Corgi Aviation Archive Series Diecast Model

Gloster Sea Gladiator – N5519/G6A, No. 802 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Glorious, Royal Navy, June 1939

1:72 Scale.  Length: 4.5".  Wingspan: 5.3"


Limited Edition of 1,000 Models Worldwide

The Gloster Gladiator represented the absolute pinnacle of biplane fighter design, but it entered service just as the first of the fast monoplane fighters were already dictating the future of aerial warfare. The Gladiator was the last biplane fighter to enter RAF service and the first to feature a fully enclosed cockpit. Highly maneuverable and fast by biplane standards, the Gladiator also served with the Royal Navy, modified for operations at sea with the inclusion of a strengthened fuselage, arrester hook and catapult spools, as well as provision for the stowage of an inflatable dinghy. Sea Gladiator N5519 wears the pre-war colors of No. 802 NAS, serving on board HMS Glorious, with the black fin marking this aircraft as the squadron commander’s mount. All twelve of the 802 NAS Gladiators based on HMS Glorious were lost during operations in the defense of Norway in June 1940, when the carrier was sunk by the German Battleship Scharnhorst.

Former 802 NAS Sea Gladiator N5519 was not on board HMS Glorious when the ship tragically went down in the Norwegian Sea and was actually one of the most famous of all the 747 Gloster Gladiators produced. Left behind on the Island of Malta when the rest of No. 802 NAS returned to the U.K., N5519 was one of the celebrated ‘Defenders of Malta’ – a handful of Gladiators that provided air cover for the Island against superior numbers of Italian Air Force aircraft. Based at RAF Hal Far these Gladiators fought valiantly and took on an almost mythical status when they were later christened ‘Faith, Hope and Charity’ by Maltese newspaper – N5519 was the aircraft referred to as ‘Charity’.

Gladiator N5519 ‘Charity’ claimed a number of aerial victories during the battles that raged in the skies over Malta, but eventually fell victim to a fighter of the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force). In July 1940, N5519 was being flown by F/O Peter Hartley during heavy fighting above Grand Harbor when the aircraft was hit in the fuel tank by a Fiat CR.42. N5519 burst into flames and crashed into the sea off the south-east coast of the Island – although badly burned, Hartley parachuted into the sea and following a lengthy period of treatment and recuperation, returned to flying duty. N5519 was the only Sea Gladiator to be shot down during aerial combat over the Island of Malta.

The Gloster Gladiator was the last British biplane fighter, a development of the Gauntlet with an enclosed single seat cockpit, cantilever landing gear, increased armament, and a 3-blade fixed pitch propeller. First flown in 1935, the Gloster Gladiator went into service with the RAF in 1936


Corgi is a manufacturer of high quality, pre-built, die-cast display models. Every model is crafted with meticulous attention to detail, using the specifications of the original aircraft or vehicle. This model is made with diecast metal and some plastic components.

This model of a Gloster Sea Gladiator features: