Hawker Hurricane 1936, 14,487 built in the UK and Canada It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the Spitfire's role during the Battle of Britain in 1940, but the Hurricane inflicted 60 percent of the 2,739 losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the engagement; it fought in all the major theatres of WWII. On 8 August 1940, Hurricanes of No. 145 Squadron were recorded as having fired the first shots of the Battle of Britain.