Grumman Hellcat Mk.II 898 NAS B9L JX841 at Colombo 1945

Grumman Hellcats of 898 Naval Air Squadron

Grumman Hellcats of 898 Naval Air Squadron

Reformed at RNAS Wingfield, Cape Town on 1. January 1945 as a single seater fighter squadron with 24 Hellcat IIs, 898 NAS embarked in HMS Attacker for Ceylon in June 1945. After disembarking at Colombo Racecourse, August was spent at RNAS Puttalam and the squadron moved to Katukurunda. The aircraft were fitted with rocket projectiles in July, but the squadron failed to see action before VJ-Day, and the pilots were shipped home in HMS Pursuer without their aircraft, to disband on arrival, on 12. December 1945.