The RAF received their first Curtiss Hawk Model 81s being the export model of the P-40 after the fall of France. 100 aircraft had been ordered for Armee de L’Air and these were transferred to the RAF where they were named the Tomahawk.

The Tomahawk was not considered suitable for combat in European theatres as it had been optimised for combat below 15000 feet whereas combat was most often up to 30000 ft over the UK.

The Tomahawks were mostly shipped to the Commonwealth and to Africa.
Some Tomahawks were retained in the UK for use by Army Cooperation command and 403 Sqn RCAF used the type for 29 sorties before replacing it with Spitfires.

In theatre, they were used for low level reconnaissance and gunnery training.

Large numbers of Tomahawks were sent to North Africa replacing Hurricanes.

Eventually, 27 Sqns were equipped with P-40s with the early long nose models replaced by Kittyhawks (P40D) from 1942.

Airfix 1/72 kit completed by Steve Pulbrook in 2018.