Building Pat Pattle's Gladiator from the 1/48 Roden Gladiator Mk 1 kit.

Photos: B. van Heerden & C. Hugo.

Those who knew him attest to his powerful qualities as a man and a leader, his exquisite airmanship- and, at the time of his death in action in April 1941, his score has been variously put at between 40 and 65 enemy aircraft destroyed. Had he survived the war, there can be no doubt his tally would have equalled if not surpassed the Luftwaffe’s Hartmann or Barkhorn.

It was this extraordinarily brief but shining career that has always fascinated me- to say nothing of the fact that he was a son of Africa.

SCALE MODEL:	So when Roden introduced their 1:48 Gloster Gladiator Mk 1, there was no doubt as to the markings: Flt Lt M T St J Pattle, 80 Squadron RAF when based at Amriya, Eygpt, in early 1940. What was in doubt was getting it accurate. The technical detailing was easier to research and apply, so I’ll start with that.