Dear Neil,

According to John Griffin's book, "Canadian Military Aircraft, serials and photographs 1920-1968" he only lists the following in the RCAF:

Hawker Hurricane Mk. 1, 310-329, 1351-1380 RR Merlin....... 50
Mk. IIC A274 (ex HV961) RR. Merlin XX ..............................1
Mk. XII 5376 - 5775, 9426 Packard Merlin 29 ...................401
Mk XIIA V7402, BW835-84 Packard Merlin 29 .....................50
Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk. 1 R4177 RR Merlin III ...................1

There were Free Issue Hurricanes built in Canada, part of the 5376-5775 range, and 149 of these eventually had their engines and instruments removed, then the aircraft were crated and shipped to the UK. Upon arrival we think they were issued RAF serial numbers? Confusing?

To keep the Fort William CCF plant production-line open until the USN Curtis Helldiver production project came on board, the CCF factory continued building Hurricanes, ie. FREE ISSUE. They left the production line, were crated and shipped by rail to RCAF Station Souris, Manitoba for storage. I believe there were over 100 plus of these crated Hurricanes at Souris. The RCAF later removed a number of the aircraft, refurbished them to flying conditon and flew them to the west coast of Canada. And still later, all the remainder were shipped back to Fort William in crates, had the engines and instruments removed, re-crated and shipped to the UK. We have the RCAF serial numbers of every crated Hurricane in storage at Souris, and the serials of Hurricanes removed from storage for RCAF duty, and those crated aircraft returned to Fort William to join other crated Hurricanes for shipment to the UK.

Send me your e-mail address and I will place you in contact with a Canadian expert on Hurricanes. He has all the Hurricane files from Ottawa. If he cannot answer your questions, then no one can.

Norman Malayney
nmalayneyATyahoo.com