The three Gloster Gladiators based in Malta in 1940 when Italy declared War, conspicuously named, Faith, Hope, and Charity, were the first to spring in action to defend the island, as they were the only fighters defending the island at the period. Due to the valiant effort of their pilots in defending the island against all odds, they achieved legendary status in the history of Malta, and are remembered to this day.
Fighting the Italians in WW2 must have been the absolute blessing compared to other adversaries. Only the Bersaglieri got really famous as fearsome warriors, even earning a lot of respect by the Germans lancers of the DAK.
Any Allied force fighting against Italy had a ridiculous advantage. The Italians had the best biplanes in the war and they still couldn't beat the Galdiators.
Well, they had little else to develop in the meantime did they? Making other manufacturers’ aircraft as a sub-contractor meant their own design team could get on with experimental work without affecting war production, unlike supermarine or hawkers
Very true, if Pattle the squadron records weren't lost, and Pattle wasn't killed in Greece, he would have been officially credited with 50 + confirmed kills.
I remember the stories of these defending my home town of Plymouth from RAF Roborough! As a young adult it was the story of my home town during the war which got me engrossed into military history a couple years ago , something which I’m still in love with today!
@@LogieT2K to be fair there was research 15+ years in the making over in Britian on jet engines before the meteor was made. so really it's not all that shocking. It's not like they used biplanes cause they had to. They just are cheap and handle well. And it's not like they just invented jet engines all of a sudden cause of ww2.
@pisswobble curiosity, sex drive, social status, recognition and approval, power, self mastery and growth, passion, and rewards/money. Just to name a few. This guy doesn't know what hes talking about.
I WAS AN APPRENTICE AT GAC in the 1950-1960's. One of our projects was to rebuild the gladiator for the Shuttleworth collection. MY LIMITED EFFORT was cleaning up the engines exhaust pipes. The day the gladiator was officially handed over to the Shuttleworth collection I was at college so I missed the event. However the day before the gladiator was flown into Brockworth by test pilot Dicky Martin. Upon arrival at the airfield he gave a fantastic air display. "Beating up" the airfield many times. I was fortunate to view this display from the apprentice school which was adjacent to the airfield. .
Great to hear the Irish Air Corps get a mention! There is a great story about the flight of Gladiators that were based on Gormanston Airfield in Co. Meath in 1940 in the event of a British Invasion from Northern Ireland into Éire, which was a possibility at that stage of the war. The Officer Commanding of the flight was asked by a senior Air Corps officer how he felt they would fair against the 2 Squadrons of Hurricanes based in the north should the British Invasion come, his reply was ‘I’m sure we would give a great account of ourselves, but it would be an interesting 20 minutes!’ Great Video as always Mr Felton.
This plane was the first scale model that I ever built at the age of 5. A gift that my brother gave me. An 1:72 scale matchbox... What a beautiful plane.
@@Ndlanding Pity your wrong though. Matchbox made plastic kits through the 1970s, 80s & 90s. I bought MANY of their WW2 aircraft and vehicle kits. They made 1:32, 1:35, 1:43, 1:72, 1:76 and 1:700 scale tanks, aircraft, car, lorry and ship models. Simply google image "matchbox model kits" to see your error.
YES. He crashed in one in the N African desert, being wrongly directed to what was supposed to be his first posting. His resulting head injury, concussion, & the effects of it prematurely ended his career as a fighter pilot. SMALL & tragic world. In the aerial battle over Athens between the RAF & the Luftwaffe in April 20th 1941 DAHL wrote : "THEY GOT FIVE OF OUR 12 HURRICANES...FOUR WERE KILLED. AMONG THE DEAD WAS THE GREAT PAT PATTLE..." (Going Solo 1986). HAVE you done a prog on the Lysander, Doc?
@@bernardthedisappointedowl6938 LOL. He crossed the Med to Greece 'scrunched' up in a Hurri, & had to be lifted out of the cockpit! "YOU OUGHTN'T TO BE FLYIN FIGHTERS A CHAP OF YOUR HEIGHT," he said. "WHAT YOU WANT IS A RUDDY GREAT BOMBER WHERE YOU CAN STRETCH YOUR LEGS OUT." "YES," I said. "YOU'RE RIGHT." 😅🤣😂 (Dahl, R. Going Solo. 1986)
Yes. Like the German ships that managed to run the gauntlet of the English Channel during operation Cerberus and shot down every swordfish without sustaining a single torpedo hit.
@@maisonraider4593 there were dozens of ships in that dash, not just the 2 battle-cruisers.. it was a failure of the RAF who detected them too late, the Swordfish were rushed in without support.. they tried... in 1940 they knocked out the Italian battle fleet at Taranto and in 1941 damaged the Bismarck, leading to its doom. .. brave men flew in those planes. Bismarck didn't shoot down a single aircraft.
@@simonh317 Bismarck AA gunners led their targets too much as it seems, not expecting they would be attacked by such a slow flying model. In the attack on Bismarck not a single swordfish went down. In the attack on the German ships during the channel dash, not a single swordfish survived. The plane was simply too slow and poorly manoeuvrable. No need to take it into mythic territory for a couple of successes they had. After Bismarck and Taranto, and the channel dash I never heard of another swordfish attack.
The Half Far flight - though there were more than 6 of them, only 3 flew at any one time. Some Phantoms and Tornadoes also took their names, aircraft tailcodes F H C and D (Desperation) , and carry the Maltese Cross on their fins.
My first Airfix kit was a Gladiator way back in the 1950's when I was a schoolboy, it is still my favourite biplane. The Shuttleworth example is magnificent.
Look up his wikapeada profile , an astonishing list of every type flown the only allied pilot to to complete a successful test flight of the Messershmitt 163
@@hifives2 yes indeed. He was a phenomenal aviator. I doubt his record will ever be beaten. In his autobiography he tells a tale of knowing the difference in sounds between missing the carrier arrester hook and the cable snapping. That’s how many carrier landings he made. . I have a sneaking suspicion they don’t make people like that anymore. He also comes across as quite a nice easy going bloke. Some man.
Some Gladiators were also sent to Norway during the British/French participation in that campaign. The Italian CR 42 biplane saw action in The Battle of Britain as well.
Don't forget massive use of I-153 biplanes by red army air force in 1941&2.Obe of best Soviet fighter pilots, Gregory Rechkalov, started his combat debut flying I-153,saving his comrade from German BF-109s.
True but the Italians did not fly in the actual battle until the very end when they contributed around 170 mixed aircraft to the effort. Italy did not enter WW2 until June 1940. The Fiat CR42 was an exceptional plane used by the Italians throughout their time in the war.
@@negativeindustrial I think that's an aircraft on the ground taxiing. If you go back about 5 mins you can hear one on it's own. Fantastic sound :) edit: 1:55
@@Ndlanding True, the video does not catch the sound but I live in Duxford and when the Gladiator based there last flew (about 4 years ago) it really did purr.
There were more than you might think; the Avia B-534 had a fully enclosed cockpit as did the Grumman FF, F2F and F3F of the US Navy though almost all photographs of the Grummans show the canopy back on its slides to leave the cockpit open.
Thanks for digging the historical soil Mark and showing there was a lot more to the battles than the popular. There are some great accounts of the Gladiator fights over Greece and North Africa. One book I read was about and Ace who was thought to have died by falling asleep from mission exhaustion during the Greek Campaign. The book I read was from a second hand bookstore but gripping in it's account, 'Ace of Aces' The Story of Pat Pattle
My late step father flew the Gladiator prior to WW2; loved it but considered it quirky.. From 1939, as an RAF reserve pilot he would fly Wellingtons and Lancasters until 1945.
The only thing I know about the Gladiator is that Roald Dahl was assigned to a squadron of it, before he was assigned to a Hurricane squadron in the Mediterranean theatre. So this was a welcome video!
The Gloster Gorcock, No kidding, look it up. Was an ALL STEEL airframe. They managed a single copy and thought better of it after the first test flight.
Gladiators were used also well in Winter war by Finnish Air force and Swedish volunteers. That plane model affected in the WW2 surprisingly more than expected.
Dad enjoyed flying Gladiators in Cyprus, they were part of a Met Flight which was tasked each day with flying up to 20,000 feet and taking meterological readings such as temp and press. It was also a useful way of getting a few bottles of beer chilled by putting them in the vacant gun ports.
Famed writer Roald Dahl crashed in a Gloster Gladiator in North Africa -- misdirected and running out of fuel. An Italian platoon ignored his burning plane, figuring he was dead. British came by later and found he was still alive. Roald had a permanent back injury from the crash and fire. To write he modified an old upholstered chair to suit his back. Roald wrote an excellent true account.
Another excellent documentary by Mr. Mark Felton. But I missed the story about Norwegian Army Air Service Gladiators engaging ME-110s over Southern Norway, April 9th 1940. Other users of the famous biplane fighter however was mentioned here.
Everyone forgets about the Biplanes. German deployed the He51, and Hs123 in many theaters of the war, including Russia, Poland, the Balkans, Mediterranean, including North Africa, France, Italy.
@@paulmaul2186 Yes, so did France and Russia. Pretty sure Japan was still using Biplanes in many theaters as well. Biplanes were common during the early years of the war. Similar to old vintage WWI small arms. Despite what the propaganda footage tells you, older equipment was far more common place than nations involved in the war wish to admit. They always want to show off their fancy toys, to present some kind of superiority. However, they never completely disappeared, if they still had them, they were still in use somewhere.
Iirc the Yugoslav Air Force operated a couple of Hawker Fury squadrons at the being of the war and I think there were still a few operational Harts and Gauntlets in service with the RAF in the middle east.
For those who state otherwise, the Faith, Hope and Charity catchphrase was no myth. The Local population in Malta came up with such during the early days of World War Two. Faith, Hope and Charity were actually four Royal Navy Gloster Gladiators biplanes still packed in crates, the fourth Gladiator was used for 'spares' for the other three biplanes. The gallant pilots (there were several) flew these three Gladiator biplanes from their base on Malta and fought alone against the Italian Regia Aeronautica during 1940. Hurricanes and Spitfires replaced the ageing Gladiators after 1940. Another fascinating biplane was the Fairey Swordfish, 'The Stringbag' as they used to call it. It was used as a torpedo bomber by the Royal Navy. The crew of two or three who flew such slow and antiquated flying machines faced certain death, yet they bravely persevered albeit with a high casualty count yet achieving successful hit rates to the detriment of the Axis forces.
The British children's author, Roald Dahl, (also husband to actress Patricia Neal), flew Gladiators in the Eastern Mediterranean theater and North Africa. When he writes of crashing, it was in a Gladiator.
Except that by that time, there was a huge rift in Anglo-American agreement about the overall strategy of the war. Deep down, the Americans had ZERO INTEREST in the Mediterranean, viewing it as a secret Churchill campaign to protect the Empire and acquire territory in the Balkans via costly operations in very difficult terrain. The Americans went along with N. Africa, Sicily and Italy because they had no better options but have complained ever since about how they were 'duped by the British'. I doubt you'll find many Yanks thinking Malta was important, let alone a turning point.
During the Winter war Swedish volunteers (Flygflottilj 19) were assigned to aerial defense of Finnish Lapland with significant contribution. They downed eight Soviet aircraft with their 12 Gladiators.
Eight downed Soviet aircraft doesn't sound like a "significant contribution" to me. And since they were 12 themselves... even less. Sounds like a marginal contribution.
@@yewisemountaingoat528 Sure it doesn't sound like a Battle of Britain, but we need to put things in proportion: In the beginning of the Winter was Finnish air force had 51 combat ready fighter planes. Every single one of them was needed in southern Finland, so the Flygflottilj 19 had the entire responsibility of air operations in northern Finland. For all enemy actions, their presence needed to be taken into account, and they also operated against ground forces with the Gladiators and five Hawker Hart light bombers, with quite fair results.
The South African pilot, Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St. John Pattle, DFC & Bar, is surely worth a video in his own right. He never seems to garner the acclaim he deserves and I am surprised to hear his name mentioned here. Although it is far from certain, his final kill total may have exceeded forty, although some historians place it as high as fifty-one. As Mark mentions, 15 kills were achieved on the Gloster Gladiator. He also flew Hawker Hurricanes. The famous writer and RAF fighter pilot, Roald Dahl, paints a poignant portrait of the final days of the British Forces in Greece in 1941; his description of Pattle in "Going Solo" is sensitive and generous. Dahl describes him thus: "He was a very small man and very soft-spoken, and he possessed the deeply wrinkled doleful face of a cat who knew that all nine of its lives had already been used up." He further describes him as being naturally aggressive in combat and very talented as a pilot. He was killed in action on 20 April 1941, off Piraeus Harbour, on a doomed sortie against superior numbers of Me-109s and Me-110s. He was 26, and sick on the day with a fever. He had earlier been rejected by the South African Air Force at 18, but was determined to become a combat pilot. I wish his exploits and life were better known and celebrated.
For this year's anniversary of the Atomic Bombings, could you make a video on the experiments/nuclear drills/explosions that the US government did on soldiers in the mid-west during the 1950s? Thanks!
Wow! What a shot! Directly into the bomb bay, exploding it all and killing two bombers in the process? Insane.. whoever shot that shell must have been bought so many beers that night.
Some crews in Bomber Command thought the Germans had a secret weapon called the ‘Scarecrow’ that sent up a pyrotechnic that looked just as if a Lancaster had been destroyed by a direct hit that set off the bomb load, plus fuel. The reality was one of these direct hits, sadly.
The manpower for Anti-Aircraft Command was very low-quality in the early years of the War. Rejects from the Army, mostly. But once they'd mastered the superb 3.7" HAA Gun, they provided a formidable defence against the Luftwaffe.
@@CliSwe IQ tests poorly accurate on actual field intelligence and misfits often make great solders with good leadership. In many cases the misfits have talents very good in war but bad in peacetime in example ADHD which is actually hyper focus in areas of talent and inability to focus outside of hyper focus areas. It really should be called Attention Inconstancy disorder. Plus people with ADHD need stimulus which war is very good at providing. I know as someone with ADHD when everyone in a restaurant froze including management over a dangerous patron I easily moved to escort him out and Judo him into submission outside. Will also credit US Army Infantry Officer training, ROTC, JROTC and Jujitsu and Judo training. It is freaky it was a totally full restaurant after a concert that I attended and to see everyone including staff waiting tables frozen in place was freaky as they stayed frozen for at least two minutes I think. My companions followed me along but did not do anything leadership effect I figure this pre cell phone days.
@@RedRocket4000 Couldn't agree more! Quite often, so-called 'brainy' people do the 'freeze' when confronted with a crisis. Whereas simple creatures like myself always seem to pick the right option. In a 30-year career in Law Enforcement, I've always responded positively and decisively in a crisis. But that wasn't the point I was making: The men of Anti-Aircraft Command during the Battle of Britain had failed physical, not intellectual, entry tests for the Army. One, for example, had no thumbs! They were a motley crew thrown together onto a steep learning curve. But they got it right fairly quickly - as I said, they were not lacking in intellect.
Nice to see you have 1.4m subscribers now. I like to think at least 5 of these people have discovered your channel through me. I mention in to people a lot on other videos when someone talks about history. Least we can do to pay you back for the all hours you put in for us
@@MorrowMatty Pat Pattle was born in Keetmanshoop, Namibia. This from a proud Namibian! :) Ooops! Self edit: Pat was born in SA, but grew up in Namibia.
Well 14 Italian Fiat 42's a bi plane fighter but some of the Italian's could fight and he got shot down probably by a Spanish Ace in one. Still impressive he could have gotten 60 total. Note despite click bate like titles on many kills not being recorded by the enemy read deeper and most of the reported kills were actually damaged aircraft so hitting the enemy plane and it vanishing from the fight were correct reports it just that a good amount of hits turned into damaged craft that made it back. I figure almost all pilots when hit dive till they can figure out what got hit some probably even fake a death spiral for a short bit. And of course some do really lose control from the hit but recover control. As there is no actual score for damaged they probably would have given at least half a kill for these things and as no one had free time to watch what happened to planes hit and dropping from the battle this discrepancy very understandable.
This silver Gladiator was the first plastic model I owned. But my father build it for me. I've never heard about the German Gladiators. One learns allways something new by watching Mark Feltons channel! :-) Greetings from Germany
I wonder if they could have mounted rockets on the Gladiators? The slower moving gladiators could have fired rockets at enemy bombers. Or as ground support against infantry or tanks.
I don't think the wings were strong enough. Unlike the sturdy naval Swordfish - which weighed nearly 1.5x the Gladiator's MTOW - it was enough to just get those 4x .303 Brownings into the air.
Might have been effective vs 110's assuming the 110's engaged as it was slower it could not force a fight but bombers escorted by 110's as reported here the 110's might fight. The true obsolete part was they could not even catch the bombers only attack them on a pass. Like the Swordfish why even produce them in 37? Swordfish lucky that the Bizmark's firing computers did not have a setting for them and the night port attack a special case in that torpedo nets not use. Both cases of Swordfish success enemy incompetence. Otherwise the Swordfish range tiny and useless in the Pacific.
Excellent video Mr. Mark! I was wondering, have you ever heard about the air battle over the Serbian town of Niš during WW2? It was the only instance where US and USSR fought one another during the war.
The Gladiator was a neat, nimble little bus. Also, glad you mentioned Pat Pattle; his story as the top Western Allied ace deserves to be more well-known.
Mark, very happy to see a video about my favorite the Gloster Gldiator. Little bit let down by the fact you mention them in service with Sweden a non combat country and not that Norway used them fighting the German invasion of Norway, Oslo in particular, in April 1940.
@@vespelian5769 It was liked by it's crews, & they believed they could do well (& proved it to a point). I'd agree though the pilots probably wanted to be in a single seat fighter. The worst thing was not providing any forward firing guns, which, as the whole concept came from WW1 Bristol fighters which had front & rear guns, was odd. I think the designers thought a power operated turret could do everything, it couldn't.
@@Tubespoet It was successful when it fought as intended, i.e supported by single seat fighters, the Defiant still holds the record for enemy planes downed in one week (I dont think it was for a day). I agree RAF changed their views later.
Curiously enough, my first introduction to knowing about the Gladiators was through the flight sim video game Wings of Steel. In the initial campaign you get to fly one against the Italian Falco (or vice versa) during the battle for the Island of Malta. It is a very engrossing game and shows the detail and flight characteristics of these planes. But best of all is the historical value on learning about these planes and their contribution to the war.
Good enough to beat their last generation of biplane opponents. Still wonder about if they had reached the 110's who were not good planes although they could out run the Gladiator.
![Gloster's Forgotten Rival To The Hurricane | Gloster F.5/34 [Aircraft Overview #57]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zJ6KO5sAXyw/mqdefault.jpg)
The three Gloster Gladiators based in Malta in 1940 when Italy declared War, conspicuously named, Faith, Hope, and Charity, were the first to spring in action to defend the island, as they were the only fighters defending the island at the period. Due to the valiant effort of their pilots in defending the island against all odds, they achieved legendary status in the history of Malta, and are remembered to this day.
There were more than three but it was good publicity to maintain that view, doesn't take away their great achievement anyway!
Fighting the Italians in WW2 must have been the absolute blessing compared to other adversaries. Only the Bersaglieri got really famous as fearsome warriors, even earning a lot of respect by the Germans lancers of the DAK.
Did you just copy word for word a War Thunder loading screen? 😂
@@Wilko710 he did 😂
Any Allied force fighting against Italy had a ridiculous advantage.
The Italians had the best biplanes in the war and they still couldn't beat the Galdiators.
What a company Glosters were, the last biplane fighter in the RAF and the first jet, the Meteor...
And all within 8 years
The mighty Bismarck was taken down by bi planes. Plus the Royal Navy.
First jet in the RAF but not the first jet in the world. The germans had the first jet aircraft.
Well, they had little else to develop in the meantime did they? Making other manufacturers’ aircraft as a sub-contractor meant their own design team could get on with experimental work without affecting war production, unlike supermarine or hawkers
@@garryjacky577 Er who said the world? You’re correcting something you just made up in your head...
What a remarkable story about a forgotten piece of equipment. This is a testament to Mark Felton to bring it to light.
A heartfelt thank you for mentioning Pat Pattle. Sadly this brilliant high-scoring fighter ace does not get the recognition he deserves.
Very true, if Pattle the squadron records weren't lost, and Pattle wasn't killed in Greece, he would have been officially credited with 50 + confirmed kills.
Pattle (KIA) was South African, and believed to be the Commonwealth and Western Allied top scorer of WWII with circa 50 victories.
I remember the stories of these defending my home town of Plymouth from RAF Roborough! As a young adult it was the story of my home town during the war which got me engrossed into military history a couple years ago , something which I’m still in love with today!
Protecting Guzz 👍👍
Ahem, Plymouth became a city in 1928
Nice profile pic
ayy a fellow janner
@@l-russell3949 Ansome ..
The British jumped from the Gladiator to the Meteor in like 6 years.
Its actually incredible to think about
Nothing like total war to fuel innovation
@@LogieT2K to be fair there was research 15+ years in the making over in Britian on jet engines before the meteor was made. so really it's not all that shocking. It's not like they used biplanes cause they had to. They just are cheap and handle well. And it's not like they just invented jet engines all of a sudden cause of ww2.
@pisswobble not really.
@pisswobble curiosity, sex drive, social status, recognition and approval, power, self mastery and growth, passion, and rewards/money. Just to name a few. This guy doesn't know what hes talking about.
Both the Gladiator and the Meteor being made by The Gloster Aircraft Company (1917-63).
Lest we forget these brave hero's who stood up to be counted in our hour of need.
Heroes*
@@AtheistOrphan pashol na hoy
They stood up with whatever weapons they had
Here here.
Here here
I WAS AN APPRENTICE AT GAC in the 1950-1960's. One of our projects was to rebuild the gladiator for the Shuttleworth collection.
MY LIMITED EFFORT was cleaning up the engines exhaust pipes.
The day the gladiator was officially handed over to the Shuttleworth collection I was at college so I missed the event.
However the day before the gladiator was flown into Brockworth by test pilot Dicky Martin. Upon arrival at the airfield he gave a fantastic air display. "Beating up" the airfield many times. I was fortunate to view this display from the apprentice school which was adjacent to the airfield.
.
Great to hear the Irish Air Corps get a mention! There is a great story about the flight of Gladiators that were based on Gormanston Airfield in Co. Meath in 1940 in the event of a British Invasion from Northern Ireland into Éire, which was a possibility at that stage of the war. The Officer Commanding of the flight was asked by a senior Air Corps officer how he felt they would fair against the 2 Squadrons of Hurricanes based in the north should the British Invasion come, his reply was ‘I’m sure we would give a great account of ourselves, but it would be an interesting 20 minutes!’
Great Video as always Mr Felton.
I LOVE that their are people out there that love the classic warbirds and their history. Keep up the great work. Thank you Mark.
This plane was the first scale model that I ever built at the age of 5. A gift that my brother gave me. An 1:72 scale matchbox... What a beautiful plane.
I fear you have memory problems.
@@Ndlanding I built several - but I think they were Airfix Models - in the '50s.
@@lauriecroad3186 Exactly. Matchbox made diecast models, not kits.
@@Ndlanding Pity your wrong though. Matchbox made plastic kits through the 1970s, 80s & 90s. I bought MANY of their WW2 aircraft and vehicle kits. They made 1:32, 1:35, 1:43, 1:72, 1:76 and 1:700 scale tanks, aircraft, car, lorry and ship models. Simply google image "matchbox model kits" to see your error.
For me too, the Airfix 1/72nd Gloster Gladiator was the first I built, followed by the Beaufighter.
My mothers uncle (a Dutch pilot) joined the Brits and was decorated for his Bravery. His name was Jan de Wit.
Do you know any more about his story? Why was he decorated?
@@theoriginaldylangreene I believe for bravery but i will try to verify with the family. I can not seem to find any sources online about him.
@@SGortellithe Raf will have service records
15 and 1/2 kills in a gladiator! Impressive!
Luftwaffe pilot " Ach !!!, ist dis some kind of joke, I vil make match sticks out of dis."
What does half a kill imply? He did damage to a plane and someone else finished it off?
@@UGotSimmonSized Pretty much. Probably shared with his wingman.
@@UGotSimmonSized Shared the kill with someone else.
Right on. Thanks guys!
Roald Dahl flew gladiators before he got a hurricane in Greece.
He was a very tall fella - I'd imagine the Gladiator was a bit more comfortable! ^oo^
YES. He crashed in one in the N African desert, being wrongly directed to what was supposed to be his first posting. His resulting head injury, concussion, & the effects of it prematurely ended his career as a fighter pilot.
SMALL & tragic world. In the aerial battle over Athens between the RAF & the Luftwaffe in April 20th 1941 DAHL wrote : "THEY GOT FIVE OF OUR 12 HURRICANES...FOUR WERE KILLED. AMONG THE DEAD WAS THE GREAT PAT PATTLE..." (Going Solo 1986).
HAVE you done a prog on the Lysander, Doc?
@@bernardthedisappointedowl6938 LOL. He crossed the Med to Greece 'scrunched' up in a Hurri, & had to be lifted out of the cockpit!
"YOU OUGHTN'T TO BE FLYIN FIGHTERS A CHAP OF YOUR HEIGHT," he said. "WHAT YOU WANT IS A RUDDY GREAT BOMBER WHERE YOU CAN STRETCH YOUR LEGS OUT."
"YES," I said. "YOU'RE RIGHT." 😅🤣😂
(Dahl, R. Going Solo. 1986)
I wonder if he called his plane the Giant Peach…
@@redwingrob1036 Brilliant, ^oo^
perfect timing while building a model kit
Tip to my 8 year old self: Never again buy a 1:72 scale kit of a Gladiator. It is impossible to glue the upper wing into place.
@@pervertt I did build a new tool airfix gladiator and its well glue the upper wing with masking tape for a hour
The 1:32 model? Is that good? 'Cause I'd like to build either the _Gladiator_ or the Fiat CR.42 _Falco_ *. . .*
@@letoubib21 well I'm never build a 1/32 gladiator or fiat cr.42 but that well do that in a future
I have one in my stash waiting to be built
"completely outclassed", tell that to anyone who was hit by a torpedo from a Fairey Swordfish.
Yes. Like the German ships that managed to run the gauntlet of the English Channel during operation Cerberus and shot down every swordfish without sustaining a single torpedo hit.
@@maisonraider4593 Bismark would like to have a word......
@@simonh317 As would all those Italian ships anchored at Taranto.
@@maisonraider4593 there were dozens of ships in that dash, not just the 2 battle-cruisers.. it was a failure of the RAF who detected them too late, the Swordfish were rushed in without support.. they tried... in 1940 they knocked out the Italian battle fleet at Taranto and in 1941 damaged the Bismarck, leading to its doom. .. brave men flew in those planes. Bismarck didn't shoot down a single aircraft.
@@simonh317 Bismarck AA gunners led their targets too much as it seems, not expecting they would be attacked by such a slow flying model.
In the attack on Bismarck not a single swordfish went down.
In the attack on the German ships during the channel dash, not a single swordfish survived.
The plane was simply too slow and poorly manoeuvrable. No need to take it into mythic territory for a couple of successes they had. After Bismarck and Taranto, and the channel dash I never heard of another swordfish attack.
Did you ever create an episode for Faith, Hope and Charity? The Malta Gladiators? Thanks for the amazing work.
Please no! Do not perpetuate the myth!
@@philipjooste9075 Perhaps an episode explaining the reality?
War thunder loading screen in a nutshell.
Malta was actually defended with Seafires and Hurricanes, not Gladiators.
The Half Far flight - though there were more than 6 of them, only 3 flew at any one time. Some Phantoms and Tornadoes also took their names, aircraft tailcodes F H C and D (Desperation) , and carry the Maltese Cross on their fins.
My first Airfix kit was a Gladiator way back in the 1950's when I was a schoolboy, it is still my favourite biplane. The Shuttleworth example is magnificent.
Please do a piece on "Pat" Pattle, the Forgotten Ace. The top scoring western ace.
His story deserves to be told.
There is a book on Pat Pattle titled 'Ace of Aces', very good read.
The career of Eric "Winkle" Brown should be the subject of a future video. A one-of-a-kind legend.
I read his autobiography. “Wings on my sleeve “Super interesting. You will enjoy it. Shalom.
Look up his wikapeada profile , an astonishing list of every type flown the only allied pilot to to complete a successful test flight of the Messershmitt 163
@@hifives2 yes indeed. He was a phenomenal aviator. I doubt his record will ever be beaten. In his autobiography he tells a tale of knowing the difference in sounds between missing the carrier arrester hook and the cable snapping. That’s how many carrier landings he made. . I have a sneaking suspicion they don’t make people like that anymore. He also comes across as quite a nice easy going bloke. Some man.
It’s already been done, a very good documentary.
What an extraordinary life he led.
Some Gladiators were also sent to Norway during the British/French participation in that campaign. The Italian CR 42 biplane saw action in The Battle of Britain as well.
Don't forget massive use of I-153 biplanes by red army air force in 1941&2.Obe of best Soviet fighter pilots, Gregory Rechkalov, started his combat debut flying I-153,saving his comrade from German BF-109s.
The Gladiator was also the best known fighter plane of the Norwegian air force during the invasion.
As a child in the '60's my two most loved airfix biplane fighters were the Gladiator and the CR42.
Imagine the nuts you need to fly a Gladiator against a 109.
I think Pattle scored against them.
Edit: I was wrong. He shot them down after his transition to Hurricanes. Still a monster.
"That's a lot of nuts!"
The cockpit was specially modified to fit the massive brass balls of the pilots :D
@@wbnc66 that's why the Swordfish was open cockpit; so the pilots could hang their colossal balls over the side and out of the way
Malta is not in the Eastern Meditetranean, it's in the Central Mediterranean
I believe the Italians also used biplanes during the battle of Britain. The CR42.
Yes they did, Mark did a video about them last year. It wasn’t a success.
@@xmaniac99 A neighbour of mine was Sir Alan smith, one time wing man to Bader.. He well respected the Falco.
@@Pitcairn2 He must have had quite the stories to tell.
They did I think they attempted a raid on the north east and faired really badly!
True but the Italians did not fly in the actual battle until the very end when they contributed around 170 mixed aircraft to the effort. Italy did not enter WW2 until June 1940. The Fiat CR42 was an exceptional plane used by the Italians throughout their time in the war.
The nicest sounding engine ever, it simply purrs around the sky.
At the end of the video it sounds more like a long flatulence.
@@negativeindustrial I think that's an aircraft on the ground taxiing. If you go back about 5 mins you can hear one on it's own. Fantastic sound :) edit: 1:55
@@SgtSteel1 If you trust ANY of the sound or video in this episode, you're walking on thin ice.
@@Ndlanding Ok
@@Ndlanding True, the video does not catch the sound but I live in Duxford and when the Gladiator based there last flew (about 4 years ago) it really did purr.
Thanks for your homages to the Gladiator and the Swordfish. Such tough and handsome craft deserve respect--and the crews inspire awe. Thanks, Mark.
First time I ever saw a bi plane with a full cockpit. Sir Mark you never disappoint. 🏴🇬🇧🇺🇸
There were more than you might think; the Avia B-534 had a fully enclosed cockpit as did the Grumman FF, F2F and F3F of the US Navy though almost all photographs of the Grummans show the canopy back on its slides to leave the cockpit open.
@@michaelmclachlan1650 Thanks I didn’t know that.
Another fascinating and nearly forgotten piece of history. So often you get me to say “I had no idea”.
Thanks for digging the historical soil Mark and showing there was a lot more to the battles than the popular. There are some great accounts of the Gladiator fights over Greece and North Africa. One book I read was about and Ace who was thought to have died by falling asleep from mission exhaustion during the Greek Campaign. The book I read was from a second hand bookstore but gripping in it's account, 'Ace of Aces' The Story of Pat Pattle
My late step father flew the Gladiator prior to WW2; loved it but considered it quirky.. From 1939, as an RAF reserve pilot he would fly Wellingtons and Lancasters until 1945.
The only thing I know about the Gladiator is that Roald Dahl was assigned to a squadron of it, before he was assigned to a Hurricane squadron in the Mediterranean theatre. So this was a welcome video!
Roald Dahl?
Okay,
I cant help myself.
I wont a Gloster Gladiator daddy, and I wont it NOOOOOW!!! 😅😅😅
The Gloster Gorcock,
No kidding, look it up.
Was an ALL STEEL airframe.
They managed a single copy and thought better of it after the first test flight.
The Gladiator was only 50MPH slower than the first Hurricanes . A really beautiful aircraft and the absolute pinnacle of biplane fighters.
RIP Eric "Winkle" Brown who died last year, the greatest naval aviator who ever lived.
I grew up on stories of Faith Hope and Charity, so always nice to see the Gladiator properly commemorated! Thanks
Gladiators were used also well in Winter war by Finnish Air force and Swedish volunteers. That plane model affected in the WW2 surprisingly more than expected.
Dad enjoyed flying Gladiators in Cyprus, they were part of a Met Flight which was tasked each day with flying up to 20,000 feet and taking meterological readings such as temp and press. It was also a useful way of getting a few bottles of beer chilled by putting them in the vacant gun ports.
Famed writer Roald Dahl crashed in a Gloster Gladiator in North Africa -- misdirected and running out of fuel. An Italian platoon ignored his burning plane, figuring he was dead. British came by later and found he was still alive. Roald had a permanent back injury from the crash and fire. To write he modified an old upholstered chair to suit his back. Roald wrote an excellent true account.
My favourite Airfix kit.
Impressive speed and ceiling for that plane. Many Men with superior weapons fell to Arrows, Hammers, Knives and Shovels in the past several centuries.
Another excellent documentary by Mr. Mark Felton. But I missed the story about Norwegian Army Air Service Gladiators engaging ME-110s over Southern Norway, April 9th 1940. Other users of the famous biplane fighter however was mentioned here.
Dr. Felton with a great assist in kicking off the week with another great video.
What a fascinating video about the last of the RAF's biplane fighters. Thanks Mark!
Everyone forgets about the Biplanes. German deployed the He51, and Hs123 in many theaters of the war, including Russia, Poland, the Balkans, Mediterranean, including North Africa, France, Italy.
The Italians used them for the duration of the war, if I am not mistaken.
Especially during the Spanish Civil War
@@paulmaul2186 Yes, so did France and Russia. Pretty sure Japan was still using Biplanes in many theaters as well. Biplanes were common during the early years of the war. Similar to old vintage WWI small arms. Despite what the propaganda footage tells you, older equipment was far more common place than nations involved in the war wish to admit. They always want to show off their fancy toys, to present some kind of superiority.
However, they never completely disappeared, if they still had them, they were still in use somewhere.
Iirc the Yugoslav Air Force operated a couple of Hawker Fury squadrons at the being of the war and I think there were still a few operational Harts and Gauntlets in service with the RAF in the middle east.
Was the Fiat CR42 the fastest mass-produced biplane fighter? I can't think of any that were faster.
For those who state otherwise, the Faith, Hope and Charity catchphrase was no myth. The Local population in Malta came up with such during the early days of World War Two. Faith, Hope and Charity were actually four Royal Navy Gloster Gladiators biplanes still packed in crates, the fourth Gladiator was used for 'spares' for the other three biplanes. The gallant pilots (there were several) flew these three Gladiator biplanes from their base on Malta and fought alone against the Italian Regia Aeronautica during 1940.
Hurricanes and Spitfires replaced the ageing Gladiators after 1940.
Another fascinating biplane was the Fairey Swordfish, 'The Stringbag' as they used to call it. It was used as a torpedo bomber by the Royal Navy. The crew of two or three who flew such slow and antiquated flying machines faced certain death, yet they bravely persevered albeit with a high casualty count yet achieving successful hit rates to the detriment of the Axis forces.
My goodness! By far my favourite episode yet. Love of the underdog I guess. Thank you for this!
Remarkable planes flown by remarkable pilots. Thank you for telling their tale.
The British children's author, Roald Dahl, (also husband to actress Patricia Neal), flew Gladiators in the Eastern Mediterranean theater and North Africa. When he writes of crashing, it was in a Gladiator.
Always got the Gloster Gladiator mixed up the Fairey Swordfish. Will always remember reading 'To War In A Stringbag'
Norway had Gladiators in 1940. The wing was based at Fornebu Airfield outside Oslo. The Gladiators did a good job in fighting the german planes.
It's amazing how far into the war they remained in production and how many were ultimately built. They were a great aircraft.
This ties in nicely to "the forgotten turning point of WW2, the battle of Malta"
Except that by that time, there was a huge rift in Anglo-American agreement about the overall strategy of the war. Deep down, the Americans had ZERO INTEREST in the Mediterranean, viewing it as a secret Churchill campaign to protect the Empire and acquire territory in the Balkans via costly operations in very difficult terrain. The Americans went along with N. Africa, Sicily and Italy because they had no better options but have complained ever since about how they were 'duped by the British'. I doubt you'll find many Yanks thinking Malta was important, let alone a turning point.
Always my pleasure to watch Mark.
This man deserves so many more subscribers. Glad he’s at least at a million.🔥🔥🔥
I’ve flown in a biplane a couple times. Beautiful flights. Amazing.
any day that Winkle Brown gets a mention from Dr F is a good day :)
Awesome video! I always had a soft spot for the odd ball early war British aircraft like the Gladiator (and the Battle, Defiant, etc.).
Thank you, Dr. Felton, for your continually fascinating content.
Beautiful lines on the Glad. lovely to em fly again
I'm sure commando comic books did a gladiator story when I was a kid .
War Picture Library did "The Vicious Circle" 1970 something. I have a copy because it featured New Zealand soldiers. Set in Greece 1941.
Good stuff, thanks. Another bi-plane that saw a lot of service was the German Henschel Hs 123. It was in service until 1944.
Great video!
Some Norwegian Gladiators managed to get a couple of kills over the Oslo-fjord, during the first day of the invasion.
And one of these Norwegian Gladiator (423) is curently under restoration to flying condition.
The gladiator torpedo planes were also instrumental in crippling the Bismarck.
Thank for video was nice to get some gladiator history
During the Winter war Swedish volunteers (Flygflottilj 19) were assigned to aerial defense of Finnish Lapland with significant contribution. They downed eight Soviet aircraft with their 12 Gladiators.
Eight downed Soviet aircraft doesn't sound like a "significant contribution" to me. And since they were 12 themselves... even less. Sounds like a marginal contribution.
@@yewisemountaingoat528 Sure it doesn't sound like a Battle of Britain, but we need to put things in proportion: In the beginning of the Winter was Finnish air force had 51 combat ready fighter planes. Every single one of them was needed in southern Finland, so the Flygflottilj 19 had the entire responsibility of air operations in northern Finland. For all enemy actions, their presence needed to be taken into account, and they also operated against ground forces with the Gladiators and five Hawker Hart light bombers, with quite fair results.
We where about to send some B3's (Ju 86) but the winter war ended before we had time to send them.
These type of stories never stop amazing me
You are a great teller of these stories and a great person please keep up the great work Mark !!!
A fantastic video.
As a Devonian, I had never heard about them flying protection duties on the dock yard.
Your a ruddy legend Mark 😍
Keep up the excellent work Dr Felton!
Devoted fan level starts when Mr. Felton makes an episode about my favourite British fighter plane.
The South African pilot, Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St. John Pattle, DFC & Bar, is surely worth a video in his own right. He never seems to garner the acclaim he deserves and I am surprised to hear his name mentioned here. Although it is far from certain, his final kill total may have exceeded forty, although some historians place it as high as fifty-one. As Mark mentions, 15 kills were achieved on the Gloster Gladiator. He also flew Hawker Hurricanes. The famous writer and RAF fighter pilot, Roald Dahl, paints a poignant portrait of the final days of the British Forces in Greece in 1941; his description of Pattle in "Going Solo" is sensitive and generous. Dahl describes him thus: "He was a very small man and very soft-spoken, and he possessed the deeply wrinkled doleful face of a cat who knew that all nine of its lives had already been used up." He further describes him as being naturally aggressive in combat and very talented as a pilot. He was killed in action on 20 April 1941, off Piraeus Harbour, on a doomed sortie against superior numbers of Me-109s and Me-110s. He was 26, and sick on the day with a fever. He had earlier been rejected by the South African Air Force at 18, but was determined to become a combat pilot. I wish his exploits and life were better known and celebrated.
Wow, Never Knew That About Captain Eric Brown. He's One Of My Favorite Aviators. Thanks MFP!
For this year's anniversary of the Atomic Bombings, could you make a video on the experiments/nuclear drills/explosions that the US government did on soldiers in the mid-west during the 1950s? Thanks!
Aka Desert Rock Exercises. Specifically Operation Buster Jangle
Of course, that's already been done by the Atlantic magazine and the Smithsonian Museum.
@@genes.3285 but without dramatic intro music.
I'd vote for that in a heartbeat.
I have a 1/32 scale Gloster Gladiator I built in my collection of models. It's one of my favorites. A very cool looking craft indeed.
Malta's three RAF Gladiators named "Faith, Hope and Charity" gained immortality in the island's defense against the Axis.
defence not defense.
Monday just got better, thank you Mark.
Wow! What a shot! Directly into the bomb bay, exploding it all and killing two bombers in the process? Insane.. whoever shot that shell must have been bought so many beers that night.
Some crews in Bomber Command thought the Germans had a secret weapon called the ‘Scarecrow’ that sent up a pyrotechnic that looked just as if a Lancaster had been destroyed by a direct hit that set off the bomb load, plus fuel. The reality was one of these direct hits, sadly.
The manpower for Anti-Aircraft Command was very low-quality in the early years of the War. Rejects from the Army, mostly. But once they'd mastered the superb 3.7" HAA Gun, they provided a formidable defence against the Luftwaffe.
That's what my Dad did in WWII, Royal Artillery on the south coast anti aircraft batteries
@@CliSwe IQ tests poorly accurate on actual field intelligence and misfits often make great solders with good leadership. In many cases the misfits have talents very good in war but bad in peacetime in example ADHD which is actually hyper focus in areas of talent and inability to focus outside of hyper focus areas. It really should be called Attention Inconstancy disorder. Plus people with ADHD need stimulus which war is very good at providing. I know as someone with ADHD when everyone in a restaurant froze including management over a dangerous patron I easily moved to escort him out and Judo him into submission outside. Will also credit US Army Infantry Officer training, ROTC, JROTC and Jujitsu and Judo training. It is freaky it was a totally full restaurant after a concert that I attended and to see everyone including staff waiting tables frozen in place was freaky as they stayed frozen for at least two minutes I think. My companions followed me along but did not do anything leadership effect I figure this pre cell phone days.
@@RedRocket4000 Couldn't agree more! Quite often, so-called 'brainy' people do the 'freeze' when confronted with a crisis. Whereas simple creatures like myself always seem to pick the right option. In a 30-year career in Law Enforcement, I've always responded positively and decisively in a crisis. But that wasn't the point I was making: The men of Anti-Aircraft Command during the Battle of Britain had failed physical, not intellectual, entry tests for the Army. One, for example, had no thumbs! They were a motley crew thrown together onto a steep learning curve. But they got it right fairly quickly - as I said, they were not lacking in intellect.
Nice to see you have 1.4m subscribers now. I like to think at least 5 of these people have discovered your channel through me. I mention in to people a lot on other videos when someone talks about history. Least we can do to pay you back for the all hours you put in for us
Thanks Mark. Once again, another small piece of history I did not know.
A great tale of extreme bravery. High quality footage. I bet very very few know anything about biplanes in WWII.
Shout-out Pat Pattle, 15 kills with the gladiator
South Africans make damn good pilots.
@@MorrowMatty 2 out of the 3 top Commonwealth aces were South Africans flying for the RAF. Sailor Malan was the other one
@@MorrowMatty Pat Pattle was born in Keetmanshoop, Namibia. This from a proud Namibian! :) Ooops! Self edit: Pat was born in SA, but grew up in Namibia.
Well 14 Italian Fiat 42's a bi plane fighter but some of the Italian's could fight and he got shot down probably by a Spanish Ace in one. Still impressive he could have gotten 60 total.
Note despite click bate like titles on many kills not being recorded by the enemy read deeper and most of the reported kills were actually damaged aircraft so hitting the enemy plane and it vanishing from the fight were correct reports it just that a good amount of hits turned into damaged craft that made it back. I figure almost all pilots when hit dive till they can figure out what got hit some probably even fake a death spiral for a short bit. And of course some do really lose control from the hit but recover control.
As there is no actual score for damaged they probably would have given at least half a kill for these things and as no one had free time to watch what happened to planes hit and dropping from the battle this discrepancy very understandable.
Txs for the video..have never heard about these brave brave pilots and these planes…
Looking over the comments on F,H& C I think an enlightened Felton episode's is in order🤗
Ya, pood old D needs to be remembered.
Faith, Hope and Charity. Great story of the defense of Malta.
what great timing! i just sat down in my garden with a bottle of san migel, CHEERS MARK!
I thought your profile picture was a hair/eyelash on my screen 🤣. I kept trying to remove it until I realized it’s your profile pic! Love it!
@@christinebiada1292 😂😂😂😂
How excellent...cheers 🍺
@@tonys8243 thanks mate
Me too but with a Cider.
Eric winkle Brown what a fantastic pilot and career he had.Absolutely fantastic., never to be beaten.
Well, this is Mark Felton I like and whose documentaries I respect.
This silver Gladiator was the first plastic model I owned. But my father build it for me.
I've never heard about the German Gladiators. One learns allways something new by watching Mark Feltons channel! :-)
Greetings from Germany
I wonder if they could have mounted rockets on the Gladiators? The slower moving gladiators could have fired rockets at enemy bombers. Or as ground support against infantry or tanks.
I don't think the wings were strong enough. Unlike the sturdy naval Swordfish - which weighed nearly 1.5x the Gladiator's MTOW - it was enough to just get those 4x .303 Brownings into the air.
Might have been effective vs 110's assuming the 110's engaged as it was slower it could not force a fight but bombers escorted by 110's as reported here the 110's might fight.
The true obsolete part was they could not even catch the bombers only attack them on a pass. Like the Swordfish why even produce them in 37? Swordfish lucky that the Bizmark's firing computers did not have a setting for them and the night port attack a special case in that torpedo nets not use. Both cases of Swordfish success enemy incompetence. Otherwise the Swordfish range tiny and useless in the Pacific.
Beautiful Aircraft. I may be in a small minority, but I love the Gloster Gladiators. I think they don't get enough love for what they accomplished.
Excellent video Mr. Mark! I was wondering, have you ever heard about the air battle over the Serbian town of Niš during WW2? It was the only instance where US and USSR fought one another during the war.
Thanks Mark, always loved that beautiful bird.
Maverick, you have a ME 109 on your tail! No worries, I will throw on the brakes, he'll fly right past my Gladiator!
I honestly think that you are the best source of historical information on RUclips!
The stones required to fly your Gladiator into a fight with a 109 ,,, oh my
My dad was ground crew in Malta during the blockade ,He was an electrician and worked on the Gladiators and the Hurricanes when they arrived
The Gladiator was a neat, nimble little bus. Also, glad you mentioned Pat Pattle; his story as the top Western Allied ace deserves to be more well-known.
Would be nice if Dr.Mark Felton did a video on Pat Pattle. A true unsung hero of the war.
Mark, very happy to see a video about my favorite the Gloster Gldiator. Little bit let down by the fact you mention them in service with Sweden a non combat country and not that Norway used them fighting the German invasion of Norway, Oslo in particular, in April 1940.
Must also remember the Boulton & Paul 'Defiant' in the Battle of Britain & their brave crews.
Not very popular with its crews however.
@@vespelian5769 It was liked by it's crews, & they believed they could do well (& proved it to a point). I'd agree though the pilots probably wanted to be in a single seat fighter.
The worst thing was not providing any forward firing guns, which, as the whole concept came from WW1 Bristol fighters which had front & rear guns, was odd. I think the designers thought a power operated turret could do everything, it couldn't.
@@eze8970 as a night fighter against German bombers it was successful, but not a concept that the RAF believed was the.way forward
@@Tubespoet It was successful when it fought as intended, i.e supported by single seat fighters, the Defiant still holds the record for enemy planes downed in one week (I dont think it was for a day).
I agree RAF changed their views later.
Curiously enough, my first introduction to knowing about the Gladiators was through the flight sim video game Wings of Steel. In the initial campaign you get to fly one against the Italian Falco (or vice versa) during the battle for the Island of Malta. It is a very engrossing game and shows the detail and flight characteristics of these planes. But best of all is the historical value on learning about these planes and their contribution to the war.
The epitome of biplane fighters, and lovely to watch- pity their time as the first line was so short, at the very end of the evolution of their kind.
Good enough to beat their last generation of biplane opponents. Still wonder about if they had reached the 110's who were not good planes although they could out run the Gladiator.
Good stuff Mark .. Thank you.