| Hurricane |
The Hawker Hurricane had made its name as the the workhorse of RAF's Fighter Command in the skies of Battle of Britain during 1940. The first of these fighters were provided to the IAF in 1942, No.1 Squadron being the first unit earmarked to be so equipped with the aircraft.
No.2 Squadron followed soon after in September 1942 and No.6 was raised on this aircraft. All the three units went into action in Burma in 1943 and stayed on till the end of 1944. The Hurricanes earned the sobriquet "The eyes of the XIVth Army" while performing Tac R missions. No.6 Squadron's Hurricane pairs were affectionately referred to as "The Arakan Twins" or "The Kaladan Twins" etc by the ground troops.
Other squadrons like No.3, No.4 , No.7, No.9 and No.10 converted to the Hurricane. Only No.8 was the sole unit not to fly this magnificient aircraft. The Hurricane was obsolete when compared to the Japanese types. Even the RAF was flying the Hurricanes in the Burma Sector. Starting Mid 1943 RAF units started taking on Spitfires. The IAF laboured on with its Hurricanes till late 1945 when the last of the units converted to the Spitfires.
The Hawker Hurricane |
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No. 10 (Hurricane) Squadron Kyaukpyu, Ramree
Island, Burma. 4 August 1945. Two RAAF members, P/O Eric Evans of Newcastle, NSW, and P/O
WH (Cobber) Pye of Ultimo, NSW with F/O MM Crishna and an undentified Indian Officer with
their Hurricane K for Kangaroo.)
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