Göta Wing ( Swedish : Göta flygflottilj ), also F 9 Säve , or simply F 9 , was a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Gothenburg in south-west Sweden .
144-446: The decision to set up the air wing was made in 1936 to defend the import/export harbours on the west coast. The wing itself was not commissioned until October 1, 1940 and the airfield took until 1941 to complete. Initially, two squadrons of J 8 fighters were commissioned in 1940, but they were quickly replaced by three squadrons of J 11s . In 1942 hangars and some of the base command were relocated inside large shelters blasted out of
288-634: A Dornier Do 18 flying boat ('8L+DK' of 2.KuFlGr 606), on the North Sea. On 10 April 1941, 804 NAS took off from Hatston , in Orkney , to intercept a group of approaching German aircraft. Lt Cdr J. C. Cockburn was credited with one destroyed and Blue Section with a "damaged". The Norwegian Campaign saw both Norwegian and British Gladiators battling the Luftwaffe, with the Norwegian Jagevingen fighting in
432-464: A cantilever main undercarriage, which incorporated Dowty internally sprung wheels, allowing for more simple rigid landing gear struts. In spring 1934, Gloster embarked on the construction of a single SS.37 prototype. On 12 September 1934, the SS.37 prototype conducted its maiden flight , piloted by Gloster chief test pilot Gerry Sayer . Initially powered by a 530 hp (400 kW) Mercury IV engine,
576-577: A "vicious and reactionary fascist clique". Field Marshal Mannerheim and Väinö Tanner , the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party , were targeted for particular scorn. When Stalin gained absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the Soviets changed their foreign policy toward Finland and began to pursue the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia that had been lost during
720-552: A British formation of nine Blenheims that was attacking Bardia, and was in turn reportedly attacked by 15 Gladiators. The five Gladiators of 33 Squadron claimed four CR.42s destroyed. On 4 August 1940, Fiat biplanes from 160 Squadriglia of Capitano Duilio Fanali intercepted four Gladiators commanded by Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle (eventually to become one of the top-scoring Allied aces with approximately 50 claims) that were attacking Breda Ba.65s while they were strafing British armoured vehicles. The battle became confused. Initially it
864-571: A CR.32 and a CR.42, therefore air superiority was finally achieved by Gladiators and the Hurricanes. 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 Dabat and Adi Arcai . According to the Italian historian Nico Sgarlato,
1008-479: A Luftwaffe bombing raid destroyed many of the BEF's Gladiators and Hurricanes on the ground at Vitry-en-Artois , shortly after which the BEF's withdrawal to Dunkirk for evacuation to mainland Britain began. Gladiators typically flew patrol flights that led to occasional clashes with Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. On 17 October 1940, British Gladiators scored their first success when No 607 Squadron "B" Flight shot down
1152-463: A Macchi and on 23 June, a Gladiator flown by George Burges, managed to shoot down an MC.200. Another successful pilot over Malta was "Timber" Woods who managed to shoot down two S.79s and two CR.42s, also claiming a Macchi hit on 11 June and another S.79 damaged. The Gladiators forced Italian fighters to escort bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Although the Regia Aeronautica had started with
1296-657: A Soviet plan to annex Finland. Rather, the objective was to gain Finnish territory and to reinforce Soviet influence in the region. Another American historian Stephen Kotkin also shares the position that the Soviet Union did not aim for annexation. He points out the different treatment Finland was given, compared to the Baltics: unlike the pacts of mutual assistance that the Baltics were pressured into, resulting in their total Sovietization,
1440-603: A celebratory piece of music from Dmitri Shostakovich , Suite on Finnish Themes , intended to be performed as the marching bands of the Red Army paraded through Helsinki. The Soviets were confident that the Western powers would not come to Finland's aid. Ivan Maisky, the Soviet ambassador to the UK, said: "Who would help? The Swedes? The British? The Americans? There's no way in hell. There will be
1584-451: A dogfight a CR.42 flown by Serg. Manlio Tarantino shot down Hartley's Gladiator (N5519), badly burning him. Woods shot down Antonio Chiodi, commander of the 75a Squadriglia five miles east of Grand Harbour. Chiodi was subsequently awarded a posthumous Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Militare , 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)
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#17331435567681728-677: A full Soviet conquest. Finland repelled Soviet attacks for more than two months and inflicted substantial losses on the invaders in temperatures as low as −43 °C (−45 °F). The battles focused mainly on Taipale along the Karelian Isthmus , on Kollaa in Ladoga Karelia and on Raate Road in Kainuu , but there were also battles in Salla and Petsamo in Lapland . Following the initial setbacks,
1872-668: A fuss in the press, moral support, moaning and whining. But troops, aircraft, cannons, and machine guns – no." Hungarian historian István Ravasz wrote that the Soviet Central Committee had set out in 1939 that the former borders of the Tsarist Empire were to be restored, including Finland. American political scientist Dan Reiter stated that the Soviets "sought to impose a regime change " and thus "achieve absolute victory". He quoted Molotov, who had commented in November 1939 on
2016-484: A handful of them and suffering almost as many losses in the process, which could be one of the reasons for its quick retirement from first-line duty; the CR.42 on the other hand was successful against early British bombers, shooting down a hundred of them with minimal losses. In Eastern Africa, it was determined that Italian forces based on Ethiopia posed a threat to the British Aden Protectorate , thus it
2160-510: A loss of prestige after having made them public. However, the Soviet offer was eventually rejected with respect to the opinion of the public and Parliament. At the meeting on 9 November, Paasikivi announced to the attending Stalin and Molotov the Finnish refusal to accept even their reduced demands. The Soviets were visibly surprised. Finnish Foreign Minister Vaino Tanner later wrote that "the eyes of our opposite numbers opened wide". Stalin had asked "You don't even offer Ino?" This would become
2304-404: A maximalist demand, ready to be traded down smaller. The Soviets instead had stressed the minimalist nature of their demands, and were incredulous over Finnish reluctance to agree. Finally, there was also Stalin's unwillingness or inability to accept that any territorial concessions on the part of Finland would have only been possible by a 4/5th majority in the Finnish parliament. He had mocked such
2448-542: A meeting with military historians that the Soviets had launched the Winter War to "correct mistakes" made in determining the border with Finland after 1917. Opinion on the scale of the initial Soviet invasion decision is divided. The puppet Finnish communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol is used as proof that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland. On 1 December 1939,
2592-547: A minor presence in national politics and never had more than 14 seats of the 200 in the Finnish Parliament . By the late 1930s, the export-oriented Finnish economy was growing and the nation's extreme political movements had diminished. After Soviet involvement in the Finnish Civil War in 1918, no formal peace treaty was signed. In 1918 and 1919, Finnish volunteers conducted two unsuccessful military incursions across
2736-441: A myth that three aircraft, named Faith , Hope and Charity , formed the entire fighter cover of the island. The aircraft names came into use after the battle. More than three aircraft were operational, though not always at the same time; others were used for spare parts. No 1435 Flight , which later assumed control of Malta's air defence, took on the names Faith , Hope and Charity for its aircraft upon its reformation as
2880-663: A narrow-front assault right on the Karelian isthmus. Additionally, Shaposhnikov argued for a fuller build-up, extensive fire support and logistical preparations, a rational order of battle and the deployment of the army's best units. Zhdanov's military commander, Kirill Meretskov , reported, "The terrain of coming operations is split by lakes, rivers, swamps, and is almost entirely covered by forests.... The proper use of our forces will be difficult". These doubts were not reflected in Meretskov's troop deployments, and he publicly announced that
3024-657: A need to defend Britain's trade routes throughout the overseas territories of the British Empire had been recognised, so the RAF redeployed many of its Gladiators to the Middle East to defend the theatre and the crucial Suez Canal . The Gladiator saw considerable action during early stages of the war, including participating in the action in the French and Norwegian campaigns, in addition to various peripheral campaigns. In October 1937,
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#17331435567683168-550: A number of other air forces during the late 1930s. Developed privately as the Gloster SS.37 , it was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft, and was rendered obsolescent by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more advanced fighters during the early days of the Second World War , it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat. The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during
3312-573: A numerical advantage and air superiority, during the summer of 1940 the situation was reversed, with Hurricanes being delivered as fast as possible and gradually taking over the island's air defence. By June, two of the Gladiators had crashed and two more were assembled. Charity was shot down on 31 July 1940. Its pilot, Flying Officer Peter Hartley, scrambled at 09.45 with fellow pilots F. F. Taylor and Flight Lieutenant "Timber" Woods, to intercept an SM.79, escorted by nine CR.42s from 23° Gruppo. During
3456-595: A possible German invasion through Finland. He stated that "the strongest argument" against a Soviet intention of full conquest is that it did not happen in either 1939 or during the Continuation War in 1944 even though Stalin "could have done so with comparative ease". Bradley Lightbody wrote that the "entire Soviet aim had been to make the Soviet border more secure". In 2002, Russian historian A. Chubaryan stated that no documents had been found in Russian archives that support
3600-406: A reason. He claimed that Stalin had little hope for such a deal but would play for time for the ongoing mobilisation. He stated the objective as being to secure Finland from being used as a staging ground by means of regime change. Others argue against the idea of a complete Soviet conquest. American historian William R. Trotter asserted that Stalin's objective was to secure Leningrad's flank from
3744-431: A requirement, proposing that they count his and Molotov's votes, too. On 26 November 1939, an incident was reported near the Soviet village of Mainila , near the border with Finland. A Soviet border guard post had been shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Soviet reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards. Research conducted by several Finnish and Russian historians later concluded that
3888-613: A slightly more powerful Mercury VIIIAS engine with Hobson mixture control boxes and a partly automatic boost-control carburettor, driving a Fairey fixed-pitch three-blade metal propeller, instead of the two-blade wooden one of the Mark I. All MK II Gladiators also carried Browning 0.303-inch machine guns (licence-manufactured by the BSA company in Birmingham) in place of the Vickers-Lewis combination of
4032-441: A two-blade wooden fixed-pitch propeller, improved wheel discs, and a fully enclosed cockpit. K5200 was later used to trial modifications for production aircraft, such as the addition of a sliding hood for the pilot. In June 1935, production plans for the aircraft were proposed; two weeks later, a production specification, Specification F.14/35, had been rapidly drawn up, partially prompted by events in continental Europe, such as
4176-696: The Air Ministry were keen to supersede these aircraft. In particular, some dissatisfaction had arisen with the level of reliability experienced with the 'one pilot, two machine guns' design formula previously used; the guns were often prone to jams and being unreliable. The Air Ministry's technical planning committee formulated Specification F.7/30 , which sought a new aircraft capable of a maximum speed of at least 250 mph (400 km/h), an armament of no fewer than four machine guns, and such handling that that same fighter could be used by both day and night squadrons. Gloster, being already engaged with development of
4320-618: The Battle of Britain . Although no combat sorties took place at the height of the aerial battles, 247 Squadron Gladiators intercepted a Heinkel He 111 in late October 1940, without result. 239 Squadron , using Gladiators for army cooperation and 804 Naval Air Squadron , outfitted with Sea Gladiators, were also operational during the Battle of Britain. In the Mediterranean Theatre during 1940–41, Gladiators saw combat with four Allied air forces:
4464-709: The East Karelian uprising in Russia in 1921, and Finnish communists in the Soviet Union continued to prepare for revenge and staged a cross-border raid into Finland, the Pork Mutiny , in 1922. In 1932, the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact was signed between both countries, and it was reaffirmed for ten years in 1934. Foreign trade in Finland was booming, but less than 1% of it was with the Soviet Union. In 1934,
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4608-651: The Gloster Gauntlet , did not initially respond to the specification, which later proved to be beneficial. The specification had also encouraged the use of the new Rolls-Royce Goshawk evaporatively cooled inline engine; many of the submissions produced by various aviation companies in response accordingly featured the Goshawk engine. However, the Goshawk engine proved to be unreliable, mainly due to its overcomplex and underdeveloped cooling system, and unsuited to use on fighter aircraft and this outcome stalled development of
4752-520: The Greco-Italian War . Winter War [REDACTED] Finland [REDACTED] Soviet Union Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Finland Iceland Norway The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland . It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after
4896-495: The Gulf of Finland along the seaward approaches to Leningrad, but Finland refused. Negotiations continued throughout 1938 without results. The Finnish reception of Soviet entreaties was decidedly cool, as the violent collectivisation and purges in Stalin's Soviet Union resulted in a poor opinion of the country. Most of the Finnish communist elite in the Soviet Union had been executed during
5040-480: The Hanko Peninsula for 30 years and to permit the Soviets to establish a military base there. In exchange, the Soviet Union would cede Repola and Porajärvi from Eastern Karelia (2120 square miles), an area twice the size as that of the territory demanded from Finland (1000 square miles). The Soviet offer divided the Finnish government: Gustaf Mannerheim had argued for an agreement, being pessimistic of
5184-480: The J 29 . The 29 Tunnan did serve for over ten years until they were finally replaced by the J 34 where some units came from Svea Wing (F 8) and Södertörn Wing (F 18). The squadrons were gradually decommissioned one per year 1967-1969 until the wing itself was decommissioned on June 30, 1969. The airfield later operated as Gothenburg City Airport . The old mountain hangars house the Aeroseum museum. The wing
5328-633: The Leningrad Military District Kiril Meretskov initially ran the overall operation against the Finns. The command was passed on 9 December 1939 to the General Staff Supreme Command (later known as Stavka ), directly under Kliment Voroshilov (chairman), Nikolai Kuznetsov , Stalin and Boris Shaposhnikov. On 28 December, when Stalin asked for volunteers to take over military command, Semyon Timoshenko offered himself on
5472-548: The Mitsubishi A6M Zero entered the theatre, the Gladiators' days were numbered. "Buffalo" Wong, the first Gladiator flying ace and first American fighter ace of the war, was eventually shot down in combat with A6M Zeros on 14 March 1941 and died two days later from his injuries. Arthur Chin and he were among a group of 15 Chinese Americans who formed the original group of American volunteer combat aviators in China. During
5616-483: The Nanking area, Chinese-American Capt John Wong Sun-Shui (nicknamed 'Buffalo') shot down a Mitsubishi A5M "Claude" naval fighter, the first victim of a Gladiator. Wong is believed to have shot down a second A5M as the wrecks of two Japanese fighters were found. During that clash, Chinese Gladiators lost two of their number. Chinese Gladiators scored several more victories over Japanese aircraft from 1938 to 1940 during
5760-665: The North African and Greek Campaigns , making him the highest-scoring RAF biplane ace of the war. The 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War was unique in that the RAF and Royal Iraqi Air Force , used the Gladiator as their main fighter. Gladiators also saw action against the Vichy French in Syria . A stock of 18 Sea Gladiators from 802 Naval Air Squadron had been delivered by HMS Glorious , in early 1940. Three were later shipped out to take part in
5904-547: The Second Sino-Japanese War . In China, Gladiators were used extensively before the start of 1940 by the 28th, 29th, and 32nd squadrons of the 3rd Group. Chinese aviators considered the Gladiator an excellent fighter in its class, but pilots soon found it increasingly difficult to hold their own against the modern A5M, and because of a lack of spare parts due to an arms embargo, the surviving Gladiators were mostly relegated to training. When newer Japanese aircraft such as
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6048-507: The Soviet Union , recognised the new Finnish government just three weeks after the declaration. Finland achieved full sovereignty in May 1918 after a four-month civil war in which the conservative Whites defeated the socialist Reds with the help of the Imperial German Army , pro-German Jägers , and some Swedish troops, in addition to the expulsion of Bolshevik troops. Finland joined
6192-637: The Spanish Civil War veterans General Pavel Rychagov from the Soviet Air Forces ; the tank expert General Dmitry Pavlov and Stalin's favourite general, Marshal Grigory Kulik , the chief of artillery. The other faction was led by Khalkhin Gol veterans General Georgy Zhukov of the Red Army and General Grigory Kravchenko of the Soviet Air Forces. Under this divided command structure, the lessons of
6336-514: The Treaty of Tartu , confirming the old border between the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and Imperial Russia proper as the new Finnish–Soviet border. Finland also received Petsamo Province , with its ice-free harbour on the Arctic Ocean. Despite the signing of the treaty, relations between the two countries remained strained. The Finnish government allowed volunteers to cross the border to support
6480-616: The Winter War , the Finnish Air Force (FAF) obtained 30 Mk II fighters from the UK. Ten of the aircraft were donated, while the other 20 were bought by the FAF; all were delivered between 18 January and 16 February 1940, the first entering service on 2 February 1940. The Finnish Gladiators served until 1945, but they were outclassed by modern Soviet fighters during the Continuation War , and
6624-573: The 10 June surrender of the mainland Norwegian forces. Only the aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service (one M.F.11 and four He 115s ) had the range to fly from their last bases in northern Norway to the UK. Two Army Air Service Fokker C.V .Ds and one Tiger Moth also managed to escape eastwards to Finland before the surrender. Three naval M.F.11s and one He 115 flew to Finland, landing on Lake Salmijärvi in Petsamo . All
6768-496: The Air Ministry were sceptical about the aircraft achieving such performance from a radial engine design, so funded a protracted series of evaluation trials. On 3 April 1935, the prototype was transferred to the RAF, receiving the designation K5200 , and commenced operational evaluations of the type. Around the same time, Gloster proceeded to plan a further improved version, featuring an 840 hp (630 kW) Mercury IX engine,
6912-412: The CR.42 pilot took violent evasive action, Hope pursued, closing to 20 yards and firing as it 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. The next day the wreckage was found, the dead pilot still in the cockpit. Hope dropped a message on Italian positions at Ambazzo: "Tribute to
7056-453: 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, SAAF 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
7200-708: The Chinese Central Government ordered 36 Gladiator Is, which were delivered in two crated batches to Guangzhou via Hong Kong . The Chinese Gladiators used the American M1919 Browning machine gun to fire American .30-06 Springfield ammunition, the main ammunition of the new Chinese Nationalist Air Force . By February 1938, these aircraft had been assembled into two squadrons and the Chinese pilots familiarised themselves with them. The Gloster Gladiator had its combat début on 24 February 1938. That day, in
7344-461: The East African campaign. Towards the end of the war Gladiators were flown by Meteorological Flight 1566 out of Hiswa, Aden. Tension had been building between Greece and Italy since 7 April 1939, when Italian troops occupied Albania . On 28 October 1940, Italy issued an ultimatum to Greece, which was promptly rejected ; a few hours later, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece, initiating
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#17331435567687488-609: The FAF Gladiators, the Swedish Voluntary Air Force , responsible for the air defence of northernmost Finland during the later part of the Winter War, was also equipped with Gladiator fighters, known as J8s (Mk Is) and J8As (Mk IIs). The Flying Regiment F 19 arrived in Finnish Lapland on 10 January 1940 and remained there until the end of hostilities. It fielded 12 Gladiator Mk II fighters, two of which were lost during
7632-542: The Finnish Civil War to the early 1930s was a politically unstable time in Finland because of the continued rivalry between the conservatives and the socialists. The Communist Party of Finland was declared illegal in 1931, and the nationalist Lapua Movement organised anticommunist violence, which culminated in a failed coup attempt in 1932. The successor of the Lapua Movement, the Patriotic People's Movement , had
7776-571: The Finnish campaign would take two weeks at most. Soviet soldiers had even been warned not to cross the border mistakenly into Sweden. Stalin's purges in the 1930s had devastated the officer corps of the Red Army; those purged included three of its five marshals, 220 of its 264 division or higher-level commanders and 36,761 officers of all ranks. Fewer than half of all the officers remained. They were commonly replaced by soldiers who were less competent but more loyal to their superiors. Unit commanders were overseen by political commissars , whose approval
7920-501: The Finnish government, and lead them to believe more concession may be forthcoming. Thus, Paasikivi's idea of reaching some sort of compromise by offering the Soviets the island of Jussarö and the fort of Ino were refused by Helsinki. On 31 October, Molotov publicly announced the Soviet demands to the Supreme Soviet . This surprised the Finns, and lent credibility to Soviet claims that their demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, as it would have been impossible to reduce them without
8064-415: The Finnish prospects in a war against the Soviet Union. But the Finnish government was reticent in reaching an agreement out of mistrust for Stalin: there was a fear of repeated follow-up demands, which would have put the future of Finnish sovereignty in danger. There were also those, such as Foreign Minister Eljas Erkko and Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , and the Finnish intelligence in general, who mistook
8208-411: The Finnish-Soviet border on the Karelian Isthmus be moved westward to a point only 30 km (19 mi) east of Viipuri ( Russian : Vyborg ) and that Finland destroy all existing fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. Likewise, the delegation demanded the cession of islands in the Gulf of Finland as well as Rybachy Peninsula ( Finnish : Kalastajasaarento ). The Finns would also have to lease
8352-465: The Great Purge, further tarnishing the Soviets' image in Finland. Meanwhile, Finland was attempting to negotiate a military co-operation plan with Sweden and hoping to jointly defend Åland. The Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. It was publicly a non-aggression treaty , but it included a secret protocol in which Central and Eastern European countries were divided into spheres of influence . Finland fell into
8496-445: The Hurricane and Spitfire monoplanes; an emphasis was soon placed on quickly re-equipping half of the Gladiator squadrons with either of these monoplane types. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Gladiator had largely been replaced by the Hurricane and Spitfire in front-line RAF service. The introduction of these aircraft had been eased by the presence of the Gladiator, squadrons that had operated Gladiators prior to converting to
8640-475: The Italians lost four aircraft, and four more force-landed (it seems that all were later recovered). That battle highlighted the strong points of the Gladiator over the CR.42, especially the radio equipment, which had permitted a coordinated attack, being also crucial for obtaining the initial surprise, and the Gladiator's superior low-altitude overall performance, including speed and a markedly superior horizontal manoeuvrability over its Italian opponent. Overall,
8784-553: The League of Nations in 1920 and sought security guarantees, but Finland's primary goal was co-operation with the Scandinavian countries , mainly Sweden, and it focused on the exchange of information and on defence planning (the joint defence of Åland , for example), rather than on military exercises or on the stockpiling and the deployment of materiel . Nevertheless, Sweden carefully avoided committing itself to Finnish foreign policy. Finland's military policy included clandestine defence co-operation with Estonia . The period after
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#17331435567688928-408: The MK I. A modified Mk II, the Sea Gladiator, was developed for the Fleet Air Arm , with an arrestor hook , catapult attachment points, a strengthened airframe, and an underbelly fairing for a dinghy lifeboat, all for operations aboard aircraft carriers . Of the 98 aircraft built as, or converted to, Sea Gladiators, 54 were still in service by the outbreak of the Second World War. The Gladiator
9072-407: 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 flight of Gladiators at RAF Hal Far , to be composed of RAF and FAA personnel. Several Sea Gladiators were assembled and test-flown. In the siege of Malta in 1940, for ten days the fighter force defending Malta was the Hal Far Fighter Flight , giving rise to
9216-429: The RAF, Royal Australian Air Force , South African Air Force and Ellinikí Vasilikí Aeroporía (Royal Hellenic Air Force) squadrons. These achieved some success against the Italian Regia Aeronautica , which was mainly equipped with Fiat CR.32 and Fiat CR.42 biplanes, and against Luftwaffe bombers. The South African ace Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle (who served with the RAF), claimed 15 kills in Gladiators during
9360-630: The Russian capital, Saint Petersburg . Eventually Russia conquered and annexed Finland, and converted it into an autonomous buffer state . The resulting Grand Duchy of Finland enjoyed wide autonomy within Russia until the end of the 19th century, when Russia began attempts to assimilate Finland as part of a general policy to strengthen the central government and unify the Empire by Russification . Those attempts were aborted because of Russia's internal strife, but they ruined Russia's relationship with Finland. In addition, support increased in Finland for self-determination movements. World War I led to
9504-415: The Second World War, with a large number of air forces, some of them on the Axis side. The RAF used it in France , Norway , Greece , the defence of Malta , the Middle East, and the brief Anglo-Iraqi War (during which the Royal Iraqi Air Force was similarly equipped). Other countries deploying the Gladiator included China against Japan, beginning in 1938; Finland (along with Swedish volunteers ) against
9648-445: The Soviet Union also joined the League of Nations. Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin regarded it a disappointment that the Soviet Union could not halt the Finnish Revolution. He thought that the pro-Finland movement in Karelia posed a direct threat to Leningrad and that the area and defences of Finland could be used to invade the Soviet Union or restrict fleet movements. Soviet propaganda then painted Finland's leadership as
9792-422: The Soviet Union formed a puppet government , named the Finnish Democratic Republic , to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. A declaration delivered via TASS stated: The People's Government in its present composition regards itself as a provisional government. Immediately upon arrival in Helsinki, capital of the country, it will be reorganised and its composition enlarged by the inclusion of representatives of
9936-572: The Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War ; Sweden as a neutral noncombatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands. South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories with the type. During the 1920s, Britain's air defences had been based around interceptor aircraft capable of flying only for short ranges and at speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour (240 to 320 km/h), but by 1930, figures within
10080-429: The Soviet Union was mostly impassable except along a handful of unpaved roads . In prewar calculations, the Finnish Defence Command , which had established its wartime headquarters at Mikkeli , had estimated seven Soviet divisions on the Karelian Isthmus and no more than five along the whole border north of Lake Ladoga. In the estimation, the manpower ratio would have favoured the attacker by three to one. The true ratio
10224-415: The Soviet Union's "first real war on a massive scale using tanks, artillery, and aircraft" at Khalkin Gol went unheeded. As a result, Russian BT tanks were less successful during the Winter War, and it took the Soviet Union three months and over a million men to accomplish what Zhukov had managed at Khalkhin Gol in ten days (albeit in completely different circumstances). Soviet generals were impressed by
10368-625: The Soviet border, the Viena and Aunus expeditions , to annex areas in Karelia that according to the Greater Finland ideology would combine all Baltic Finnic peoples into a single state. In 1920, Finnish communists based in Soviet Russia attempted to assassinate the former Finnish White Guard Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim . On 14 October 1920, Finland and Soviet Russia signed
10512-666: The Soviet military. After 15 months of Interim Peace , in June 1941, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa , and the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets began. Until the early 19th century, Finland was the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden . From 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809, the Russian Empire waged the Finnish War against the Kingdom of Sweden, ostensibly to protect
10656-645: The Soviet sphere. On 1 September 1939, Germany began its invasion of Poland , and two days later, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. On 17 September, the Soviet invasion of Poland began. After the fall of Poland, Germany and the Soviet Union exchanged occupied Polish lands to establish a new border in accordance with the provisions of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were soon forced to accept treaties that allowed
10800-455: The Soviets demanded limited territorial concessions from Finland, and even offered land in return, which would not have made sense if full Sovietization was intended. And according to Kotkin, Stalin seemed to be genuinely interested in reaching an agreement during the negotiations: he had personally attended six of the seven meetings with the Finns, and had multiple times reduced his demands. However, mutual mistrust and misunderstandings would mar
10944-408: The Soviets did not trust Germany and that war was considered possible between the two countries. The Red Army would not wait passively behind the border but would rather "advance to meet the enemy". Finnish representatives assured Yartsev that Finland was committed to a policy of neutrality and that the country would resist any armed incursion. Yartsev suggested that Finland cede or lease some islands in
11088-518: The Soviets reduced their strategic objectives and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government in late January 1940, informing the Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After the Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February 1940 and overcame the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. This left the Finnish army in
11232-488: The Soviets to establish military bases on their soil. Estonia accepted the ultimatum by signing the agreement on 28 September. Latvia and Lithuania followed in October. Unlike the three Baltic countries, Finland started a gradual mobilisation under the guise of "additional refresher training ". The Soviets had already started intensive mobilisation near the Finnish border in 1938–39. Assault troops thought to be necessary for
11376-665: The USSR for military purposes. On the next meeting on 23 October, Stalin conceded to lessen his demands: a reduction in the amount of land demanded in Karelia; a reduction of the Hanko garrison from 5000 to 4000 men; and reducing the length of lease from 30 years to whatever date the ongoing (second world) war in Europe would end. However, this sudden change, contrary to previous statements that Soviet demands were minimalist and thus unalterable, had surprised
11520-508: The air defence unit in the Falkland Islands in 1988. The Italian air force units deployed against Malta should have easily defeated the Gladiators but its manoeuvrability and good tactics won several engagements, often starting with a dive on Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero bombers before the Fiat CR.42 and Macchi MC.200 escort fighters could react. On 11 June 1940, a Gladiator damaged
11664-497: The aircraft intended to use it. A further stumbling point for many of the submitted designs was the placement of the machine gun breeches within arm's reach of the pilot. At the same time, the development of monoplane fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire cast doubt over the future viability of the requirement altogether. Gloster recognised that instead of developing an all-new design from scratch,
11808-443: The aircraft was mostly used for reconnaissance from 1941. The Finnish Air Force obtained 45 aerial victories by 22 pilots with the aircraft during the Winter War and one victory during the Continuation War. Twelve Gladiators were lost in combat during the Winter War and three during the Continuation War. Two pilots became aces with this aircraft: Oiva Tuominen (6.5 victories with Gladiators) and Paavo Berg (five victories). Besides
11952-410: The biplanes took place on 14 June over Amseat. Tenente Franco Lucchini , of 90 Squadriglia , 10° Gruppo , 4° Stormo , flying a CR.42 from Tobruk , shot down a Gladiator; it was the first claim made against the RAF in the desert war. On the afternoon of 24 July, CR.42s and Gladiators clashed over Bardia . A formation of 11 CR.42s from 10° Gruppo , backed by six more from the 13° Gruppo attacked
12096-626: The chaos of the October Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War almost two decades earlier. Soviet leaders believed that the old empire's extended borders provided territorial security and wanted Leningrad, only 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border, to enjoy a similar level of security against the rising power of Nazi Germany . In April 1938, NKVD agent Boris Yartsev contacted Finnish Foreign Minister Rudolf Holsti and Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander , stating that
12240-727: The collapse of the Russian Empire during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Russian Civil War . On 15 November 1917, the Bolshevik Russian government declared that national minorities possessed the right of self-determination , including the right to secede and form a separate state, which gave Finland a window of opportunity. On 6 December 1917, the Senate of Finland declared the nation's independence . Soviet Russia , later
12384-534: The condition that he be allowed to implement Shaposhnikov's initial plan of a focused attack on the Karelian Isthmus to break the Mannerheim Line; it was accepted. In January 1940, the Leningrad Military District was reformed and renamed "North-Western Front". The Soviet forces were organised as follows: The Finnish strategy was dictated by geography. The 1,340 km (830 mi) border with
12528-501: The country's international reputation suffered. Their gains exceeded their pre-war demands, and the Soviets received substantial territories along Lake Ladoga and further north. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to believe that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and confirmed negative Western opinions of
12672-803: The defence of Oslo on the first day of Operation Weserübung , the German invasion. Later, British Gladiators fought to provide fighter cover for the Allied reinforcements sent to the assistance of the Norwegian government. The Gladiator pilots of the Norwegian Jagevingen (fighter flight) were based at Fornebu Airport . On 9 April, the first day of the invasion of Norway, the seven serviceable aircraft managed to shoot down five German aircraft: two Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters, two He 111 bombers and one Fallschirmjäger -laden Ju 52 transport . One Gladiator
12816-548: The demands and the Soviet military build-up as a mere bluff on the part of Stalin, and were thus disinclined to reach an agreement. The Finns made two counteroffers to cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union. That would double the distance between Leningrad and the Finnish border but was far less than the Soviets had demanded. The Finns would also cede the islands in the Gulf of Finland, but they would not agree to lease any territory to
12960-567: The end of 1937. The first version, the Gladiator Mk I, was delivered from July 1936, becoming operational in January 1937. When difficulties with Rolls-Royce Merlin combustion chamber threatened to postpone the readiness of the next-generation fighters, the Air Ministry hedged its bets by procuring three hundreds of Mk II Gladiators as a stopgap via Specification F.36/37 (the delivery of 252 planes took until April 1940). The main differences were
13104-460: The existing Gauntlet fighter could be used as a basis for a contender to meet Specification F.7/30. Development of what would become the Gladiator began as a private venture, internally designated as the SS.37, at Gloster, by a design team headed by H.P. Folland , who soon identified various changes to increase the aircraft's suitability to conform with the demands of the specification. Making use of wing-design techniques developed by Hawker Aircraft ,
13248-519: The few Gladiators and CR.42s clashed with a substantial parity: considering all theatres, the kill ratio was 1.2-to-1 in favour of the former, a ratio similar to that of the Bf 109 and the Spitfire in the Battle of Britain, a duel considered evenly balanced by most historians. However, the Gladiator, optimised for dogfighting, met with only little success against the relatively fast Italian bombers, shooting down only
13392-619: The fighting and five Hawker Hart dive bombers, plus a Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 liaison aircraft and a Junkers F.13 transport aircraft. 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 four aircraft on the ground. One concern was expressed when F 19's executive officer Captain Björn Bjuggren wrote in his memoirs, that
13536-439: The final meeting: the Soviets stopped responding to further Finnish letters and on 13 November, when the Finnish delegation was recalled from Moscow, no Soviet officials came to see them off. The Finns had left under the expectation that the negotiations would continue. Instead, the Soviet Union ramped up its military preparations. The negotiations had failed, as neither side was willing to substantially reduce their demands, nor
13680-436: The first unit to receive Browning-armed Gladiators. By September 1937, all eight Gladiator squadrons had achieved operational status and had formed the spearhead of London's air defences. Difficulties with introducing the type had been experienced. Although the Gladiator was typically well-liked by pilots, the accident rate during operational training on the type was so high that a small replacement batch of 28 Gladiator Mk IIs
13824-462: The former Norwegian aircraft were later flown by the Finns against the Soviet Union. Gladiators were used also by 263 Squadron during the remaining two months of the Norwegian campaign. Prior to the German invasion of Norway, Britain had prepared this squadron with low-temperature environmental training. 263 Squadron arrived on the carrier HMS Glorious on 24 April and operated from an improvised landing strip built by Norwegian volunteers on
13968-457: The frozen lake Lesjaskogsvatnet in Oppland in central southern Norway. On 25 April, a pair of Gladiators destroyed a Heinkel He 115 aircraft; Luftwaffe bombers attacked the runway that day, wounding several pilots on the ground. By the end of the day, ten Gladiators had been destroyed for the loss of three German aircraft. After less than a week, all the squadron's aircraft were unserviceable and
14112-455: The initial batch was performed simultaneously, leading to many aircraft being completed around the same time. On 16 February 1937, K6129 , the first production Gladiator, was formally accepted by the RAF; on 4 March 1937, K6151 , the last aircraft of the initial batch, was delivered. In September 1935, a follow-up order of 180 aircraft was also received from the Air Ministry; this order had the proviso that all aircraft had to be delivered before
14256-468: The invasion did not begin deployment until October 1939. Operational plans made in September called for the invasion to start in November. On 5 October 1939, the Soviets invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations. Juho Kusti Paasikivi , the Finnish envoy to Sweden, was sent to Moscow to represent the Finnish government Furthermore, the negotiations were attended by Stalin in person, signalling
14400-535: The invasion of Abyssinia by Fascist Italy and the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany, in response to which the British government mandated an urgent expansion of the RAF to counter the emerging threats. This culminated in an initial order for 23 aircraft. On 1 July 1935, the aircraft formally received the name Gladiator . Manufacturing of the Gladiator was started at Gloster's Hucclecote facility. Production of
14544-524: The main theatre of war near the breaking point, with a retreat seeming inevitable. Consequently, Finnish commander-in-chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim urged a peace deal with the Soviets, while the Finns still retained bargaining power. Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and
14688-467: The mission of defending Aden airspace at day and night, and to protect Allied shipping operating in the vicinity. It was in the latter role that a single 94 Squadron Gladiator, piloted by Gordon Haywood, was responsible for the surrender and capture of the Italian Archimede-class submarine Galilei Galileo . On 6 June 1941, the Regia Aeronautica had only two serviceable aircraft remaining:
14832-518: The monoplane types experienced a noticeably improved accident record than those who converted from older types such as the Gauntlet. Experiences such as operating the Gladiator's landing flaps and familiarisation with its sliding hood have been attributed to having favourably impacted pilot conversion. Although by 1941, all Gladiators had been withdrawn from front-line duties defending the British Isles,
14976-506: The negotiations, producing an impasse. Before the war, Soviet leadership had expected total victory within a few weeks. The Red Army had just completed the invasion of eastern Poland at a cost of fewer than 4,000 casualties after Germany attacked Poland from the west. Stalin's expectations of a quick Soviet triumph were backed up by politician Andrei Zhdanov and military strategist Kliment Voroshilov , but other generals were more reserved. Red Army Chief of Staff Boris Shaposhnikov advocated
15120-413: The new fighter adopted single-bay wings in place of the two-bay wings of the Gauntlet, and two pairs of interplane struts were also dispensed with as a drag-reduction measure. The Bristol Mercury M.E.30 radial engine , capable of generating 700 hp (520 kW), was selected to power the SS.37, which provided a performance boost over the preceding Gauntlet. Another design choice was the fitting of
15264-413: The occupation of Finland. However, Joseph Stalin was not pleased with the conservative pace that the operation required and demanded new plans be drawn up. With the new plans, the key deadline for Finland's capitulation was to be Stalin's 60th birthday on 21 December. Convinced of the invasion's forthcoming success, Andrei Zhdanov , chairman of the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union, commissioned
15408-609: The outbreak of World War II , and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from its organization. The Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons – primarily
15552-501: The outbreak of war, but its reservists were equipped with warm civilian clothing. However, the sparsely-populated highly-agrarian Finland had to draft so many of its working men that the Finnish economy was massively strained because of a lack of workers. An even greater problem than lack of soldiers was the lack of materiel since foreign shipments of anti-tank weapons and aircraft were arriving only in small quantities. The ammunition situation
15696-713: The personnel were evacuated to Britain. Having re-equipped in Britain, 263 Squadron resumed its Gladiator operations in Norway when it returned to the north of Norway on 21 May, flying from Bardufoss airfield near Narvik . At the Narvik front , 263 Squadron was reinforced by Hurricanes of 46 Squadron , which flew to an airstrip in Skånland Municipality a few days later and several German aircraft were shot down. Due to unsuitable ground at Skånland, 46 Squadron moved to Bardufoss and
15840-528: 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 did not 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 to crash land, but was himself shot down by a third Gladiator. This was the last air-to-air victory in
15984-534: The preceding Phoney War , on 24 April 1940 Belgian Gladiators on neutrality patrol shot down a German Heinkel He 111 bomber which subsequently crashed in the Netherlands . The bomber, V4+DA of Kampfgeschwader 1 , had been damaged by French fighters at Maubeuge , France, and chased across the Belgian border. The Gloster Gladiator was in operational service with 247 Squadron , stationed at RAF Roborough , Devon during
16128-465: The protection of Leningrad , 32 km (20 mi) from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the Soviets invaded. Most sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and cite the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 's secret protocols as evidence of this, while other sources argue against the idea of
16272-419: The prototype was quickly re-equipped with a more powerful 645 hp (481 kW) Mercury VIS engine. During flight tests, the prototype attained a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h; 210 kn) while carrying the required four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns (two synchronised Vickers guns in the fuselage and two Lewis guns under the lower wing). According to aviation author Francis K. Mason,
16416-411: The regime change plan to a Soviet ambassador that the new government "will not be Soviet, but one of a democratic republic. Nobody is going to set up Soviets over there, but we hope it will be a government we can come to terms with as to ensure the security of Leningrad". According to Russian historian Yuri Kilin , the Soviet terms encompassed the strongest fortified approaches of the Finnish defences for
16560-478: The remainder of the first production batch, replacing their obsolete Bristol Bulldogs . Initial service with the type proved the Vickers guns to be problematical; the Gladiator was quickly armed with .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns , which were substantially more popular, leading to the other guns often only being resorted to if deemed necessary. On 27 March 1937, No. 54 Squadron at Hornchurch became
16704-414: The rocks. Initially the shelter area was only 8,000 m (72,000 sq ft.) but it was later extended to 22,000 m (200,000 sq ft.) 30 m (100 ft) below ground level. During 1943, the J 11s were replaced by J 22s and subsequently by J 21s in 1946. The J 21s served for only three years until 1949 when they were replaced by the J 28B . After yet only two years the J 28Bs were in turn replaced by
16848-448: The seriousness of the effort. Paasikivi would later recount his surprise over the friendly atmosphere in which the delegation was received, and mentioned the pleasant manners of Stalin towards them. The meetings began on 12 October, with Molotov's offer of a mutual assistance pact, which the Finns immediately refused. To the Finns' surprise, Molotov dropped the offer and instead proposed an exchange of territory. The offer stipulated that
16992-433: The shelling was a false flag operation since there were no artillery units there, and it was carried out from the Soviet side of the border by an NKVD unit with the purpose of providing the Soviets with a casus belli and a pretext to withdraw from the non-aggression pact. Soviet war games held in March 1938 and 1939 had been based on a scenario in which border incidents taking place at the village of Mainila would spark
17136-493: The success of German Blitzkrieg tactics , but they had been tailored to conditions in Central Europe , with its dense well-mapped network of paved roads. Armies fighting there had recognised supply and communications centres, which could be easily targeted by armoured vehicle regiments. Finnish Army centres, in contrast, were deep inside the country. There were no paved roads, and even gravel or dirt roads were scarce. Most of
17280-466: The terrain consisted of trackless forests and swamps. The war correspondent John Langdon-Davies observed the landscape: "Every acre of its surface was created to be the despair of an attacking military force". Waging Blitzkrieg in Finland was a highly-difficult proposition, and according to Trotter, the Red Army failed to meet the level of tactical co-ordination and local initiative that would be required to execute such tactics in Finland. Commander of
17424-575: The top scoring pilot of all belligerent air forces in Eastern Africa (Africa Orientale) and the top biplane fighter ace of World War II. Tactically, the SAAF aircraft erred by engaging the CR.42's in a piecemeal fashion and not en masse, and they were heavily outnumbered. Early on in the offensive, Gladiators of No. 94 Squadron performed various attacks on the Italian forces; typical targets included airfields, supply depots, and aircraft. They were also assigned
17568-494: The total allotted to the RAF. Gladiators were sold to Belgium, China, Egypt, Finland, Free France , Greece, Iraq, Ireland, Latvia , Lithuania , Norway, Portugal, South Africa , and Sweden. In February 1937, No. 72 Squadron, based at Tangmere , became the first squadron to be equipped with the Gladiator; No. 72 operated the type until April 1939, longer than any other home-based frontline unit. Between March and April 1937, No. 3 Squadron at Kenley also received Gladiators from
17712-691: The tracer rounds of the Gladiator's machine guns would not ignite the aviation spirit when penetrating the fuel tanks of Soviet bombers. At the beginning of the Second World War, during what was known as the " Phoney War ", Britain deployed the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) into France to fight alongside the French army. As part of this force, RAF units operating various aircraft were dispatched to contribute, including two Gladiator squadrons. Initial air operations on either side were limited by
17856-400: The various parties and groups participating in the people's front of toilers. Soviet leaflets dropped over Helsinki on the first day of the war stated: "Finnish Comrades! We come to you not as conquerors, but as liberators of the Finnish people from the oppression of the capitalists and the landlords". In 1939, Soviet military leadership had formulated a realistic and comprehensive plan for
18000-415: The war. Molotov claimed that the incident was a Finnish artillery attack. He demanded that Finland apologise for the incident and to move its forces beyond a line 20–25 km (12–16 mi) from the border. Finland denied responsibility for the attack, rejected the demands and called for a joint Finnish–Soviet commission to examine the incident. In turn, the Soviet Union claimed that the Finnish response
18144-529: The wing was presented by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf at the Säve Airfield on 13 October 1941. Blazon : "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper, all in yellow. In the first corner a rampant yellow lion with an open crown." Decor through inserting and embroidery. Commanding officers from 1940 to 1969. The commanding officer
18288-593: The winter weather; however, immediately following Germany's commencement of the Manstein Plan and its invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the BEF's Gladiators participated in the Dyle Plan , an unsuccessful counterattack on German forces. From 10 May 1940 to 17 May, the Gladiators were in continuous demand on the front line, quickly losing numerous aircraft and their crews in the rapid action. On 18 May 1940,
18432-430: Was alarming, as stockpiles had cartridges, shells and fuel to last only 19 to 60 days. The ammunition shortage meant the Finns could seldom afford counter-battery or saturation fire . Finnish tank forces were operationally nonexistent. The ammunition situation was alleviated somewhat since Finns were largely armed with Mosin–Nagant rifles dating from the Finnish Civil War, which used the same 7.62×54mmR cartridge that
18576-575: Was credited with the destruction of three Heinkel He 111s, along with the probable destruction of a Junkers Ju 88 and another He 111 aircraft, during one sortie. British action in the theatre 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 undertake Operation Alphabet the evacuation from Norway. By then, 263 Squadron had flown 249 sorties and claimed 26 enemy aircraft destroyed. The ten surviving Gladiators landed on Glorious on 7 June. Glorious sailed for home but
18720-477: Was decided that an offensive would be necessary, in which the Gladiator would face off against the Italian biplane fighters: Fiat CR.32s and CR.42s. On 6 November 1940, in the first hour of the British offensive against Ethiopia, the Fiat CR.42 fighters of the 412a Squadriglia led by Capt. Antonio Raffi shot down five Gloster Gladiators of 1 SAAF Sqn; among the Italian pilots was the ace Mario Visintini , who later became
18864-514: Was destroyed on the ground by enemy bombing in May 1941. The fuselage of Faith is on display at the National War Museum , Fort St Elmo , Valletta today. The fate of at least five more Gladiators that saw action over Malta is not as well documented. In North Africa, Gladiators faced Italian Fiat CR.42 Falcos biplanes, which had a slightly superior performance to that of the Gladiator at higher altitudes. The first aerial combat between
19008-468: Was during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . From September to December 1938, 33 Squadron RAF flew Gladiator strafing missions in support of British Mandate security forces. These were often in mountainous areas, and the aircraft came under substantial rifle fire. Three aircraft were destroyed, and two pilots killed, in these operations. During 1938, the RAF had begun to receive its first deliveries of
19152-426: Was either side able to fully trust the other. The Finns were fearful of an encroachment on their sovereignty, while the Soviets were (claiming to be) fearful of a springboard for international enemies in Finland, in close proximity to Leningrad. No promises to the contrary managed to persuade the other. Additionally, both sides had misunderstood the others position: the Finns had assumed that the Soviets had opened up on
19296-484: Was first based at F 7 and from 16 June 1941 on the Säve Airfield at Hisingen in the City of Gothenburg . The runway system comprised three runways and the wing had two underground hangars; one from 1944 and one from 1955. Blazon : "The coat of arms of Gothenburg , azure, with waves argent six times divided bendy-sinister argent, charged with a double-tailed crowned lion rampant or, armed and langued gules". The colour of
19440-473: Was hostile, renounced the non-aggression pact and severed diplomatic relations with Finland on 28 November. In the following years, Soviet historiography described the incident as Finnish provocation. Doubt on the official Soviet version was cast only in the late 1980s, during the policy of glasnost . The issue has continued to divide Russian historiography even after the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at
19584-445: Was hurriedly produced. Most accidents were caused by pilots being caught out by the fighter's increased wing loading, and many aviators had little experience in landing aircraft with such a wide flap area. The aircraft had a tendency to stall more abruptly, frequently dropping a wing while doing so. The Gladiator very easily entered a flat spin , and great skill was needed to recover. The first use of RAF Gladiators on active service
19728-605: Was intercepted by the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst . Despite the valiant defence put up by the destroyers, HMS Acasta and Ardent , she was sunk along with the aircraft from four squadrons; 263 Squadron lost its CO, S/Ldr John W. Donaldson, and F/Lt Alvin Williams along with eight other pilots. Belgian Gladiators suffered heavy losses to the Germans in 1940 , with all 15 operational aircraft lost, while only managing to damage two German aircraft. During
19872-424: Was much higher, however, since for example, 12 Soviet divisions were deployed north of Lake Ladoga. Finland had a large force of reservists, which was trained in regular maneuvers, some of which had experience from the recent Finnish Civil War. The soldiers were also almost universally trained in basic survival techniques, such as skiing. The Finnish Army was not able to equip all its soldiers with proper uniforms at
20016-460: Was needed to approve and ratify military decisions, which they evaluated based on their political merits. The dual system further complicated the Soviet chain of command and annulled the independence of commanding officers. After the Soviet success at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol against Japan, on the USSR's eastern border, Soviet High Command had divided into two factions. One side was represented by
20160-478: Was operating from this base by 27 May. The squadrons had been ordered to defend the fleet anchorage at Skånland and the Norwegian naval base at Harstad on the island of Hinnøya , as well as the Narvik area after it was recaptured. In the last days of May ground attack missions were also flown by the Gladiators against railway stations, German vehicles and coastal vessels. On 2 June, one Gladiator pilot, Louis Jacobsen,
20304-578: Was referred to as flottiljchef ("wing commander") and had the rank of colonel. 57°46′44″N 11°53′01″E / 57.77889°N 11.88361°E / 57.77889; 11.88361 Gloster Gladiator The Gloster Gladiator is a British biplane fighter . It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to
20448-481: Was shot down during the air battle by the future experte Helmut Lent , while two were strafed and destroyed while refuelling and rearming at Fornebu airport. The remaining four operational fighters were ordered to land wherever they could away from the base. The Gladiators landed on frozen lakes around Oslo and were abandoned by their pilots, then wrecked by souvenir -hunting civilians. No Norwegian Army Air Service aircraft were able to evacuate westwards before
20592-642: Was the last British biplane fighter to be manufactured, and the first to feature an enclosed cockpit. It possessed a top speed of about 257 mph (414 km/h; 223 kn), yet even as the Gladiator was introduced, it was already being eclipsed by new-generation monoplane fighters, such as the RAF Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, and the Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 . In total, 747 aircraft were built (483 RAF, 98 RN), with 216 being exported to 13 countries, some of which were from
20736-789: Was thought that only the old CR.32s were involved, but there were also many CR.42s; it is likely that the then inexperienced Pattle was shot down by another future ace, Franco Lucchini . On this occasion, the Fiats managed to surprise the Gladiators, shooting down three of them. Wykeham Barnes, who was shot down but survived, claimed a Breda 65, while Pattle claimed a Ba 65 and a CR.42. On 8 August 1940, during another dogfight , 14 Gladiators of 80 Squadron took 16 Fiat CR.42s from 9° and 10° Gruppi of 4° Stormo (a Regia Aeronautica elite unit) by surprise over Gabr Saleh, well inside Italian territory. British pilots claimed 13 to 16 confirmed victories and one to seven probables, while losing two Gladiators. Actually
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