One of the advantages the RAF enjoyed during the Battle was that aircraft shot down could be recovered and recycled. This became the responsibility of the Civilian Repair Unit. Its job was to pick up RAF planes which had crashed or crash landed and take them back to the centre which was equipped to handle them. Many aircraft were repaired. Others which were too far gone, in terms of damage, were canabalised and the parts used to rebuild the other aircraft which were salvageable. By mid-July, 160 aircraft per week were being repaired and returned to operation.

This service had the benefit of a fleet of specially designed motor transport vehicles, some 30 ft long. A team would, when recovering a crashed aircraft, detach the wings and lift the fuselage onto the body of the vehicle fitting the wings alongside it. This form of transport vehicle was called a ‘Queen Mary’. This method of handling crashed aircraft contributed a substantial source of almost mint aircraft being supplied to the Squadrons throughout the Battle.