Desert Crusader Tank

Former Hal Far Fighter Flight, this Gloster Sea Gladiator Mark I, code N5520, photographed at an airfield in Malta, perhaps Ta Kali, probably while being flown by No. 261 Squadron RAF, formed with the first four Hawker Hurricanes, late June 1940. In this case the photo date back to Autumn 1940. The N5520, refitted with a Bristol Mercury engine and three-bladed Hamilton propeller salvaged from a Bristol Blenheim, was the only surviving of Hal Far Fighter Flight, and was presented to the people of Malta as "Faith" in 1943. Victor Sierra