Editing Hawker Hurricane (section)

===South-East Asia===

[[File:Hawker Hurricane of 488 Squadron RNZAF.jpg|thumb|Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIB/Trop of [[No. 488 Squadron RNZAF|488 Squadron RNZAF]] at [[RAF Kallang]], January 1942]]
Following the outbreak of the [[Pacific War|war with Japan]], 51 Hurricane Mk.IIBs en route to Iraq were diverted to [[Singapore]]; 10 were in crates, the others partially disassembled, these and the 24 pilots (many of whom were veterans of the Battle of Britain), who had been transferred to the theatre, formed the nucleus of five squadrons. They arrived on 13 January 1942, by which time the Allied fighter squadrons in Singapore, flying [[Brewster Buffalo]]s, had been overwhelmed during the [[Battle of Malaya|Malayan campaign]]. The fighters of the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]], especially the [[Nakajima Ki-43]] Oscar, had been underestimated in its capability, numbers and the strategy of its commanders.<ref name="Hurricanes over Singapore">Cull and Sortehaug 2004</ref><ref name="mason 17">Mason 1967, p. 17.</ref>

Thanks to the efforts of No. 151 Maintenance Unit RAF, the 51 Hurricanes were assembled and ready for testing within 48 hours and of these, 21 were ready for operational service within three days. The Hurricanes, originally intended for the Middle East theatre, were fitted with bulky Vokes dust filters under the nose and were armed with 12, rather than eight, machine guns. The additional weight and drag made them slow to climb and unwieldy to manoeuvre at altitude, although they were more effective bomber killers.<ref>Shores 1992, p. 297.</ref>

The recently arrived pilots were formed into [[No. 232 Squadron RAF|232 Squadron]] and [[No. 488 Squadron RNZAF|488 (NZ) Squadron]], flying Buffalos, converted to Hurricanes. On 18 January, the two squadrons formed the basis of [[No. 226 Group RAF|226 Group]]; 232 Squadron became operational on 22 January and suffered the first losses and victories for the Hurricane in Southeast Asia.<ref name="Your Planes and Your Work Defend Your Empire">[http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/32022 "Your Planes and Your Work Defend Your Empire (Poster)."] Imperial War Museum (Printer: Fosh and Cross Ltd, London). Accessed: 17 November 2011.</ref> Between 27 and 30 January, another 48 Hurricanes Mk.IIB arrived with the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Indomitable|R92|6}}, from which they flew to airfields code-named P1 and P2, near [[Palembang]], [[Sumatra]] in the [[Netherlands East Indies]].

The Hurricanes first saw action on the morning of 20 January 1942, when twelve aircraft of 232 Squadron intercepted a mixed IJN and IJAAF formation of about 80 bombers escorted by fighters, the heaviest air raid on Singapore. Eight were claimed shot down and three probables, but three Hurricanes were lost along with two pilots, including Squadron Leader Leslie Ninian Landels.<ref>Cull, Brian and Brian and Paul Sortehaug, p.154</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/Landels.htm | title=Battle of Britain London Monument - P/O L N Landels }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.key.aero/article/when-hurricanes-took-japanese-fight-singapore | title=When Hurricanes took on Japanese in fight for Singapore | date=30 December 2022 }}</ref>

Because of inadequate early warning systems (the first British radar stations became operational only towards the end of February), Japanese air raids were able to destroy 30 Hurricanes on the ground in Sumatra, most of them in one raid on 7 February. After Japanese [[Battle of Singapore|landings in Singapore]], on 10 February, the remnants of 232 and 488 Squadrons were withdrawn to Palembang. Japanese paratroopers began the [[Battle of Palembang|invasion of Sumatra]] on 13 February. Hurricanes destroyed six Japanese [[transport ship]]s on 14 February but lost seven aircraft in the process. On 18 February, the remaining Allied aircraft and aircrews moved to [[Java (island)|Java]], with only 18 serviceable Hurricanes out of the original 99.<ref name="Derry and Robinson, p. 27">Derry and Robinson, p. 27</ref> That month, 12 Hurricane Mk.IIB Trops were supplied to the Dutch forces on Java. With dust filters removed and fuel and ammo load in wings halved, these were able to stay in a turn with the Oscars they fought.<ref name="Het Verlies van Java, p 83">Boer 2006, p. 83.</ref> After [[Battle of Java|Java was invaded]], some of the New Zealand pilots were evacuated by sea to Australia.

[[File:RAF Hurricane.jpg|thumb|left|Hurricane ''V7476'' sent to Australia in May 1941, arriving in August, was the only Hurricane based in Australia during the Second World War. The tropicalised Vokes air filter, which was fitted to many types operating in the Pacific, is visible under the nose.]]
When a Japanese carrier task force under the command of Admiral [[Chūichi Nagumo]] made a [[Indian Ocean raid|sortie into the Indian Ocean]] in April 1942, RAF Hurricanes based on [[Ceylon]] saw action against Nagumo's forces during attacks on [[Colombo]] on 5 April 1942 and on [[Trincomalee]] harbour on 9 April 1942.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p392-3,5,9">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, pp. 392–393, 395, 399.</ref>

On 5 April 1942, Captain [[Mitsuo Fuchida]] of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]], who led the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], led a strike against Colombo with 53 [[Nakajima B5N]] torpedo bombers and 38 [[Aichi D3A]] dive bombers, escorted by 36 [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighters.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p395">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, p. 395.</ref> They were opposed by 35 Hurricane I and IIBs of [[No. 30 Squadron RAF|30]] and [[No. 258 Squadron RAF|258 Squadrons]], together with six [[Fairey Fulmar]]s of [[803 Naval Air Squadron|803]] and [[806 Naval Air Squadron|806]] Naval Air Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p397">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, p. 397.</ref> The Hurricanes mainly tried to shoot down the attacking bombers, but were engaged heavily by the escorting Zeros.<ref name="Vac p39">Vaccari 1995, p. 39.</ref> A total of 21 Hurricanes were shot down (although two of these were repairable),<ref name="Bloodyv2 p403">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, p. 403.</ref> together with four Fulmars<ref name="Bloodyv2 p397-8">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, pp. 397–398.</ref> and six Swordfish of [[788 Naval Air Squadron]] that had been surprised in flight by the raid.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p395-7">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, pp. 395–397.</ref> The RAF claimed 18 Japanese aircraft destroyed, seven probably destroyed and nine damaged, with one aircraft claimed by a Fulmar and five by anti-aircraft fire. This compared with actual Japanese losses of one Zero and six D3As, with a further seven D3As, five B5Ns and three Zeros damaged.<ref name="Vac p39" /><ref name="Bloodyv2 p403-4">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, pp. 403–404.</ref>

On 9 April 1942, the Japanese task force sent 91 B5Ns escorted by 41 Zeros against Trincomalee port and the nearby [[SLAF China Bay|China Bay airfield]].<ref name="Bloodyv2 p413">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, p. 413.</ref> Sixteen Hurricanes opposed the raid, of which eight were lost with a further three damaged.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p420">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, p. 420.</ref> They claimed eight Japanese aircraft destroyed with a further four probably destroyed and at least five damaged. Actual Japanese losses were three A6Ms and two B5Ns, with a further 10 B5Ns damaged.<ref name="Bloodyv2 p421-2">Shores, Cull and Izawa 1993, pp. 421–422.</ref>

Air battles over [[Rakhine State|Arakan]] in 1943 represented the last large-scale use of the Hurricane as a pure fighter. However, in Burma, several squadrons flew Mk II and Mk IV Hurricanes, in the ground attack role, until the end of the war. Its pilots were occasionally caught up in air combat; for example, on 15 February 1944, Flg Off Jagadish Chandra Verma of [[No. 6 Squadron IAF|No. 6 Squadron]], [[Royal Indian Air Force]] (RIAF), shot down a Japanese [[Ki-43 Oscar]] – the only air-to-air victory for the RIAF during the Second World War.<ref name="Thomas 2003, p. 81">Thomas 2003, p. 81.</ref>

The Hurricane remained in service as a fighter-bomber over the [[Balkans]] and at home as well where it was used mainly for second-line tasks and occasionally flown by ace pilots. For example, in mid-1944, Squadron Leader [[James Storrar|"Jas" Storrar]] of [[No. 1687 Flight RAF]], used a Hurricane to courier documents to Allied ground forces in France, during the [[Normandy invasion]].<ref name="Thomas 2003, p. 81" />