In this photo the crew of HMS Illustrious say good bye to the USS Saratoga.  The two ships had been part of the same task force in the Pacific fighting the Japanese.  The Saratoga is now heading home and the Illustrious will be heading home a few weeks later.  The Japanese have finally been beaten and now all of those young men that have survived the conflict will get on with their lives.  My father would eventually return to Canada and it would only be at the end of his life that he would once again have contact with his old Royal Marine buddies.

HMS Illustrious & USS Saratoga

A Martlet fighter launches off the HMS Illustrious, this aircraft still has the British Roundel marking on the wings, the British Pacific fleet had to paint out the British Markings and replace them with American markings otherwise the American Gunners would mistake  the British aircraft for Japanese and try to shoot them down.

Launching off HMS Illustrious

Avengers Launching off HMS Victorious to raid Formosa.  This picture was taken from the deck of HMS Illustrious.