Why ?

A good question, well history would have us believe that the Second Worrld War, and more importantly for the UK, the Battle of Britain, was won by the spitfire. Although an excellent aeroplane the myth is false, the Hurricane destroyed more enemy aircraft than the rest of the RAF together. It was a much more stable gun-platform, it could out turn an Me-109. So I decided to try and put the record straight by producing the definitive history of the Hurricane, including the service history of all 14,000 plus airframes, all the bases, all the information etc. This site is just a taster, also included here is an example of an individual aircraft history and a base listing. I have finished the first two production blocks and welcome enquiries from prospective purchasers.
An example of an individual aircraft history :- L1592
Merlin II
Serial No. 759
To 56 Sq., North Weald, on 3rd June, 1938.
To 17 Sq., North Weald, on 27th July, 1939.
To 87 Sq., Merville, France, on 10th October, 1939.
To 43 Sq., Acklington, on 14th October, 1939. Coded "FT-C".
To 17 Sq., North Weald, on 1th November, 1939.
To 151 Sq., North Weald, on 16th February, 1940.
To 3 Sq., Kenley, on 16th February, 1940.
To 48 M.U., Andover, on 1st June, 1940.
To 4 M.U., De-Havilland, on 10th June, 1940.
To 10 M.U., Little Rissington, on 27th June, 1940.
To 615 Sq., Kenley, on 23rd July, 1940.
Flying Accident, Operational, Shot down and damaged at Croydon, on 18th Aug, 1940.
To 13 M.U., Henlow for repair, on 25th August, 1940.
To 10 M.U., Little Rissington, on 2nd october, 1940.
To SDF, Christchurch, on 10th October, 1940.
To 15 M.U., Andover, on 25th August, 1941.
To 9 A.O.S., ???, on ???.
To 5(P)AFU, Ternhill, on 21st April, 1942.
Flying Accident, Category C, on 24th July, 1942.
Repaired, On Site, on 2nd August, 1942.
To 5(P)AFU, Ternhill, on 25th September, 1942.
To 48 M.U., Andover, on 18th September, 1942.
To 9(P)AFU, Hullavington, on 19th February, 1943.
To 22 M.U., Andover, on 8th October, 1943.
To 52 M.U., Andover, on 6th August, 1944.
To 47 M.U., Andover, for museum purposes, in August, 1944.
Currently on display in the Science Museum, South Kensington, London, U.K.
An example of a Base History :-
Debden / S England / 51.59 N 00.16 E - 33 Miles NNE of London
17 Sq. 9th Sep, 1939 16th Sep, 1939 Mk. I
  24th Dec, 1939 30th Dec, 1939 Mk. I
  8th Jan, 1940 13th Jan, 1940 Mk. I
  20th Jan, 1940 30th Jan, 1940 Mk. I
  11th Feb, 1940 22nd Feb, 1940 Mk. I
  27th Feb, 1940 5th Mar, 1940 Mk. I
  12th Mar, 1940 19th Mar, 1940 Mk. I
  20th Mar, 1940 23rd Mar, 1940 Mk. I
  27th Mar, 1940 5th Apr, 1940 Mk. I
  13th Apr, 1940 23rd Apr, 1940 Mk. I
  30th Apr, 1940 7th May, 1940 Mk. I
  22nd May, 1940 25th May, 1940 Mk. I
  19th Jun, 1940 19th Aug, 1940 Mk. I
  2nd Sep, 1940 9th Oct, 1940 Mk. I
85 Sq. Sep, 1938 18th Oct, 1938 Mk. I
  4th Nov, 1938 9th Sep, 1938 Mk. I
  23rd May, 1940 19th Aug, 1940 Mk. I
* 23rd Oct, 1940 23rd Nov, 1940 Mk. I
  1st Jan, 1941 Apr, 1941 Mk. I
87 Sq. Jul, 1938 4th Sep, 1939 Mk. I
  22nd May, 1940 24th May, 1940 Mk. I
111 Sq. 19th Aug, 1940 3rd Sep, 1940 Mk. I
257 Sq. 15th Aug, 1940 5th Sep, 1940 Mk. I
258 Sq. 3rd Oct, 1941 1st Nov, 1941 Mk. IIA
287 Sq.** 19th Nov, 1941 3rd Jul, 1944 Mk. I/IIB/IV
504 Sq. 9th Oct, 1939 24th Dec, 1939 Mk. I
  30th Dec, 1939 8th Jan, 1940 Mk. I
  13th Jan, 1940 20th Jan, 1940 Mk. I
  30th Jan, 1940 11th Feb, 1940 Mk. I
  22nd Feb, 1940 27th Feb, 1940 Mk. I
  5th Mar, 1940 12th Mar, 1940 Mk. I
  18th Mar, 1940 27th Mar, 1940 Mk. I
  4th Apr, 1940 13th Apr, 1940 Mk. I
  23rd Apr, 1940 30th Apr, 1940 Mk. I
  7th May, 1940 12th May, 1940 Mk. I
  21st May, 1940 22nd May, 1940 Mk. I
531 Sq. 2nd Oct, 1942 9th Oct, 1942 Mk. IIC
601 Sq. 19th Aug, 1940 2nd Sep, 1940 Mk. I
52 O.T.U. 1941 1942 Various

*Det to Debden, while based at Kirton-in-Lindsey (q.v.).

**Det to Debden, while based at Croydon (q.v.).
An example of a Squadron history

No. 1 Sqd.

'In Omnibus Princeps'

'First In All Things'

Allocation and disposition while operating the Hawker Hurricane:-

Date Location A/c Type
October, 1938 Tangmere Mk. I
9th September, 1939 Octeville Mk. I
9th October, 1939 Vassincourt Mk. I
det Rouvres Mk. I
11th April, 1940 Berry-au-Bac Mk. I
19th April, 1940 Vassincourt Mk. I
10th May, 1940 Berry-au-Bac Mk. I
17th May, 1940 Condé/Vraux Mk. I
18th May, 1940 Anglure Mk. I
3rd June, 1940 Châteaudun Mk. I
14th June, 1940 Boos Mk. I
16th June, 1940 Angers Mk. I
17th June, 1940 Nantes Mk. I
18th June, 1940 Northolt Mk. I
det Hawkinge Mk. I
23rd July, 1940 Tangmere Mk. I
1st August, 1940 Northolt Mk. I
det Tangmere Mk. I
det Manston Mk. I
det North Weald Mk. I
det Heathrow Mk. I
9th September, 1940 Wittering Mk. I
15th December, 1940 Northolt Mk. I
5th January, 1941 Kenley Mk. I
7th April, 1941 Croydon Mk. IIA
1st May, 1941 Redhill Mk. IIB
1st June, 1941 Kenley Mk. IIB
14th June, 1941 Redhill Mk. IIB
1st July, 1941 Tangmere Mk. IIB
8th July, 1942 Acklington Mk. IIB/IIC
September, 1942 End of Hurricane ops.

Codes Used : JX, NA

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Hawker Hurricane -  "Defender Of The Empire"
© - 1997 - Colin James Pratt-Hooson
Last Updated : Saturday, July 20, 2002 01:43:40 PM