This is a fascinating thread. I have just been talking to my father, who served as a FAA Artificer on 804 Squadron, from Xmas 1941 to May 1942 when they were based at Syndenham, Belfast, and were responsible for providing the original CAM ship Sea Hurricanes. The Hurricanes were also tasked as the fighter defence flight for Belfast. They were all picketed out on the airfield and he well remembers having to wrestle with the heavy, wet and cold canvas covers on the a/c each night. Also based on the airfield was a single Skua, and an RAF Lysander which crashed on the airfield, killing the crew.
He also recalls servicing the Sea Hurricane P3452 immediately before its last flight in which Bob Everett, the 1929 Grand National winning jockey, who later scored the first CAM Condor kill, was lost during a positioning flight from Sydenham to Abingdon on Jan 26 1942. He had to change the fuel filter and distinctly remembers being drenched in 100 octane fuel as he did it. According to Ralph Barker’s book The Hurricats, that particular Hurricane was known for having oil pressure problems, and it crashed into the sea near Anglesey.
I’d recommend getting hold of Ralph Barker’s book ..a good read.
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