This Martlet Mk II (basically the RN version of the F4F-4) was flown by Sub Lt. John Cotching of 806 NAS. During Operation Pedestal, the RN'S August 1942 mission to resupply Malta by sea, Cotching used this aircraft to shoot down two Italian aircraft, an SM-79 and an Re2001. Later, during one of the RN's attempts to destroy the battleship Tirpitz in Norway, he scored a shared kill of a German flying boat. Shortly after this though he was shot down and killed by enemy AA fire.
