We’re almost done with the Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China campaign, but there’s still two
aircraft yet to be explored that figure into the campaign missions. The second
I’ll talk about next week, since it doesn’t come into play until the final
mission of the game, but the other I’ll cover today. The Hawker Hurricane,
specifically the Mk IIB Tropical variant, has shown up in a few missions, flown
by the RAF’s 232 Squadron and RNZAF’s 448 Squadron.
Hurricane V7476, which evacuated from Singapore to Australia. Note the large tropical air filter under the chin. (Wikipedia)
On January 12th, 1942, the Japanese forces launched their Burma campaign. Though significantly outnumbered, the AVG and RAF aircraft based at Mingaladon inflicted outsized losses on the IJAAF attackers. The British radar operating at Mingaladon helped with early warning of incoming attacks.
By mid-February though, only ten P-40s were still operational at Mingaladon. The RAF would begin retreating and pull their radar equipment out by the end of February, forcing the remaining Flying Tigers to withdraw to bases in northern Burma.
This mission has some of the craziest cockpit hopping of anything in the game. Start in a Blenheim coming in for a landing, swap to a Hurricane, jump back into a Blenheim's turret, then finally into a P-40E to finish out. At least there's no shortage of variety.
A semi-historical mission, flying "The Hump", the aerial resupply line from India to China, was the most dangerous cargo route of World War II.
When Japanese military success in the SBI effectively closed the only land resupply route into China, American forces had to find another way to supply operations in China. The only option was a long, dangerous flight over the Himalayan mountain range. The game mission suffers from a bit of an anachronism, in that the C-46 Commando transports did not begin operating on the route until 1943, while the mission is clearly intended to have taken place in 1942 when the AVG was still operating.
Details, what are you going to do?
An additional note of interest is the quote at the end of the mission. While it may sound a bit corny to modern ears, this is very close to a direct quotation from Dayne Kline, an engineer on the C-87 transports which also flew The Hump. His direct quote is as follows:
"Let there be no question about it! Flying the Hump was risky business. The air route led first over the Himalayan foothills and finally to the mountains, between north Burma and west China, airspace where turbulence and abominable weather was the norm. Judge for yourself: one of the peaks they flew over translated into English as "Elephant Head Gouge Mountain," because "when elephants use a game trail on its side, at one place they have to turn such a sharp corner that their tusks scrape grooves into the rock."
Not a lot of historical details for this mission, though it is at least somewhat representative of the kinds of patrols the AVG would fly, particularly once they got their bomb-carrying P-40Es.
The forced landing and squeezing two people into the cockpit of a Hurricane IIb is a bit of a stretch, but “Rule of Cool”, Artistic license, and all that.
