Gloster Gladiator

Having re-equipped in Britain 263 Squadron resumed its Gladiator operations in Norway when the squadron returned to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on 21 May, flying from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] airfield near [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

At the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 263 Squadron was reinforced by the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which flew into an airstrip at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] a few days later .

Due to unsuitable ground at Skånland 46 Squadron also moved to Bardufoss and was operating from this base by 27 May.

The squadrons had been ordered to defend the fleet anchorage at Skånland and the military base at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] on the island of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], as well as the Narvik area after it was recaptured.

The action was short but intense before the squadrons, due to the British government's response to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were instructed on 2 June to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

By then, 263 Squadron had flown 249 sorties and claimed 26 enemy aircraft destroyed.

263 Squadron's ten surviving Gladiators were landed on HMS Glorious on 7 June.

Glorious sailed for home but was intercepted by the German [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Despite the valiant defence put up by her two escorting destroyers, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], she was sunk and along with the aircraft from four squadrons.

263 Squadron lost its CO, S/Ldr John W. Donaldson, and F/Lt Alvin T. Williams along with eight other pilots.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

No [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft were able to evacuate westwards before the 10 June [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Norwegian forces.

Only the aircraft of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (one [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and four [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) had the range to fly all the way from their last bases in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to the UK.

Two Army Air Service [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] did however manage to escape eastwards to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] before the surrender.

Three M.F.11s also flew to Finland, landing on Lake Salmijärvi in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Battle of Britain


The Gloster Gladiator was in operational service with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], stationed in Robourgh, Devon during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Although no combat sorties took place at the height of the aerial battles, 247 Squadron Gladiators intercepted a He 111 in late October 1940, without result.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], using Gladiators in an army cooperation role, and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], outfitted with Sea Gladiators, were also operational during the Battle of Britain.

Mediterranean and Middle East theatres


In the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] during 1940-41, Gladiators saw combat with four Allied air forces:
the RAF, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (Royal Greek Air Force) squadrons.

These achieved some success against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which was mainly equipped with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] biplanes, and against [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] bombers.

They suffered heavier losses against [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] monoplanes.

The South African ace [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (who served with the RAF), claimed 15 kills in Gladiators during the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], making him the highest-scoring RAF biplane ace of the Second World War.

The 1941 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was unique in the context of Gloster Gladiators in that the opposing air forces, being the RAF and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], both used the Gladiator as their main fighter.

Gladiators also saw action against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Malta


One of the best-known campaigns fought by Gladiators was the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 1940.

The fighter force defending [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was, for a period of ten days, a small force of British-operated Gladiators, the Hal
Far Fighter Flight, giving rise to a myth that three aircraft, named Faith, Hope and Charity, formed the entire fighter
cover of the island.

The aircraft names came into being only after the battle was over.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

In fact, more than three aircraft were operational, though not always at the same time; others were used for spare parts.

A stock of 18 Sea Gladiators from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] had been deposited by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], in early 1940.

Three were later shipped out to take part in the Norwegian Campaign, and another three were sent to Egypt.


By April, Malta was in need of fighter protection and it was decided to form a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of Gladiators at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], to be composed of RAF and FAA personnel.

Several Sea Gladiators were assembled and test-flown.

By June, two of the Gladiators had crashed and two more were assembled.

Charity was shot down on 29 July 1940.

Its pilot, Flying Officer Peter Hartley, scrambled at 09.45 with fellow pilots F. F. Taylor and Flight Lieutenant William Joseph "Timber" Woods, to intercept a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] "Sparviero", escorted by nine [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] from 23o Gruppo.

During a dogfight between the opposing fighters, a burst of fire from a CR.42 flown by Sergente Tarantino struck the fuel tank of Hartley’s Gladiator (N5519), causing it to explode.

He baled out after suffering severe burns.

Woods shot down the commander of the Italian formation, Capitano Antonio Chiodi of the 75a Squadriglia, his aircraft falling into the sea five miles east of Grand Harbour.

Chiodi was subsequently awarded a posthumous Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Militare (Gold Medal of Valour - Italy’s highest military award).

In May 2009, the remains of Charity and others were the subject of an underwater search by NATO minesweepers.

Hope (N5531) was destroyed on the ground by enemy bombing in May 1941.

The fate of at least five more Gladiators that saw action over Malta is not as well documented.

Eastern Africa



In Eastern Africa the Gladiators faced the Italian biplane fighters: Fiat CR.32s and CR.42s.

The latter, more modern than the Gladiator, was a formidable opponent.

On 6 November 1940, in the first hour of the British offensive against Ethiopia, the Fiat CR.42 fighters of the high-scoring 412a Squadriglia led by Capt. Antonio Raffi shot down five Gloster Gladiators without losses.


That day, the British forces in Sudan launched an offensive against Italian fort of Gallabat and Metemma, that were was just across the border.

The Gladiator's last air combat with an Italian fighter was on 24 October 1941, with the CR.42 of Tenente Malavolti (or, according to historian Håkan Gustavsson, sottotenente Malavolta).

The Italian pilot took off to strafe British airfields at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

According to the Italian historian Nico Sgarlato, the CR.42 was intercepted by three Gladiators and managed to shoot down two of them, but was then itself shot down and the pilot killed.

Other authors state that Malavolti managed only to fire on the two Gladiators before being shot down.

According to Gustavsson, South African Air Force pilot (no. 47484V) Lieutenant Lancelot Charles Henry "Paddy" Hope, at Dabat airfield, scrambled to intercept the CR.42 (MM7117).

Diving on it, he opened fire at 300 yards.

Although the Italian pilot took violent evasive action, Hope continued to follow, closing to only 20 yards and firing as the Fiat tried to dive away.

There was a brief flicker of flame and the last Italian aircraft to be shot down over East Africa spun into the ground and burst into flames near Ambazzo.

Next day, the wreckage was found, the dead pilot still in the cockpit.

Hope dropped a message on the Italian positions at Ambazzo: "Tribute to the pilot of the Fiat.

He was a brave man. South African Air Force." But operational record books of the Commonwealth units in the area state that they didn’t suffer any losses on this date.

The dedication of the posthumous Medaglia d’oro al valor militare states that Malavolti shot down a Gladiator and forced another one to crash land, but was himself shot down by the third Gladiator.

This was the last air-to-air victory in the East African campaign.

Greece


Tension had been building between Greece and Italy since 7 April 1939, when Italian troops [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

On 27 October 1940, Italy sent an ultimatum to Greece, which was rejected, and the following morning, Italian troops invaded Greece, initiating the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Britain sent help in the form of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], elements of which arrived at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] by 19 November.

That same day the Gladiator debut came in the form of a surprise, intercepting a section of five Italian CR.42s on Coritza, only one come back.

On 27 November, seven Gladiators attacked three Falcos, shooting down the lead aircraft, piloted by Com. Masfaldi, commanding the 364a Squadriglia.

On 28 November, the commander of 365a Squadriglia, Com. Graffer was shot down during a combat where seven aircraft were downed, four of them British.