembles what it came from is something else! What we have this month is a rather bent exhaust valve from a Hawker Hurricane that was downed on the 'Hardest Day' of the battle, August 18,1940. Taking off from Biggin Hill, Hurricane V7363 belonged to 32 Squadron and was being piloted by Flt Lt Humphrey a'Beckett Russell when they engaged a formation of Dornier Do 17s bound for Kenley. Sqn Ldr Michael Crossley led the unit in a head-on attack that broke up the bomber formation and prevented it from reaching its RAF station target in Surrey. The Messerschmitt Bf 110s' top cover then engaged the Hurricanes, with a'Beckett Russell downing one before being shot down himself. Forced to bale out, seriously wounded by a 20mm cannon shell, a'Beckett Russell used the radio chord from his flying helmet as a makeshift tourniquet on his wounded leg while descending by parachute. He was found and tended to by a railway worker, before being taken to hospital. He later returned to flying duties and was shot down again in May 1944, while attacking a ground target in a Typhoon. He was taken prisoner and survived the war, retiring from the RAF in 1958 as a wing commander. Hurricane V7363 crashed at Skeynes Park Farm in Edenbridge. The wreckage was recovered by the London Air Museum and the cockpit clock was presented to a'Beckett Russell in 1979. Humphrey a'Beckett Russell passed away on February 15,1983.
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