Article of the day for December 15, 2017
The Article of the day for December 15, 2017 is Hawker Hurricane in Yugoslav service.
The Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft was in Yugoslav service from 1938 to 1941 and 1944 to 1951. The Royal Yugoslav Air Force obtained 24 of the British fighters commencing on 15 December 1938 from early production batches, the first foreign sale of the aircraft. Twenty additional fighter aircraft were built by Zmaj under licence in Yugoslavia. When the country was drawn into World War II by the German-led Axis invasion of April 1941, the aircraft achieved some successes against the Luftwaffe, but all the Yugoslav Hurricanes were destroyed or captured during the 11-day invasion. In mid-1944, the Yugoslav Partisans formed two Royal Air Force squadrons, Nos. 351 and 352, which both operated Hurricane fighter-bombers. No. 351 Squadron flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training and was later equipped with Hurricane Mk IVs, and No. 352 briefly flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training before re-equipping with Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs. Both squadrons operated as part of No. 281 Wing RAF of the Balkan Air Force, conducting ground attack missions in support of the Partisans. Hurricanes remained in service with the post-war Yugoslav Air Force until the early 1950s.
The Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft was in Yugoslav service from 1938 to 1941 and 1944 to 1951. The Royal Yugoslav Air Force obtained 24 of the British fighters commencing on 15 December 1938 from early production batches, the first foreign sale of the aircraft. Twenty additional fighter aircraft were built by Zmaj under licence in Yugoslavia. When the country was drawn into World War II by the German-led Axis invasion of April 1941, the aircraft achieved some successes against the Luftwaffe, but all the Yugoslav Hurricanes were destroyed or captured during the 11-day invasion. In mid-1944, the Yugoslav Partisans formed two Royal Air Force squadrons, Nos. 351 and 352, which both operated Hurricane fighter-bombers. No. 351 Squadron flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training and was later equipped with Hurricane Mk IVs, and No. 352 briefly flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training before re-equipping with Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs. Both squadrons operated as part of No. 281 Wing RAF of the Balkan Air Force, conducting ground attack missions in support of the Partisans. Hurricanes remained in service with the post-war Yugoslav Air Force until the early 1950s.
