Flight to Nowhere during the Battle of Midway June 1942.

[R Leonard]

This website gives a description of the early Martlets and their colour schemes:
The Grumman Wildcat in FAA Service by Bruce Archer

Quoting from that site:
"The Martlet II was the first Martlet actually ordered by the British Purchasing Commission for the FAA. The contract was for 100 F4F-4A equivalent aircraft with folding wings and 3 guns per wing with 240 rounds per gun. The first ten Mk.IIs were delivered to F4F-3 standards with fixed wings and 4 wing guns. These 10, Serials AM954 to AM963 were redesignated as Mark IIIs (References 2,4,7,8,10,11). These are covered in the Mark III section. The remaining Mark IIs were differentiated by the pitot tubes. AM964 to AM 999 had a unique pitot. This pitot was located on the port upper wing, near the inner edge of the aileron. This pitot angled to the rear and upwards. These aircraft were the only Wildcat/Martlet to use this pitot. The remaining Mark IIs, serial range AJ100 to AJ153 used the standard F4F-4 pitot. "

Note in the photo of my last posting, AJ106 and AJ108 show up quite clearly.

 

[R Leonard]

And while we're on the subject of Midway. Dragged a box out of the attic to see what I can dispose of . . . not this . . .

My father was a fighter pilot in VF-42 on USS Yorktown (CV-5) from June 1941 and was the senior of the VF-42 pilots TAD to VF-3 for Yorktown's Midway deployment. When LCDR Lovelace was killed in a deck crash the day the ship left Pearl Harbor, Thach fleeted him up to the XO slot as the next senior pilot in the squadron with the exalted rank of Lieutenant (JG).

This is the holster & utility belt he wore during the period. Closeup of the holster flap shows it stamped "VF 42" and his initials