Very cool pic, Brandon, TY for sharing.  Interesting to see the massive amount of wing walkway chipping on the real thing.

Wow that is a fantastic photo there Brandon!

I think those two planes on the right (starboard?) of the shot are Royal Navy Fairly Barracuda torpedo/dive bombers.

The plane in front of the F4U Corsair looks like a F4F  Martlet (British name for the US Wildcat).

I'm guessing this is a Royal Navy airbase as opposed to RAF???

Yup, that's what that is. A Barracuda and a Wildcat. I don't think I've ever seen so many different planes in one place in a WWII pic.

From one of their flight-testing bases I would assume, considering the variety of machinery in that photo?

Yes, I am gonna say that is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm station and not an RAF base. All of those aircraft are carrier machines, including the Seafire and Sea Hurricane.

The one clear in the back looks to be too narrow in the main gear to be a Mustang

All the planes have weathered paint jobs. Did a carrier just get back from a deployment?

The Martlet is probably the General Motors built FM-2 version of the F4F-4 Wildcat. The wing is to high to be a F6F or F8F.

Cool photo, thanks for sharing.

There is weathering for sure, but keep in mind the photo quality, very grainy - just look at how rough the sky is.

regards,

Jack

Definitely a Wildcat as the gear is fuselage mounted rather than wing mount as on Hellcat and Bearcat.

The plane facing the viewer looks to be a Hurricane.  

That Corsair appears to be an early one, Birdcage. And you are correct about the landing gear on the one in the back, its not a mustang for sure and I see the gear on the F4F now, definitely one of those. That one does look like a Hurricane now that you mention it. Hard to tell in that photo. Cool stuff.

It is a well known photograph. IIRC it was taken post war at a MU (maintenance unit). Possibly they were airframes used for teaching.

Pretty sure it's a Sea Hurricane at the back.  I notice the wingtips of the Corsair aren't clipped.  FAA had 8" off each.

Isn't the 3rd one up a Buffalo?

Great photo!

No, from the bottom up--Spit, Corsair, Martlet/Wildcat.  Last one up top is probably the Hurricane with 3 blade prop and you can just about make out the chin intake in the shadow.

Yup, I see it now. the landing gear is wrong for the buffalo.

Definitely a hurricane in back. If you look close at the right wing you can see the tape for the .303 guns

A rare photo indeed of Fleet Air Arms birds.

The FAA received 95 Corsair -1's.  Many, but not all had their wings clipped 8" to clear the upper hangar deck bulkhead on their different carrier classes.

The RAF had Brewster Buffalos in Singapore.

Planes ID'd,  Blue & Grey aircraft colours are more likely to be mid-late war.

(From Wiki:) The first Barracudas entered service on 10 January 1943 with 827 Squadron and were deployed in the North Atlantic. A total of 24 front-line squadrons were eventually equipped with Barracudas. The Barracuda first saw action with 810 Squadron aboard HMS Illustrious off the coast of Norway in July 1943 before deploying to the Mediterranean to support the Salerno landings.^[11] The following year they entered service in the Pacific Theatre.

The Royal Air Force used the Barracuda Mk II, initially in 1943 with No. 567 Sqn. at RAF Detling. In 1944, similar models went to 667 Sqn. (RAF Gosport), 679 Sqn. (RAF Ipswich) and 691 Sqn.(RAF Roborough). All the aircraft were withdrawn between March and July 1945.^[12][13]

Probably a FAA base, but where?

Berets wrong for RAF erks, RN more likely.

Any ID/caption/website from the original source?

The tie-downs on the slipway by the first 2 planes are interesting, btw...

Nice photo. I agree that this is probably a MU training area. Lots of chipping and even more dirt where there's been heavy traffic on the wings. Interesting to see how the camo has faded.

another interesting point- the Seafire and Corsair in the foreground are tied down to points on the ground, as they would be on a carrier deck while at sea. That sounds like a training thing to me.

There are several things here that point to training.

1. Lots of varied aircraft, not too common to see that many different birds so close together.

2. Where is the runway, taxiway? Looks like area is more of a "pad" than an operational base.

3. Look at all the crew members. They are all basically doing the same thing, at the same time, on all the different planes. Can you say training?

4. The planes are heavily worn on the walk ways indicating a bird that has seen lots of traffic up an down. My guess is these are not even air worthy but simply training tools. Hands on training.