I've been going through my late grandmothers photo albums and found two photos of what I believe is a Grumman Hellcat piloted by my grandfather W. Guy Batham RNVR of FAA 885 Squadron. These will have been taken while HMS Ruler was in the Clyde before she sailed to Sydney. Can anyone help me with the handwritten number on the back of the photos. Are these the aircrafts identifying serial numbers?
Grumman Hellcat
- Thread starter mikeh117
- Start date
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
The numbers appear to be negative or print number, and the time of landing on.
Crimea_River
Marshal
The last says "A/C D" possibly signifying aircraft coded with the letter D.
Cool pics.
Good shots!
ODonovan
Airman 1st Class
The Hellcat was a nasty surprise to the Japanese pilots. I recall reading about a high scoring Japanese ace who liked to zoom climb his Zero and would bait Wildcat pilots into trying to follow. He would time it so the Wildcats would stall and fall out of pursuit, just as he did a wingover and dove back down on the helpless Americans, scoring easy kills. His first(?) time against a Hellcat, he must have thought he was fighting a Wildcat, however. He did his wingover but found the American plane still climbing, so HE became the easy kill as he turned right in front of the American's guns. Ouch!
-Irish
-Irish
