Mitchell, Thomas Ridley (Flying Officer)

The Hawker Hurricane is a single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s"“1940s that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Hurricane developed through several versions, as bomber-interceptors, fighter-bombers, and ground support aircraft in addition to fighters. Versions designed for the Navy were popularly known as the Sea Hurricane, with modifications enabling their operation from ships. Some were converted to be used as catapult-launched convoy escorts. By the end of production in July 1944, 14,487 Hurricanes had been completed in Britain and Canada.

A major manufacturer of the Hurricane was Canadian Car and Foundry at their factory in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario. The facility's chief engineer, Elsie MacGill, became known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes". The initiative was commercially led rather than governmentally, but was endorsed by the British government; Hawker, having recognized that a major conflict was all but inevitable after the Munich Crisis of 1938, drew up preliminary plans to expand Hurricane production via a new factory in Canada. Under this plan, samples, pattern aircraft, and a complete set of design documents stored on microfilm, were shipped to Canada; the RCAF ordered 20 Hurricanes to equip one fighter squadron and two more were supplied to Canadian Car and Foundry as pattern aircraft but one probably did not arrive. The first Hurricane built at Canadian Car and Foundry was officially produced in February 1940. As a result, Canadian-built Hurricanes were shipped to Britain to participate in events such as the Battle of Britain. Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) was responsible for the production of 1,451 Hurricanes. Wikipedia and Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Hurricane

Wikipedia Hurricane

Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Hurricane - Kestrel Publications

Aircraft Images

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Hurricane 5663

Hurricane Mk. XII 5663

With No. 129 (F) Sqn on the east coast. Category "C" damage at 16:20 on 28 Jan 1943, while with this unit at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, when it taxied into parked Hurricane #5660. Assigned to 130 (F) Sqn following repairs. Category "D" damage on 2 Jan 1944 in Goose Bay, Newfoundland, when a pilot executed too rapid a pull out from a dive and buckled the port and starboard mainplanes during an air test. Further Category "C" damage on 17 Jan 1944, when the pilot failed to line up properly on a runway at night and ran off the runway during the take-off run. Reported missing on operations in Labrador on 13 Mar 1944 while still with 130 (F) Sqn. The a/c failed to return from a general reconnaissance mission. The pilot was believed to have become lost in deteriorating weather conditions. The wreckage was later discovered scattered across an ice-covered Lake Melville, Labrador. Pilot Officer T.R. Mitchell was killed. The wreckage was allocated to No. 4 Repair Depot on 24 Mar 1944 for write off.

1943-January-28 Accident: 129 Squadron Loc: Dartmouth Aerodrome Names: Badgley
1943-01-28 Accident Category C 2022-02-04
1943-01-28 Taken on Strength 2019-08-20
1944-January-02 Accident: 130 Squadron Loc: Goose Bay Aerodrome Names: Pieri
1944-01-02 Accident Category D 2022-02-04
1944-January-17 Accident: 130 Squadron Loc: Aerodrome Names: Churchman
1944-01-17 Accident Category C 2022-02-04
1944-March-13 Accident: 130 Squadron Loc: Names: Mitchell
1944-03-13 Accident Category A 2022-02-04
1944-05-11 Struck off Strength written off, reduced to spares and produce 2022-02-04