Faith, Hope and Charity  [9780907579632]

The oft-told story of Faith, Hope and Charity, the three Gloster Gladiators biplane fighters that were the sole aerial defence for Malta against the might of the Italian Regia Aeronautica during 1940, has been repeated and embellished over the years, taking on mythical qualities even before World War II ended, while the facts have been somewhat slower to emerge. This book, first published in 1954, was perhaps the first to tell the story in book form and has now been reprinted without changes to the original narrative, though a modern photographic section has been added. There have been a number of books and articles in recent years that have sought to bring out the facts and it would seem that there were more airframes on the island that this book would allow, while the basic premise that only up to three aircraft were airworthy at any one time seems to have been upheld. What Poolman fails to make clear is that the period when these Gladiators were the sole aerial defence of the islands was only for some 10 days until some passing Hurricanes were requisitioned, with the Gladiators supplementing them thereafter. Even the names Faith, Hope and Charity bestowed upon the three were not given to the aircraft during the height of the battle, as Poolman would have you believe, but after the worst of the crisis was over in a local newspaper article. Nevertheless, the book is regarded as a classic in that it is well-written and tells the story in an heroic manner, in much the same way as story-tellers since Homer have recall the epic deeds of the outnumbered throughout history, but with a typically British self-effacing and understated manner. Poolman takes the men behind the machines and gives them life and spirit, creating situations and conversations that carry the story forward, and taking a victors' viewpoint of the enemy as worthy but flawed. An interesting read, nevertheless one that needs to be treated not as a reference but rather as a well-crafted story that was, in the modern vernacular, "ripped from the headlines." For those who wish to read about the "real" story behind Faith, Hope and Charity, I'd recommend another Crecy Publishing book, Faith, Hope and Malta by Tony Spooner. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review sample; Specialty Press books can be obtained directly from their website, or from leading book retailers.

Reviewed By Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554