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Template:Infobox Aircraft The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built biplane fighter, used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy as well as a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, although it acquitted itself well in combat.

Design and development

The Gladiator was developed from the Gloster Gauntlet as a private venture by Gloster. The aircraft was designed by H.P. Folland's team during 1933 as a Gauntlet derivative to Specification F.7/30. It had an enclosed, single-seat cockpit, cantilever landing gear and a two-blade fixed-pitch propeller driven by a Bristol Mercury air-cooled engine.It first flew in 1934 and entered service in 1937. It was to be the last British biplane fighter and their first fighter with an enclosed cockpit. The Gladiator had a top speed of around 257mph (414 km/h) yet even as it was introduced, the design was being eclipsed by the new generation of monoplane fighters, such as the RAF's new Hurricanes and Spitfires and the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109.

Gladiators were also modified for carrier operations and flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) as the Sea Gladiator. A total of 747 airframes were built (483 RAF, 98 RN; 216 exported to 13 countries, some of them from the total alloted to the RAF^[1]^[2]). Gladiators were sold to Belgium, China, Egypt, Finland, Free France, Greece, Iraq, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden.

Operational history

The Gladiator was largely replaced in frontline service by the Hurricane and Spitfire at the outbreak of the Second World War, although two squadrons were used in the French and Norwegian campaigns. It would however see service in more peripheral campaigns during the Second World War. The classic biplane fighter was also one of Britain's biggest prewar export successes, seeing service in many countries.The Gloster Gladiator performed reasonably well in limited Finnish service against Soviet fighters during the Winter War, but was found to be outclassed by German fighters in other theatres. Carrier-based Sea Gladiators were more successful, since their slower speed made them more suitable for carrier operations and they were less likely to be facing more modern fighter opposition.

The Finnish Winter War

During the Winter War, the Finnish Air Force obtained 30 Mk II fighters from the UK. The aircraft, which arrived in January and February 1940 had been financed by South Africa and given to Finland. The Finnish Gladiators served until 1945, but they were outclassed by the more modern Soviet fighters during the Continuation War. The aircraft was mostly used for reconnaissance from 1941 onwards. The Finnish Air Force obtained 33 aerial victories with the aircraft type during the Winter War and one victory during the Continuation War. Two pilots became aces with this aircraft alone.

Besides the FAF Gladiators, the Swedish Voluntary Air Force, responsible for the air defence of northern Finland during the later part of the war, was also equipped with Gladiator fighters. The air squadron F 19 arrived in Finnish Lapland on 10 January 1940, and remained there until the end of the hostilities. It fielded 12 Gladiator Mk I fighters and five Hawker Hart dive bombers, plus a Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 liaison aircraft and a Junkers F.13 transport plane. The aircraft belonged to and were crewed by the Swedish Air Force, but flew with Finnish nationality markings. The Swedish Gladiators scored eight aerial victories and destroyed a further four aircraft on the ground. (F 19's executive officer Captain Björn Bjuggren wrote in his memoirs that the tracer rounds of the Gladiator's machine guns would not ignite the gasoline when penetrating the fuel tanks of Soviet bombers. Better ammunition would therefore have enabled the Swedish pilots to score several more kills.)

The Norwegian campaign

The Norwegian campaign saw both Norwegian and British Gladiators battling the Luftwaffe, with first the Norwegian Jagervingen fighting in the defence of Oslo on the first day of the invasion and then British examples trying to provide fighter cover for the allied reinforcements sent to the assistance of the Norwegian government.

Jagervingen

The Gladiator pilots of the Norwegian Jagervingen (fighter wing) at Fornebu Airport, having seven serviceable planes on the day, managed to shoot down five German aircraft on 9 April 1940, the first day of Weserübung: two Messerschmitt Bf-110 fighters, two He-111 bombers and a Ju-52 transport. One Gladiator was shot down during the air battle, by the future Experte Helmut Lent, while two were destroyed on the ground, being strafed while refuelling and rearming at Fornebu airport. The four remaining fighters were ordered to land wherever they could away from their Fornebu base. The planes scattered, landing on frozen lakes around Oslo and never returned to battle, being abandoned by their pilots and then wrecked by souvenir searching civilians.^[3]

No. 263 Squadron

Gladiators were also used by No. 263 Squadron RAF during the remaining two months of the Norwegian campaign. The squadron, having arrived with the carrier HMS Glorious 24 April, first operated from a improvised landing strip built by Norwegian volunteers on the frozen lake Lesjaskogsvatnet in Oppland in central southern Norway. After less than a week, all the squadron's aircraft were unserviceable and it evacuated back to the UK.

No.263 Squadron resumed its Gladiator operations in Norway when having re-equipped in Britain, the squadron returned to the far north of Norway on 21 May flying from Bardufoss airfield near Narvik. At the Narvik front No. 263 was reinforced by No. 46 Squadron whose Hurricanes had arrived a few days later, using an airstrip at Skånland. Due to unsuitable ground at Skånland 46 Squadron moved so that both were operating from Bardufoss by 27 May. The squadrons had been ordered to defend the fleet anchorage at Skånland and the military base at Harstad on the island of Hinnøya, 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 invasion of France were instructed on 2 June to prepare for evacuation.

By then, 263 Squadron had flown 249 sorties and claimed 26 enemy aircraft destroyed. No. 263 Squadron's ten surviving Gladiators were landed on HMS Glorious on 7 June. Glorious sailed for home but was intercepted by the German battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Despite the valiant defence put up by her two escorting destroyers, HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent, 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.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

No Norwegian Army Air Service aircraft were able to evacuate westwards after the 10 June surrender of the mainland Norwegian forces. Only the aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service (M.F.11s and He 115s) had the range to fly all the way from their last bases in Northern Norway to the UK. Two Army Air Service Fokker C.V.Ds did however manage to escape eastwards to Finland before the surrender. Three M.F.11s also flew to Finland, landing on Lake Salmijärvi in Petsamo [2].

Campaigns in the Mediterranean

In the North African and Greek theatres, Gladiators operated by RAF, Royal Australian Air Force and South African Air Force squadrons achieved some success against the Italian Regia Aeronautica, which was mainly equipped with Fiat CR.32 and Fiat CR.42 biplanes. It suffered heavier losses against the Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200 monoplanes.^{[citation needed]}

During the siege of Malta, the entire island of Malta was -for a period of 10 days- protected by a small force of Gladiators, giving rise to a myth that only three Sea Gladiator aircraft, named Faith, Hope and Charity formed the entire fighter cover of the island.[3][4][5] In fact, more than three aircraft were operational, though not always at the same time; others were used for spare parts[6]. A stock of 18 aircraft (serial numbers N5518 - N5535) from 802 Naval Air Squadron had remained at Malta after HMS Glorious was sunk in 1940. Three of these airframes were later shipped to Britain to take part in the Norwegian campaign (N5532, N5533 and N5534) and another three were send to Egypt. In March 1940 it was decided assemble six of these to form the Hal Far Fighter Flight, which was comprised of both RAF and FAA personnel. Five Sea Gladiators were eventually assembled. These were N5525, N5527, N5530 and N5533. A few days later they were dismantled again however. In April Malta needed fighter protection though and N5519, N5520, N5522 and N5531 were assembled and test-flown. Two of these were to be used for normal operations, of the other two one was kept for spares and the other was the 'reserve' aircraft. In May two more Gladiators, N5524 and N5529, were assembled. Other crated aircraft were to be used as spares. Of these, an additional two were assembled in June 1940, when two of the Gladiators at hand had crashed. ^[9] Another source states that the Aircraft assembled in April were N5519, N5520, N5523, N5524, N5529 and N5531. N5518, N5521, N5522 and N5525-28 and N5530 were to be the spares. An additional two spares were N5513 and N5535, which were later (May 1941) taken over by No. 33 Squadron RAF, which invalidates the serial number usually allocated to Hope.^[10]

(Hope, supposedly N5513, but more likely N5531 ^[11], was destroyed in an air raid on 4 February 1941. N5519, Charity was shot down on 29 July 1940 and its pilot, F/O P.W. Hartley RAF, was badly burned. The fuselage of N5520, Faith has been preserved in Malta. The fate of N5522, N5524, N5529 and the last two assembled aircraft is not so well documented).

Greek Gladiators destroyed many Italian aircraft in the 1940-1941 Greco-Italian War, as well as some German aircraft during the 1941 Invasion.

Campaigns in Middle and Far East

In the Far East, the Gladiator fared little better against Japanese Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service aircraft than it had against those of the Germans and the Italians. It played a part in the short-lived defence of Singapore^{[citation needed]}.

Iraqi Gladiators were used against British and Indian forces in the 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War. The Iraqis used them until 1949 for ground attack missions against the Kurds.

Chinese Gladiators scored several victories over Japanese aircraft between 1938-1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War when they were used extensively before the start of 1940 by the 28th, 29th and 32nd Squadrons of the 3rd Group. The Chinese pilots considered the Gladiator an excellent fighter in its class. In comparison to its major opponents of the time, such as the Mitsubishi A5M, the Gladiator was only a little slower and superior in all other aspects such as turning rate, etc. However, when newer Japanese aircraft such as the Mitsubishi A6M entered the battles, the Gladiators' days were numbered.

Operations elsewhere

Belgian Gladiators suffered heavy losses to the Germans in 1940. Irish Gladiators shot down several British barrage balloons that had broken from their moorings.

Variants

SS.37: Prototype.
Gladiator I: Version powered by a single 840 hp (627 kW) Bristol Mercury IX air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated J 8 in Swedish Air Force service. Delivered 1937-38. 378 built.
Gladiator II: Version powered by a single Bristol Mercury VIIIA air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated J 8A in Swedish Air Force service. 270 built.
Sea Gladiator Interim: Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 38 built. Fitted with arrestor hooks. Serial numbers N2265 - N2302.
Sea Gladiator: Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 60 built. Fitted with arrestor hooks and provision for dinghy stowage. Serial numbers N5500 - N5549 and N5565 - N5574.

Operators

Swedish Voluntary Air Force Gladiator fighter from the air squadron F 19

Australia

Royal Australian Air Force

Belgium

Belgian Air Force operated 22 Mk I aircraft.

China

Chinese Nationalist Air Force operated 36 Mk I aircraft, given the Chinese serial numbers 5701-5736. They served until December 1939, when the last aircraft was shot down^[12].

Egypt

Royal Egyptian Air Force operated over 40 Mk II aircraft.

Ireland

Irish Air Corps operated 4 Mk I aircraft. The aircraft received the Irish serial numbers 23 to 26. The last surviving aircraft was 24, which crashed January 1944, while 26 spend most of it's life in the repair shop after a landing accident^[13].

France

Free French Air Force ^[14]

Finland

Finnish Air Force operated 30 Mk II + 12 additional Mk I aircraft in F 19 from Sweden which returned after the Winter War.

Germany

Luftwaffe operated 15 Mk I captured aircraft^[15].

Greece

Hellenic Air Force operated 19 Mk I and 6 Mk II aircraft. The first two Mk I aircraft were bought by M. Zarparkis Hoimogenos (for ₤9.200) for presentation to the Royal Hellenic Air Force in 1938^[16]. They carried the serial numbers Delta Epsilon 1 and 2. The later 17 obtained Mk I aircraft retained their RAF serials, as did the six Mk IIs. Most of them were eventually destoyed by enemy air attack at Paramytia or at Amphiklia the next day^[17]^[18].

Iraq

Iraqi Air Force operated 24 Mk I and 5 Mk II aircraft. The initial 15 purchased Mk I aircraft bore the Iraqi serial numbers 80 to 94. Two of the Mk II aircraft were still in use in 1949 at Mosul^[19]^[20].

Latvia

Latvian Air Force operated 26 Mk I aircraft.

Lithuania

Lithuanian Air Force operated 14 Mk I aircraft, bearing the serial numbers G-704 till G-717. Twelve of them fell in Russian hands when Russia invaded Lithuania in June 1940, at least one of them later fell in German hands when Germany invaded the by then former Lithuania in June 1941^[21].

Norway

Royal Norwegian Air Force operated 6 Mk I and 6 Mk II aircraft.

Portugal

Portugal Air Force operated 15 Mark I and 15 Mk II aircraft, the aircraft delivered in two batches of 15. They received the Portuguese serial numbers 450-464 and 465-479 respectively. The Gladiators served with the Portuguese air force until 1953^[22]^[23].

South Africa

South African Air Force operated 11 Mk I ex-RAF aircraft.

Soviet Union

Soviet Air Force captured several Latvian and Lithuanian Mk.Is aircraft. ^[24]

Sweden

Swedish Air Force operated 37 Mk I and 18 Mk II aircraft.

United Kingdom

Survivors

Gladiators have been preserved at the Shuttleworth Collection, Gloucestershire Aviation Collection (in Bedfordshire, UK), National War Museum (in Fort St Elmo, Malta) and the RAF Museum (in Hendon and Cosford, UK). One Swedish Gladiator Mk I is preserved in Winter War markings at Flygvapenmuseum in Malmslätt, Sweden.

Quotations

Those old Gladiators aren't made of stressed steel like a Hurricane or a Spit. They have taut canvas wings, covered with magnificently inflammable dope, and underneath there are hundreds of small thin sticks, the kind you put under the logs for kindling, only these are drier and thinner. If a clever man said, 'I am going to build a big thing that will burn better and quicker than anything else in the world,' and if he applied himself diligently to his task, he would probably finish up by building something very like a Gladiator.
— Roald Dahl, "A Piece of Cake", from the short story collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Specifications (Gloster Gladiator Mk I)

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Performance Armament

Guns: Two .303in. Browning machine-guns on sides of front fuselage, and one beneath each lower wing.

References

^ Mason 1964, p. 128
^ Spencer 2003, p. 10,12
^ http://www.dalnet.se/~surfcity/gladiator_norway.htm The Gloster Gladiator in the Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flygevåpen)
^ RAF – Squadron history.
^ Rawlings, John D R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft. London: Macdonald & Co.,1969. ISBN 0-356-02629-9.
^ http://www.geocities.com/acrawford0/nor2.html
^ RAF Museum web site
^ New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
^ Crawford 2002, p. 59-66.
^ Mason 1964, p. 125.
^ http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/malta.htm
^ Spencer 2003, p. 33-35
^ Crawford 2002, p. 93-95
^ http://www.geocities.com/acrawford0/French.html
^ Captured Fleet Air Arm Aircraft. Fleet Air Arm Archive. [1] Access date: 31 January 2007.
^ Mason 1964, p. 124
^ Crawford 2002, p. 90-91
^ Spencer 2003, p. 39-41
^ Crawford 2002, p. 91-92
^ Mason 1964, p. 124,128
^ Crawford 2002, p. 100-102
^ Spencer 2003, p. 10,12,46
^ Crawford 2002, p. 109-112
^ http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/gladiator_soviet.htm

Belcarz, Bartłomiej and Pęczkowski, Robert. Gloster Gladiator, Monografie Lotnicze 24. Gdańsk, Poland: AJ-Press, 1996. ISBN 83-86208-34-1. (Polish)
Bierman, John and Smith, Colin. The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II. New York: Viking, 2002. ISBN 0-670-03040-6.
Crawford, Alex. Gloster Gladiator. Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2002. ISBN 83-916327-0-9.
Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. WW2 Aircraft Fact Files: RAF Fighters, Part 1. London, UK: Macdonald and Jane's, 1978. ISBN 0-354-01090-5.
Harrison, W.A. Gloster Gladiator in Action. Carrollton, Texas: Squadron Signal, 2003. ISBN 0-89747-450-3.
Mason, Francis K. The Gloster Gladiator. London: Macdonald, 1964.
______. The Gloster Gladiator. Leatherhead, UK: Profile Publications, 1966.
______. British Fighters of World War Two, Volume One. Windsor, Bershire, UK: Hilton Lacy Publishers Ltd., 1969. ISBN 0-85064-012-1
Poolman, Kenneth. Faith, Hope and Charity: Three Biplanes Against an Air Force. London, UK: William Kimber and Co. Ltd., 1954. (1st pocket edition in 1958)
Rawlings, John D.R. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and Their Aircraft. London, UK: Macdonald and Jane's, 1969. 2nd edition 1976. ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
Spencer, Tom. Gloster Gladiator, Warpaint Series No.37. Luton, UK: Warpaint Books, 2003. ISSN 1361-0369.
Thomas, Andrew. Gloster Gladiator Aces. Botley, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-289-X.

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 ====Jagervingen====
 The Gladiator pilots of the Norwegian ''Jagervingen'' (fighter wing) at [[Oslo Airport, Fornebu|Fornebu Airport]], having seven serviceable planes on the day, managed to shoot down five German aircraft on [[9 April]] [[1940]], the first day of [[Weserübung]]: two [[Messerschmitt Bf-110]] fighters, two [[He-111]] [[bombers]] and a [[Ju-52]] [[transport]]. One Gladiator was shot down during the air battle, by the future ''Experte'' [[Helmut Lent]], while two were destroyed on the ground, being [[Strafing|strafed]] while refuelling and rearming at Fornebu airport. The four remaining fighters were ordered to land wherever they could away from their Fornebu base. The planes scattered, landing on frozen lakes around Oslo and never returned to battle, being abandoned by their pilots and then wrecked by [[souvenir]] searching civilians.<ref>http://www.dalnet.se/~surfcity/gladiator_norway.htm The Gloster Gladiator in the Norwegian Army Air Service (Hærens Flygevåpen)</ref>
+[[image:Gloster Gladiator fuselage gun.JPG|thumb|The fuselage .303 inch machine guns]][[image:Gloster Gladiator2.JPG|thumb|The .303 inch machine guns under each lower wing]]
 ====No. 263 Squadron====
 Gladiators were also used by [[No. 263 Squadron RAF]] during the remaining two months of the Norwegian campaign. The squadron, having arrived with the [[carrier]] [[HMS Glorious]] 24 April, first operated from a improvised landing strip built by Norwegian volunteers on the frozen lake [[Lesjaskogsvatnet]] in [[Oppland]] in central southern Norway. After less than a week, all the squadron's aircraft were unserviceable and it evacuated back to the [[UK]].