Grumman Hellcats of 888 Naval Air Squadron

In June 1944 888 NAS reformed at RNAS Burscough with 6 Hellcat II(PR)s, embarking on HMS Rajah for Ceylon where the squadron was involved in photographic reconnaissance duties.

The squadron embarked on HMS Indefatigable in December from Colombo Racecourse, and took part in operations over Sumatra in January 1945. It subsequently transferred to HMS Empress for sorties over Penang, Phuket and northern Sumatra.

From April until June 1945 the squadron transferred to HMS Emperor, and subsequently HMS Ameer, for sorties over southern Malaya, returning to Colombo racecourse were it remained until after VJ-Day when it operated under Air Command South East Asia.