In late 1937, the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (, VVKJ) placed an order with Hawker Aircraft for twelve Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters, the first foreign purchase of the aircraft. The VVKJ operated the British Hawker Hurricane Mk I from 1938 to 1941. Between 1938 and 1940, the VVKJ obtained 24 Hurricane Mk Is from early production batches, marking the first foreign sale of the aircraft. Twenty additional aircraft were built by Zmaj under licence in Yugoslavia. When the country was drawn into World War II by the German-led Axis invasion of April 1941, a total of 41 Hurricane Mk I's were in service as fighters. They achieved some successes against Luftwaffe aircraft, but all Yugoslav Hurricanes were destroyed or captured during the 11-day invasion.

In mid-1944, the Yugoslav Partisans formed two Royal Air Force squadrons, Nos. 351 and 352, which both operated Hurricane fighter-bombers. No. 351 Squadron flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training and was later equipped with Hurricane Mk IVs, and No. 352 briefly flew Hurricane Mk IICs during training before re-equipping with Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs. Both squadrons operated as part of No. 281 Wing RAF of the Balkan Air Force, conducting ground attack missions in support of Partisan operations until the end of the war. Hurricanes remained in service with the post-war Yugoslav Air Force until the early 1950s.

Acquisition

In early 1938, the VVKJ placed an order with Hawker Aircraft for twelve Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters, the first foreign purchase of the aircraft. The British government was willing to supply excess Hurricanes to nations that were likely to oppose German expansion because the rate of production of the aircraft slightly exceeded the capability of the RAF to introduce it at the time. The first of these aircraft destined for Yugoslav service was No. 205 (formerly L1751), which was flown from the United Kingdom to Belgrade via France and Italy, arriving on 15 December 1938. The first batch of aircraft were fitted with a Rolls-Royce Merlin II engine driving a two-blade wooden propeller. The initial order was followed by a second order of twelve (N2718–N2729), which were fitted with Merlin III engines driving a three-blade variable-pitch propeller, and were delivered in February and March 1940. At the same time, the Yugoslav government applied to build more under licence. Once the negotiations were successfully concluded, production lines were established at the Rogožarski plant in Belgrade and the Zmaj factory in nearby Zemun. The two plants were expected to build forty and sixty of the aircraft respectively, at a rate of twelve per month. Of the locally built aircraft, only twenty were completed by Zmaj; the Rogožarski plant did not produce any. A total of 44 aircraft were put into service with the VVKJ.

Operational service

Royal Yugoslav Air Force Once in service, Hurricane Mk Is were used to equip the 52nd Fighter Group of the 2nd Fighter Regiment based at Knić, and the 33rd and 34th Fighter Groups of the 4th Fighter Regiment based at Bosanski Aleksandrovac. Hurricanes were also operated by the Independent Fighter Squadron of the 81st Bomber Group and by the Air Training School, both based at Mostar. All of these aircraft were deployed in the fighter/interceptor role. Immediately prior to the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, 41 of the original 44 Hurricanes were serviceable. They were allocated as follows:

+Allocation of Hurricane Mk I aircraft, 6 April 1941FormationUnitLocationAircraftNotes163rd and 164th Squadrons105th and 106th Squadrons108th SquadronIndependent Fighter Squadron At 06:45 on 6 April 1941, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Retribution, a series of concerted bombing attacks on Belgrade that coincided with air and ground attacks throughout the country. Several waves of German aircraft approached Belgrade during the day, initially Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive-bombers escorted by fighters. About 08:00, Hurricanes of the 52nd Fighter Group engaged the second wave as it departed after bombing the city; one of the dive-bombers was shot down by three pilots from the 163rd Squadron. For the remainder of the first day of the invasion, the Hurricanes of the VVKJ saw little action, despite constant patrolling between Čačak, Kraljevo, and Kragujevac. Few of the aircraft had radio sets, so the fighters usually arrived too late to take part in the fighting. Two 4th Fighter Regiment machines were tasked with escorting Bristol Blenheim Mk I light bombers to attack targets in Austria, but they lost sight of the bombers in cloud cover. One of the pilots then attempted to intercept some German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters.

The following day, the 2nd Fighter Regiment continued to patrol over central Serbia, protecting factories at Kraljevo and Kragujevac from potential German air attacks that never occurred. The 4th Fighter Regiment was also active, patrolling over Bosnia and Croatia, but saw little action except for attempts to intercept German reconnaissance aircraft. Two of the Air Training School Hurricanes scrambled to intercept a small formation of Junkers Ju 88 bombers as they flew over Mostar towards Sarajevo. They were both hit by return fire, wounding one pilot and forcing him to crash land. The other pilot continued pursuing the bombers when he was attacked by a group of German Bf 109s. He was severely wounded, bailed out, and eventually died from loss of blood. Another Hurricane was also claimed by the Germans on 7 April.

On 8 April, the main VVKJ effort was directed towards a German ground thrust through the Kačanik gorge in southern Kosovo. By this time, the VVKJ had lost over 60 per cent of its aircraft; 70 aircraft from the remnants of various bomber and fighter units were assembled for the attack. Hurricanes of the 52nd Fighter Group made up the last wave of attacks on the of closely packed convoys. Flying beneath low cloud in very poor weather, both squadrons strafed the Germans. One Hurricane was hit and crash-landed by the road, its pilot evading capture. In the north of the country, patrolling Hurricanes of the 4th Regiment clashed with German fighters on several occasions, without result. Other 4th Regiment Hurricanes escorted another bomber mission against targets in southern Austria. The remaining five Hurricanes of the 105th Squadron relocated to Veliki Radinci, where other surviving aircraft had also concentrated.

The following day, heavy snow fell in some areas of Yugoslavia, grounding the 52nd Fighter Group Hurricanes at Knić. In the north, a major air battle developed between Rovine and Bosanski Aleksandrovac, involving Hurricanes of both the 106th and 108th Squadrons. The Yugoslavs shot down one or two Bf 109s, but lost two Hurricanes in the process. By 10 April, the VVKJ was disintegrating quickly in the face of the successful German onslaught, but Hurricanes of the 105th Squadron were able to get airborne despite the continuing poor weather, patrolling for and engaging German aircraft without result. At Knić, rumours of the approach of German ground forces led the 164th Squadron to attempt to fly its Hurricanes to a safer airfield. Five machines got into the air, but almost immediately two of them collided, and another flew into a mountain wreathed in fog. The two surviving pilots returned safely to Knić. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes of the 163rd Squadron had been rendered unserviceable by their crews to prevent their capture and use by the Germans. When it became clear that the rumours of approaching German forces were unfounded, desperate attempts were made to return the aircraft to flying condition. The same day, Hurricanes of the 4th Regiment scored a victory over a Bf 109 while chasing reconnaissance aircraft over Bosnia.

On 11 April, 4th Regiment Hurricanes shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter over Nova Gradiška. The following day, two or three of the remaining 105th Squadron Hurricanes were burned by ground crews at Veliki Radinci, while other machines from the same squadron flew to Bijeljina, where other aircraft had concentrated. This move had only just been completed when a large formation of German Bf 110s swept over the airfield and destroyed over two dozen aircraft, including all but one of the 105th Squadron Hurricanes. At Knić, approaching German vehicles caused the last two 163rd Squadron Hurricanes to scramble, flying to Zemun. The first pilot landed safely, but was immediately captured by armed Volksdeutsche. The other pilot, seeing that Zemun was not safe, broke off and tried to fly to Bjeljina, but ran out of fuel and was killed when he tried to crash-land near Valjevo. Even at this late stage, the 4th Regiment still had five or six airworthy Hurricanes. They continued to chase reconnaissance aircraft throughout the day, shooting down one Ju 88 near Banja Luka. When German bombers again attacked the airfields around Mostar, the one remaining Hurricane of the Air Training School attacked a Ju 88 but was hit by return fire, forcing the pilot to bail out.

The following day saw 4th Regiment Hurricanes again patrolling over Bosnia, downing another Bf 110, this time over Banja Luka. One aircraft was destroyed on 13 April, the pilot being badly wounded. On 14 April, one Hurricane was still serviceable at Nikšić in Montenegro. This aircraft clashed with Italian fighters on 14 or 15 April and was hit 37 times. Despite this, it was still airworthy on 16 April when its pilot attempted to fly it to Greece, but he was forced to return due to poor weather, after which the aircraft was abandoned. At least two Hurricanes were captured intact by the invading forces, but this marked the end of the Hawker Hurricane in VVKJ service, as all opposition to the Axis invaders ceased on 18 April, following the Yugoslav Supreme Command's unconditional surrender the previous day.

Yugoslav Partisans

Establishment

The raising of Yugoslav Partisan-manned squadrons within the Royal Air Force (RAF) was discussed between the Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito and the head of the British mission to the Partisans, Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean, on 12 March 1944. As a result of this discussion, an agreement was concluded later that month for the RAF to train Yugoslav personnel who would man two squadrons, one of fighters and one of fighter-bombers. After completing training, these two squadrons were to conduct operations exclusively over Yugoslavia. It was agreed that the new squadrons would largely be staffed by former VVKJ personnel who had fled the country during the invasion and had later agreed to join the Partisans. The first squadron was raised at an airfield near Benghazi, Libya, as No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron RAF. Members took their Partisan oaths on 21 May 1944. Until late June, this squadron was equipped with Harvard training aircraft and Hurricane Mk IICs, which were then replaced by Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vs, which it operated until the end of the war. The Hurricane Mk IICs were handed over to a second Partisan-manned squadron, raised as No. 351 (Yugoslav) Squadron RAF, which was also established as a fighter-bomber unit in Libya on 1 July 1944.