Barracuda II - Avenger - Martlet / Wildcat

[HMS Tern]

Greetings all.

I've been given a set of photos taken during WWII by a sailor posted to Orkney in WWII, most likely shots from 1945 or at least that end of the war.

The majority of the photos are devoid of aircraft but a few are worth posting here for general interest, particularly the Barracuda II.

Can anyone ID the Barracuda from the code (which I think says 'ACH' or 'AC8'? Hoping someone with a copy of Sturtivant's FAA book will track it down...)

Although the bulk of the photos appear to be taken around Hatston (HMS Sparrowhawk, near Kirkwall, Orkney) I am almost certain the Barracuda pic is NOT taken in Orkney at all. The scenery does not fit. Any ideas? Hoping the plane's history will give us a clue. The person I got the photos from has applied for the RN service record of the gent who served in Orkney and (might) have taken the photos but will take a while yet.

The image with the Avenger II (?) and Wildcat / Martlet (a Mk VI ?) is a cropped portion of a larger image so quality not so good. There's a tail just visible far left, too. Whassat?

Any thoughts, ID etc most welcome! These are part of a set soon to appear in a display at Orkney's fabulous Fossil and Heritage Centre in Burray and they've asked me to interpret the batch.

With that in mind, please don't share this beyond the forum for now. Ta!



Thanks!
Andrew

[Nick Beale]

Your photo links didn't come through, just two Photobucket icons saying "third party hosting disabled".

[Stig Jarlevik]

Andrew

One book you should get is 'The Squadrons and Units of the FAA by Theo Ballance and Lee Howard (based on initial work done by Ray Sturtivant)

If you had that book you would immediately know that the codes mean the following
ACH: AC = code for 736Sq based at St Merryn and in use between 1943-45 and used by Avenger II, Barracuda II (DN633 was AC-F for instance), Corsair III and Seafire Ib. Letter H was the individual aircraft marking.

AC8: The unit did not use digits, so AC8 is not valid.

I can't help you with any individual aircraft details, since I have no time going through the other Air Britain book you refer to. It is anyway over 20 years old by now and also under serious update for re-publication. A lot more aircraft details has come to light during these past years.

Even if you showed me a photo I would not know if it was taken at St Merryn or somewhere else, but I guess you can make a starting point there....

However if any other codes are visible, I would be happy to help you out.

Cheers
Stig