Hurricanes in the PTO

[snafud1]

What marks of the Hurricane fought in the Pacific Theatre? Going to buy some models at the end of racing season and wanted to one Hurricane for each theatre.

 

[Glider]

I believe that all versions of the Mk 2 fought in Burma

 

[snafud1]

Cool. Looks like I'll be busy this winter.

 

[Tinplate58]

Glider is right though a few squadrons fought in Malaya and Java before their collapse.
Squadrons in Burma with Hurricanes were
5,11,17,20,28,34,42,60,67,79,113,134,146,261,273,607,and 615. Mostly with Mark IIc but some IIa/b (early) and some Mark IVs later. Plus 8 Indian Air Force squadrons.
The ones with European colours (grey-green) were re-painted Dark Earth-Dark Green-Medium Sea Grey in India.Squadron codes usually deleted and ID by single letters in white (or light grey or sky).The squadrons re-equipped with Spitfires and Thunderbolts re-introduced their codes.
The IVs had 40mm cannon (2).

Nick

 

[syscom3]

Glider is right though a few squadrons fought in Malaya and Java before their collapse.
Squadrons in Burma with Hurricanes were
5,11,17,20,28,34,42,60,67,79,113,134,146,261,273,607,and 615. Mostly with Mark IIc but some IIa/b (early) and some Mark IVs later. Plus 8 Indian Air Force squadrons.
The ones with European colours (grey-green) were re-painted Dark Earth-Dark Green-Medium Sea Grey in India.Squadron codes usually deleted and ID by single letters in white (or light grey or sky).The squadrons re-equipped with Spitfires and Thunderbolts re-introduced their codes.
The IVs had 40mm cannon (2).

Nick

Java? I thought they served in Sumatra.

 

[Marcel]

The Dutch had a few MK.IIB's on Java.

 

[Colin1]

Guys
I don't want to nit-pick
but the PTO was largely run by the US and I don't recall them using Hurricanes, range would likely have been a big issue.
Do we by any chance mean the CBI here? There were plenty of Hurricanes in the CBI...

 

[syscom3]

Guys
I don't want to nit-pick
but the PTO was largely run by the US and I don't recall them using Hurricanes, range would likely have been a big issue.
Do we by any chance mean the CBI here? There were plenty of Hurricanes in the CBI...

Yes, technically they were in the CBI.

But many people comsider the war in the CBI as part of the larger war in the whole Pacific

 

[timshatz]

Funny this question should come up...

I was reading the "Bloody Shambles" series last night. It said the 2b Hurris were out there. Also, that the pilots/crews pulled 4 of the 12 guns out of the wings to lessen the load and make it more responsive.

 

[Catch22]

Mk IIc

The markings are those of 5 Sqn RAF (North West Burma area, SEAC markings) and PZ865 wore them during the 2000/1 display season.

From Wings Palette.

 

[Tinplate58]

Syscom........after Sumatra fell ( Feb. ) the remnants of 232, 242, 488(NZ), 605 and 258 withdrew to Java .Stations included Tjililitan, Andir, Lembang and Kalidjati. The squadrons were more or less amalgamated into temporary units alongside the Dutch. They were all re-formed after Java surrendered .
Other Hurricane squadrons in the India-Burma-Indian Ocean area in 1941--2 were 30 and 261 in Ceylon.

Nick

 

[Colin1]

I was reading the "Bloody Shambles" series last night. It said the 2b Hurris were out there. Also, that the pilots/crews pulled 4 of the 12 guns out of the wings to lessen the load and make it more responsive.

12-gun mounts were devised for tackling German bombers, personally, I'd have pulled 6 of the 12 guns if I was going to be tackling Japanese fighters, possibly 8

 

[Jerry W. Loper]

The book in the subject line says the Hurricanes fighting in the Dutch East Indies had a speed of only 250 m.p.h. Would the Volkes filters they were fitted with (I think they were Mark II's) really slow them down that much?

 

[Colin1]

The book in the subject line says the Hurricanes fighting in the Dutch East Indies had a speed of only 250 m.p.h. Would the Volkes filters they were fitted with (I think they were Mark II's) really slow them down that much?

Vokes filters certainly slowed an aircraft that wasn't that fast anyway.
I'm not sure off the top of my head what modifications were made to the Mk IIs over the Mk Is but the Hurricane (like most fighters) put on weight during its service life; the Mk IV was one and a half times heavier than the Mk I - so a possibility that that wouldn't have helped either.

 

[snafud1]

Yes, technically they were in the CBI.

But many people comsider the war in the CBI as part of the larger war in the whole Pacific

Exactly how I'm doing it. Which a/c fought the Japs, which a/c fought the Germans. Thaty's how I decide what models I want to put together.

 

[vanir]

The book in the subject line says the Hurricanes fighting in the Dutch East Indies had a speed of only 250 m.p.h. Would the Volkes filters they were fitted with (I think they were Mark II's) really slow them down that much?

Fuel quality was a problem.
Soviets had the same issues with Merlins in lend lease aircraft early on. Their Hurricane IIs were so detuned they considered them useless for anything but ground attack under escort. They even started pulling out the armoured seats to fit into locally produced fighters rather, and those early LaGG and Yaks were no sparkling performers themselves.

 

[A4K]

No.488 (NZ) sqn replaced their Buffaloes with MK.IIB Hurricanes before the collapse of Singapore. They were fitted with Vokes air filters, and (as far as I've been able to ascertain so far) painted in RAF Dark Earth/ Dark Green/ Sky camouflage. The only identity I've found so far is aircraft Z5616 (no squadron codes).

 

[Marcel]

Found a picture, I believe the only photo taken of a KNIL-ML Hurricane. Very bad, and not very well to see, but I think it's quite unique.

 

[Marshall_Stack]

There are two books mentioned in this thread that I was considering purchasing - "Hurricanes over Singapore" and "Bloody Shambles". What are your impressions of these books (for those who have read them)?