Hawker Hurricane by Peter Jacobs

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Five days after the squadron arrived at Ta Kali, the airfield was attacked by Bf 109s. Wells was in his Hurricane, when it was hit in the gravity tank and caught fire. Wells had been hit by a cannon shell in his right ankle, but he managed to vacate the burning Hurricane. He was transferred to Imtarfa Hospital, and it would be another two months before he was fit to resume operational flying. Turning Defence into Attack The first Spitfire reinforcements arrived in Malta during April and May 1941, and the island maintained its resistance until the Germans withdrew, temporarily, from the air battle in May 1941 to prepare itselffor the invasion of Russia.

Without subjecting Ark Royal to unnecessary risk in the Mediterranean, the plan was to fly the Hurricanes off the carrier once within range of Malta. On 21 May the carrier was considered to be close enough to the island and the squadron's twenty-four Hurricanes, fitted with longrange fuel tanks, took off for Ta Kali, led by a Fleet Air Arm Fulmar. The Fulmar suffered an engine problem, and was forced to return to the carrier. The Hurricanes The RAFs association with the island of Malta has never been forgotten: a detachment of Tornado F3s in the Falkland Islands was numbered as No 1435 Flight (formerly the MNFU), and the BBMF Hurricane (PZ865) has recently been displayed in the markings of 261 Squadron, based on Malta during 1940-41.

The unit operated a mix ofMkl and Mklls, depending on what was available at the time. Night tactics had to be discussed and tried; night-fighting in an aircraft that was essentially designed for daytime fighting was to prove a new challenge for the pilots. Close liaison with the anti-aircraft batteries was necessary, as the searchlights , were vital in aiding the Hurricane pilots. One young man to enjoy early success as a night-fighter pilot was PIt Off David Barnwell. Unlike many of his colleagues, Barnwell had no previous combat experience.