The nucleus of the Gloster Aircraft Company was formed in 1915 although it was initially called the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. The first aircraft components were produced at H.H.Martyn and Co of Cheltenham. By 1917 the Company were producing large numbers of fuselages and spares and this is when the historic Belfast Hangars were constructed. By the end of World War 1 the Company was capable of producing 45 complete aeroplanes per week.

H.P.Folland the Chief Designer of the old Nieuport Company joined GAC and helped produce the “Bamel” in 1921. This was a high speed, single seat biplane that could be adapted for use as a military fighter. It won many races and held the World air speed record of 212.15mph in 1922.

Also in 1922, GAC received its first foreign order from the Imperial Japanese Navy for 50 Sparrowhawks. The development of the Mars, Gannet, Grouse, Grebe, Gamecock, Gambet, Gorcock, Guan, Goral, Goring and Gnatsnapper aeroplanes followed on.

Between 1924 and 1929 a complete series of racing seaplanes were designed and built to compete in the world famous Schneider Trophy. The Gloster III A was second in the Trophy in 1925.

In 1926 the name of the Company was changed to the Gloster Aircraft Company as overseas buyers found the “Gloucestershire” rather too difficult to pronounce.

The Gloster VI named the “Golden Arrow” was the first Gloster monoplane and broke the World speed record at 336.31mph on September 10th 1929.

Around this time the Gloster factory became a centre for many forms of aeronautical development including helicopters and variable-pitch propellers. The AS 31 was designed and built as a twin-engine aerial survey aircraft. This aircraft carried out a 60,000 square mile survey of the Zambezi Basin in Northern Rhodesia.

With the worldwide recession in the early 1930s, the Company had to manufacture a wide variety of products including fish-fryers, steel milk churns, steel roll-up shop fronts, motor car bodies and motorised bomb trolleys.

1934 was a very hectic year for the Company as this was the year that the Gauntlet fighter was ordered into production. More important than this though was the amalgamation with Hawker Aircraft Ltd. The successor to the Gauntlet also saw its first flight in 1934 - the world-renowned Gloster Gladiator.

Between1936 and 1939, 527 Gladiators were built of which 216 were exported to Belgium, China, Greece, Finland, Iraq, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. Gladiators distinguished themselves in many places during the second world war, but none more so than in Malta. For over 3 months 3 Gladiators were the Island’s sole air defence against attack. The Islanders affectionately called them “Faith”, “Hope” and “Charity” as they rose to do daily battle with Mussolini’s air force.

Despite the fine performance of the Gladiator, Glosters realised that the days of the biplane were numbered. Hence a small single seat monoplane fighter, the Gloster F5/34 was built to the same specification as the Hurricane and Spitfire but unfortunately lost out for mass production to the latter planes.

Glosters were building the Hawker Henley light bomber in 1939, as well as 1,000 Hurricanes in the first 12 months of the War. The last of the 2,750 Hurricanes built at Brockworth was delivered to the RAF in March 1942. About this time production started on 3,330 Typhoons for the RAF.

In the meantime Glosters were working on a small plane which was to revolutionise the world of flying. This was the Gloster Whittle E28/39 which was the world’s first turbo-jet aircraft to be developed. It was powered by the turbo-jet engine invented by Sir Frank Whittle and had it’s first flight at the GAC airfield on April 8th 1941.

After much research work, the twin-engine Meteor Fighter was developed, this was the only allied jet aircraft used in the War. It was one of the most outstanding planes ever built and in 1945 it established a World Speed Record of 606 mph. The Meteor was built in 36 variants for 12 different air forces throughout the World.

It was realised that the British Isles could be threatened by bombers flying at high altitudes and dropping their bombs through cloud cover guided by means of radar. Hence the Javelin was developed as a two seater all-weather fighter, which could fly faster than the speed of sound and reach altitudes above 50,000 feet. With it’s characteristic delta shape the Javelin was awarded super-priority production in July 1952.

Due to a lack of further orders from the Government, Gloster Aircraft Company closed in 1962.

COLIN GOMERSALL 1940 – 2003
We were all very sad when our good friend and colleague Colin Gomersall died due to a brain haemorrhage.
Colin was born in Cheltenham in 1940 and lived most of his life there. He was the Best Speaker in a National Youth Speaking Contest in 1961. Colin first fought an election for Cheltenham Borough Council in 1962 and was elected to the Council in 1970.
He served on the Education, Housing, Health, Entertainments and Finance committees.
Colin moved to Brockworth with his wife Margaret in 1996. He was elected to Brockworth Parish Council in 1998 and became the Chair of the Parks & Open Spaces committee and Vice Chair of the Finance & General Policy committee. He was a Governor of Brockworth Comprehensive School and has been the Chair of the Vicarage Court Residents Group for the past 4 years.
Colin was a founder member of the Brockworth Residents Group in July 2002 and was elected Chair in November 2002.
Colin had been a member of the Labour Party since 1960 but did not renew his membership in 2000 believing that New Labour no longer represented the basic principles which he had supported over those 40 years. Colin believed that Brockworth was best served by Independent policies decided by local residents, rather than those dictated by a National Party.
As we all know Colin was successful in the May 2003 elections for Tewkesbury Borough and Brockworth Parish Councils thanks mainly to his own enthusiasm, hard work and pleasant personality. He became Chair of the Finance & General Policy committee of Brockworth Parish Council and served on various committees of Tewkesbury Borough Council including Community & Cultural, Economy and Licensing.
He was a very good friend and colleague and will be remembered for his cheerful personality, enthusiasm, honesty, loyalty and courage. It is a dreadful loss for his family and Brockworth.