Burma, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies
Hawker Hurricane Mk.II of
No. 232 Squadron shot down on 8 February 1942 during the
Battle of Singapore
Following the outbreak of
war with Japan, 51 Hurricanes (MkII) were sent in crates to
Singapore, with 24 pilots, the nucleus of five squadrons. They arrived on 3 January 1942, by which time the Allied fighter squadrons in Singapore, flying
Brewster Buffalos, had been overwhelmed in the
Malayan campaign. The
Imperial Japanese Army Air Force's fighter force, especially the
Nakajima Ki-43, had been underestimated in its capability, numbers and the strategy of its commanders.
[30]
Arriving in crates by sea, 51 Hurricanes were assembled in 48 hours and ready for testing. 21 were ready for service within three days, thanks to the efforts of the 151 Maintenance unit. The Hurricanes suffered in performance. The crews equipped them with 12, rather than eight machine guns. This made them slow in the climb and unwieldy in the manoeuvre, although they were more effective bomber killers.
[31]
The recently-arrived pilots were formed into
No. 232 Squadron. In addition,
No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, a Buffalo squadron, converted to Hurricanes. On 18 January, the two squadrons formed the basis of
No. 226 Group RAF. 232 Squadron became operational on 20 January and suffered the first losses and victories for the Hurricane in East Asia, when S/L Lawrence Landels was shot down and killed; he was avenged by his wingman, Sgt Jimmy Parker. The squadron destroyed three Ki-43s that day for the loss of three Hurricanes.
[32] However, like the Buffalos before them, the Hurricanes began to suffer severe losses in intense dogfights. A future Prime Minister of Australia,
John Gorton, saw action with 232 Sqn before being badly injured in a crash.
Between 27 and 30 January, another 48 Hurricanes (Mk IIA) arrived with the aircraft carrier
HMS Indomitable, from which they flew to airfields code-named P1 and P2, near
Palembang,
Sumatra in the
Dutch East Indies.
A/Cdre Stanley Vincent was appointed CO of 226 Grp.
Because of inadequate early warning systems, 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
landings in Singapore, on 10 February, the remnants of 232 and 488 Squadrons were withdrawn to Palembang. However, Japanese paratroopers began the
invasion of Sumatra on 13 February. Hurricanes destroyed six Japanese
transport ships on 14 February, but lost seven aircraft in the process. On 18 February, the remaining Allied aircraft and aircrews moved to
Java. By this time, only 18 serviceable Hurricanes remained out of the original 99