When the Japanese launched their attack in the' Far East on 7 December 1941, there were no Hurricanes at all in the region. Between the wars, Britain had assumed that there would be sufficient time to send a fleet to the Far East, which would be based at Singapore in order to deter any Japanese aggression. The war with Germany prevented this from happening, and it was only a matter of days before the Japanese attack that the first Hurricane squadron destined for the defence of Singapore, 242 Sqn, had been despatched. Nos 605, 232, and 258 Sqns which were already en route for other destinations were diverted to the Far East, arriving by 20 December. Unfortunately most of the RAF records of this period were destroyed and details of the camouflage and markings carried by the Hurricanes in the Far East during this period are scarce,
The instructions in force for the camouflage of aircraft for service abroad at this time specified that the upper surfaces were to be either Dark Green and Dark Earth or Dark Green and Middle Stone, according to the nature of the country in which they were to operate. Under surfaces were to be Sky. The few photographs to have survived of the Hurricanes which fought over Singapore and the East Indies until March 1941 appear to show the Hurricanes to be fitted with tropical filters and camouflaged in both of these schemes. This should not be too surprising as the Hurricanes had been diverted from other destinations including some in the Middle East.
Other Squadrons were also diverted from the Middle East to the Far East such as 17, 135, and 136 Squadrons which were sent to Burma as 267 Wing. Of these squadrons, 17 Sqn is known to have had several Hurricanes which were finished in the Dark Green and Middle Stone scheme, (from the BE serial number range), The under surfaces appear to have been a light colour. The fact that these aircraft had been diverted from the Middle East where Sky was considered unsuitable may be an indication that the under surfaces of these aircraft were Sky Blue. These aircraft carried the Squadron's YB codes in Medium Sea Grey and also modified the roundels on the upper surfaces of the main planes to the Red, White and Blue variety in what appears to be the then usual 1-3-5 proportions. It is not known whether this practice extended to the other squadrons in the Wing or exactly why it was done, but the most likely explanation is that the intention was to make the national marking more prominent and easily identified, especially in the light of subsequent events.
May 1942 saw the national markings change to the revised style National marking I, II, III and Fin marking (i), and eventually these markings found their way into service on Hurricanes in the Far East along with the Day Fighter Scheme which was now established on the UK based production lines. By October 1942 the camouflage requirements for Day Fighters abroad had been revised. Now the upper surfaces were to be either the Day Fighter Scheme consisting of Dark Green and Ocean Grey; the Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Green and Dark Earth, or the Desert Scheme which was now defined as consisting of Dark Earth and Middle Stone - the implication from this is that the Dark Green and Middle Stone scheme (aka Tropical Land Scheme) had by now been taken out of production. Under surfaces were to be "Sky or azure" with all the confusing interpretations that this phrase is open to. Photographs of Hurricanes in the Far East tend to show a very light tone on their under surfaces which might suggest the use of Sky Blue. The addition of Light Mediterranean Blue to the list of authorised under surface colours in October 1942 serves to confuse the issue even more, but as this colour seems to reproduce as a comparatively dark tone in b&w photographs, it would appear to not have been used in the Far East.
From the outbreak of hostilities in the Far East in December 1941, the prominence of the Red centre in the RAF National marking had proved a problem as the Blue colour often faded to the point where at a distance it merged into the camouflage. As a result the Red centre became the most prominent feature of the marking, thus offering ample scope for misidentification. With the arrival of the American USAAF in India by April 1943, this problem had become acute following a number of errors in identification. The suggestion was made that perhaps the RAF National marking should be altered in some way so as to make British aircraft more easily recognised.
The solution was to adopt the same markings as used by the RAAF for exactly the same reason, eliminating the Red from the roundel entirely. Trials were put in hand to assess the new marking's suitability, during which it was discovered that the White centre in the new roundel was too prominent and compromised the camouflage of the aircraft. The solution was to mix a new off-white colour using four parts White and one part Blue, which was found to give a marking which was visible from 1,700 yards but did not compromise the aircraft's camouflage scheme. At the same time that the roundel was revised, the fin flash was also altered to off-white and Blue, with the off-white leading.
Introduced from the end of June 1943, the new markings were originally sized in accordance with the provisions of the then current AMO, but after the Australians had been consulted about their markings, the RAF adopted the same proportions employed by the RAAF from about September 1943.
The new National markings were designed for three sizes of aircraft, small, medium, and large. Hurricanes, being single engine aircraft were classed as 'small' and therefore were to be marked with Blue roundels of 16 inches overall diameter with 6 inch diameter white centres and a flash 24 inches high and 16 inches wide divided into two 8 inch wide segments with the white leading.
By 1943, the profusion of colour schemes which could be applied to Hurricanes, and other types, destined for overseas service was causing problems on the production line, as at the time of manufacture, it was usually impossible to tell where in the world the aircraft would eventually serve, which meant that aircraft could be sent to an overseas theatre wearing an entirely inappropriate camouflage scheme which then had to be altered before the aircraft could be issued to a squadron.
This problem is illustrated by a postagram sent from AHQ India to several Maintenance Units and Headquarters in India on 27 October 1943. Entitled 'Camouflage of Day Fighter Aircraft' the postagram stated that some Hurricanes were being received into India camouflaged with the Desert Scheme and carrying UK identification markings with Yellow borders. These and other similar cases were to be re-camouflaged before despatch, in the Day Fighter Scheme with 'India' markings.
Details of the scheme were given as upper surfaces in Dark Green and Ocean Grey with under surfaces in Medium Sea Grey. Tactical markings included the Sky spinner and rear fuselage band and the Yellow strip along the leading edges of the wing. Squadron codes were to be Sky.
Within a month of these instructions being issued it had apparently been decided to accept any aircraft camouflaged in the Temperate Land Scheme as they were, and not recamouflage them. Meanwhile back in the UK the decision was taken at the end of 1943 that the camouflage and markings applied to all fighters would be those authorised for UK based aircraft, so the supply of Hurricanes to the Far East in the Temperate Land Scheme would, in the fullness of time, dry up.
This was somewhat unfortunate, as over the next few months a rethink of the camouflage requirements for fighter aircraft in the Far East seems to have taken place and by April 1944 the Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green was the preferred camouflage scheme for use on the upper surfaces, with Medium Sea Grey on the under surfaces. This scheme was' promulgated by an Air Force Order (India) in April 1944. The same order specified that no tactical markings were to be carried and the squadron codes were to be applied in Sky.
The final change in the colour scheme carried by Hurricanes in the Far East came with the introduction of Air Command South East Asia Special Identification Markings. On Hurricanes these took the form of a White spinner with a 28 inch wide band around the main planes and 18 inch wide bands around the tailplanes and fin.
When originally introduced on Hurricanes from 1 February 1945, the bands extended across the full chord of the main planes, tailplanes, fin and rudder. The Air Ministry was as ever concerned that this practice might upset the balance of the control surfaces and asked that the markings should not be applied over the ailerons, elevators and the rudder. By this time of course it was too late as many aircraft had already been marked up. As a consequence it is possible to find Hurricanes with the White markings extending across the full chord of wings and control surfaces, whilst on others the markings can be seen only on the fixed surfaces.
The Temperate Land Scheme of Dark Earth and Dark Green with Medium Sea Grey under surfaces appears to have then remained in use on the Hurricanes in the Far East until the end of hostilities, When the Air Ministry enquired of the Overseas Commands which aircraft it would be permissible to operate without camouflage as part of the review of camouflage policy, which was being undertaken in early 1945, ACSEA cited the Hurri9ane as being the one fighter type for which camouflage was absolutely essential, although the exact reason for this is not known.