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Werwolf Hurricanes of the 64th Sentai

Following its brief encounter with RAF Buffaloes and AVG Tomahawks on Christmas Day, 1941, the 64th Sentai and its retractable-gear Nakajima Hayabusas returned to the campaign in Malaya. The group was under the command of then-Major Kato Tateo, probably the most famous of the Japanese army's fighter pilots. On January 16, Kato and his men were diverted to the pending attack on Sumatra in the Dutch Indies (now Indonesia). (The long-ranged Hayabusas were still based at the former British airfield at Ipoh in southern Malaya.) On February 14, the group supported an airborne landing on Palembang, which succeeded in capturing the airfield and the nearby Dutch oil refineries.

At Palembang airfield, the 64th Sentai took found two comparatively undamaged Hurricane fighters and put them in shape for flying. Major Kato himself piloted one of the British planes, and the other was assigned to squadron leader Capt. Anma Katsumi of the group's 3rd Chutai. Predictably, the two Japanese officers found themselves under attack by friendly aircraft, as a 64th Sentai veteran recalled. Neither was damaged, evidently, and to prevent another occurrence the tails of both Hurricanes were painted white.

Soon after Rangoon fell to the Japanese on March 8, the 64th Sentai returned to the mainland. Its new base was at Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, due east of the AVG's former airbase at Toungoo. The Hurricanes came along, evidently still flown by Major Kato and Capt. Anma. (The reinforcements would have been welcome: although it had received new aircraft at intervals during January and February, the group had only 15 Hayabusas in service when it made the move the Malaya.)

The intention was to use the Hurricanes in "werwolf" attacks on British airfields where similar aircraft were based, notably Magwe and Akyab. However, that would have to wait until the group was based nearer to the action. When the 64th Sentai took part in the big raid on Magwe on March 21-22, the Hurricanes didn't take part, since they would have been unable to make the 550-mile round-trip flight.

So it was that the "werwolf" Hurricanes were sitting on the ground at Chiang Mai on the morning of March 24, when the AVG Tomahawks swept across in their vengeance raid, ordered by Chennault to pay back for the Allied air disaster at Magwe. When the AVG pilots claimed fifteen Japanese aircraft destroyed at Magwe--more about that later--two of them were the former RAF Hurricanes. No more was heard of the werwolves, so evidently they never flew again.