This is a list of the Hawker Hurricane operators.
Operators
Argentina
Argentine Air Force
Only one example of Hurricane Mk.IV, serial KW908, arrived in 1947 as a present from the British Government to the Argentines. The aeroplane was packed in 27 boxes and arrived to Buenos Aires on August '47 aboard the ship SS Durango. On 7 July of that year the aircraft was on public display in an exhibition mounted in one of the main squares of Buenos Aires, with other airplanes like a Lancaster and Fiat G55. In autumn of that year was sent to a flight school of the Argentinian Air Force located in Córdoba, where was painted the national insignia and repainted their camouflage colours; it is known that remained there until the early '60s.
Australia
Royal Australian Air Force
The following units served with the Desert Air Force in the Mediterranean Theatre:
No. 3 Squadron RAAF
No. 450 Squadron RAAF (combined operations with No. 260 Squadron RAF) No. 451 Squadron RAAF
Only one Hurricane (V7476) saw service in Australia. It had been shipped, unassembled to No. 226 Group RAF in the Dutch East Indies during early 1942. It was among elements of 226 Grp evacuated to Australia before the Allied defeat in Java. After assembly by RAAF ground staff, this Hurricane served with the following units:
No. 1 Communications Flight RAAF
No. 2 Communications Flight RAAF
No. 2 Operational Training Unit RAAF
Central Flying School RAAF
The Hurricane was retired in 1946 and is believed to have been scrapped.
Belgium
Belgian Air Force
Belgium bought 20 Hurricane Mk.Is (early models with fabric covered wings and fixed two-blade propeller) in 1939 and a licence to build 80 more, of which only two were completed, with most of the aircraft being lost during the German invasion when they were bombed at the military airfield at Schaffen near Diest on 10 May 1940. After the war, six ex-RAF Hurricane Mk.IIs (a mix of Mk.IIB and C) were transferred to the Belgians in 1946, these were used as fast communications aircraft up to 1948.
Canada
Several Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons were equipped with Hurricanes, including 1 Squadron RCAF, which flew in the Battle of Britain.
Royal Canadian Air Force
Article XV squadrons serving under direct command and control of the RAF. No. 1 Squadron RCAF re-numbered to No. 401 Squadron RCAF No. 2 Squadron RCAF re-numbered to No. 402 Squadron RCAF No. 417 Squadron RCAF No. 421 Squadron RCAF No. 438 Squadron RCAF No. 439 Squadron RCAF No. 440 Squadron RCAF Operational Squadrons of the Home War Establishment (HWE) (Based in Canada) Eastern Air Command No. 1 Squadron RCAF No. 125 Squadron RCAF No. 126 Squadron RCAF No. 127 Squadron RCAF No. 128 Squadron RCAF No. 129 Squadron RCAF No. 130 Squadron RCAF Western Air Command No. 133 Squadron RCAF No. 135 Squadron RCAF
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovak Air Force in exile in Great Britain
No. 310 Czech Fighter Squadron
No. 312 Czech Fighter Squadron
Egypt
Royal Egyptian Air Force
Finland
Finland bought 12 Mk.I Hurricanes at the end of the Winter War, but lost two during the transit flight. The aircraft did not have much success (only 5½ kills). When hostilities began again on 25 June 1941, their use was quite limited, partially because they were worn out due to the scarcity of replacement parts available during the Interim Peace (13 March 1940 – 25 June 1941) and subsequent combat flying. One Hurricane Mk.IIB was captured from the Soviets during the war and flown by the Finnish Air Force.
Finnish Air Force
No. 10 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 22 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 26 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 28 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 30 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 32 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
No. 34 Squadron, Finnish Air Force
Free France
Hurricanes also joined the ranks of the Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres (FAFL), the Free French Air Force, fighting in North Africa between June 1940 and May 1943. The Hurricanes, like all FAFL aircraft, sported the Cross of Lorraine on the fuselage, instead of the roundel in order to distinguish them from those aircraft flying for the Vichy French air force. These squadrons were generally formed within the RAF, so that Groupe de Chasse Alsace was known in British circles as No. 341 Squadron RAF