HAWKER HURRICANE | FIGHTER ACE
NEW ZEALANDER ‘COBBER’ KAIN ACHIEVED ACE STATUS DURING THE BATTLE OF FRANCE IN 1940, FLYING A HAWKER HURRICANE. GRAHAM PITCHFORK EXAMINES HIS COMBAT CAREER AND UNTIMELY DEMISE AT JUST 21 YEARS OF AGE.
Edgar James Kain, known throughout his RAF career as ‘Cobber’ due to his Antipodean roots, was born in June 1918 in Hastings, New Zealand, and educated in Wellington. Keen on military aviation, he joined the Wellington Aero Club in 1936 where he showed aptitude as a pilot. He made his first solo in a Moth after seven hours of dual flying and went on to gain his ‘A’ licence.
In December 1936 he joined the RAF and completed his basic training at the civilian flying school at Brough near Hull, flying the Blackburn B.2. On 26 March 1937 he was gazetted as an acting pilot officer and granted a short service commission. Kain gained his wings while flying Hawker Harts and Furies and in November he was posted to 73 Squadron based at Digby near Lincoln. He showed great flair as an aerobatic pilot and gave a display in one of the unit’s Gloster Gladiators at the Empire Air Day of 1938.
”HE OPENED FIRE WITH HIS EIGHT MACHINE GUNS AND SAW STRIKES ON THE PORT ENGINE OF THE GERMAN AIRCRA…
