United Kingdom: Warplanes of the Second World War preserved: Bristol Bulldog and Gloster Gladiator

Bristol Bulldog and Gloster Gladiator

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document Warplanes from the Second World War preserved in the United Kingdom.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website.  Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplane Survivors of the Second World War in the United Kingdom would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

Warplanes of the Second World War preserved in the UK, including captured German and Japanese warplanes, are listed on separate pages on this web site.

Warplanes of the Second World War preserved in the United Kingdom by aircraft type, serial number, registration number and location:

(RAF Photo)

(Roland Turner Photo)

(Ian Dunster Photo)

(Les Chatfield Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photos)

Bristol Bulldog (Serial No. K2227), Royal Air Force Museum London, Hendon.

The Bulldog never saw combat with the RAF, although during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935–36, Bristol Bulldogs were sent to the Sudan to reinforce Middle East Command.  Douglas Bader, better known for his Second World War actions, lost both of his legs when his Bristol Bulldog crashed while he was performing unauthorised aerobatics at Woodley airfield near Reading.  The type continued to serve for a few years with Service Flying Training Schools.

(RAF Photo)

Gloster Gladiator (Serial No. K6131), ca 1938.

The Gloster Gladiator is a British-built 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 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 obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes 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 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 the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War; Sweden as a neutral non-combatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR as stated above); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands. (Wikipedia)

(Kogo Photo)

(Tim Felce Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Gloster Gladiator Mk. I (Serial No. L8032), 423/427, built in 1937, Reg. No. G-AMRK. painted as (Serial No. K7985), 73 Squadron, The Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden, Bedfordshire.

(Alan Wilson Photos)

Gloster Gladiator Mk. I (Serial No. N5903), Reg. No. G-GLAD, The Fighter Collection, Duxford, Cambridgeshire. Airworthy.  Built in 1939 as a Sea Gladiator but converted during restoration into a straight Gladiator, still wearing it’s genuine serial.  This Gladiator was flown briefly by 141 Squadron, but spent much of the Second World War in storage.  After a period of private ownership, and a few years as a static exhibit at the Fleet Air Arm Museum it was bought by the Fighter Collection from The Shuttleworth Collection in 1994 and restored to flying condition, taking its first post-restoration flight in 2007.  It is painted in the pre-Second World War markings of No. 72 Squadron RAF.

(Hugh Llwelyn Photo)

(Alan Wilson Photo)

Gloster Gladiator Mk. I (Serial No. K8042), 87 Sqn, built in 1937, Royal Air Force Museum London, Hendon.

Gloster Sea Gladiator Mk. (Serial No. N5520), on an airfield in Malta, possibly flown by No. 261 Squadron RAF at RAF Ta' Qali, ca 1940.  The aircraft has been refitted with a Bristol Mercury engine and three-bladed Hamilton propeller salvaged from a Bristol Blenheim.  N5520 is the only surviving Gladiator of the Hal Far Fighter Flight, and was presented to the people of Malta as Faith in 1943.  (RAF Photo)

Gloster Sea Gladiator (Serial No. N5518), Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Ilchester, Somerset.

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