The Hawker Hind was a Royal Air Force light-bomber of the inter-war years. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day-bomber introduced in 1931. The airframe was a mixture of steel and duralumin with the wings being fabric covered. Originally the Hawker Hind used 640 hp R-R Kestrel V, derated to 599 hp Kestrel VDR for the training models. The first production Hind (K4636) was flown on September 4 1935.

The Hind was withdrawn from front-line squadrons by 1937, to be replaced by the Fairey Battle and Bristol Blenheim. It continued in use during World War II as an intermediate trainer one step Tiger Moths.

528 Hinds were built, being also operated by Canada & New Zealand, and sold to Afghanistan, Eire (Ireland), Latvia, Persia (Iran), Portugal, South Africa, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.

Corp Stan Harrison, an armourer on Hinds with 113 squadron passed along the following recollections: The racks were designed to carry 125 lb bombs and were modified to carry 20 lb practice smoke bombs which were painted white. This is the carrier that is dangling in the photo ‘Curly Misjudges’. Stan cannot remember if it carried 2 or 4 bombs nor how it fixed to the normal rack. The bombs were released electrically by the pilot and could be released individually.

He remembers filling the practice bombs outside in the open by 216 Squadron hanger in Heliopolis Egypt just before they were put on the plane. They were not stored filled. The bomb case came apart into two halves and the liquid and detonator were put in the rear half [he thinks] whilst it was stood on its fins. There was a rod in the front half that set off the detonator when it hit the ground, there was no other explosive, and the liquid burned to cause the smoke. The liquid, the name of which he is trying to remember, was very corrosive and thick rubber gloves had to worn when handling it. Stan cannot remember ever fitting larger bombs to Hinds. But he does remember going to the range to spot the fall of the smoke bombs. SOURCE: Corp Stan Harrison / Jim Newton.