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Aircraft - Locations - Group and Duty - Books
No.135 Squadron was a fighter squadron that was caught up in the retreat from Burma in 1942 and spent the rest of the war operating on the Burmese front.
The squadron was reformed at Baginton on 15 August 1941 using Hurricanes provided by No.605 Squadron. The squadron became operational in the UK on 3 October, but just over one month later, on 10 November, embarked for the Far East, where war with Japan threatened.
By the time the squadron reached India, in January 1942, war had already broken out. The squadron was sent forward to Rangoon, where it became operational on 26 January, taking part in a series of air battles with Japanese aircraft. The ground echelon was soon evacuated to Calcutta, but most of the squadron's aircraft were lost in Burma.
The squadron reformed at Calcutta and began to fly convoy patrols over the Bay of Bengal. These continued throughout 1942, before in January 1943 the squadron moved to the Burmese front to begin a mix of defensive and offensive duties, including sweeps across Burma.
The squadron was withdrawn to southern India at the end of May, where it was used as a conversion unit for Blenheim squadrons that were converting to the Hurricane fighter-bomber, a much more effective aircraft over Burma. After this the squadron helped with the air defence of southern India.
In May 1944 the squadron began to convert to the Thunderbolt, a process that was complete by August. The squadron then returned to the Burma front, where ground attack operations resumed on 16 October 1944. These continued until May 1945 when the squadron was withdrawn from the front line, before on 10 June 1945 being renumbered as No.615 Squadron.
Aircraft
August 1941-February 1942: Hawker Hurricane IIA
January 1942-October 1943: Hawker Hurricane IIB
October 1943-September 1944: Hawker Hurricane IIC
May 1944-June 1945: Republic Thunderbolt I
Location
August-September 1941: Baginton
September-November 1941: Honiley
January 1942: Zayatkwin
January-February 1942: Mingaladon
March 1942-January 1943: Dum Dum
January-May 1943: 'George'/ 'Hove'
May 1943: Ramu/ 'Reindeer'
May 1943: Dohazari
May-July 1943: St. Thomas Mount
July-November 1943: Yelahanka
November 1943-January 1944: St. Thomas Mount
January-August 1944: Minneriya
August-September 1944: Amarda Road
October-December 1944: Chittagong
December 1944-April 1945: Jumchar
April 1945: Cox's Bazaar
April-May 1945: Akyab
May-June 1945: Chakulia
Squadron Codes: D, P, WK
Duty
1 July 1944: No.222 Group, Air Command South-East Asia
Hurricane Aces 1941-45, Andrew Thomas. This book covers the later career of the Hurricane, starting with its final months as a front line fighter in Britain in 1941 before moving on to look at its career in North Africa, the Mediterranean and over the jungles of Burma [see more]
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