The French ordered the Grumman F4F-3 Widcat as the G-36 but France fell before any deliveries and the order was taken over by Britain calling it Martlet I. A Martlet of No.804 Sqn FAA, recorded the first kill for this type on Christmas Day 1940 when it shot down a Ju-88. This was but the beginning of a distinguished service record with the Fleet Air Arm. In January 1944 all Martlets (Mks I to VI) were redesignated as Wildcats, but retaining their distinguishing mark numbers.
The example is a Grumman Wildcat V, one of a batch of 312 offset from a US Navy F4F account, followed by 288 from General Motors to make up a total Lend-Lease supply of 600 in this batch.
