145 Repair and Salvage Unit, Sri Lanka

[alex crawford]

Hi,

I've just received two Gladiator photos that I won on E-bay. They were part of an album taken by someone from 145 Repair and Salvage Unit based at Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Time frame is 1945/46.

To my knowledge no Gladiator ever made it to the Far East. There were plans to send them to fight against the Japanese but this idea was shelved.

The aircraft appears to be a MkI. It has a two blade prop and does not appear to have the 5 piece windscreen as fitted to Mk II's and later retrofitted to some MkIs. The aircraft has the fuselage gun troughs blanked over and the underwing machine guns have been removed. It doesn't look like it has a camo pattern, just one overall colour. Markings look like C1 type on the fuselage and under the wings, although the wing ring is wider than normal. The fin flash has the narrow white stripe.

I wonder if any of the survivors from the East African campaign were shipped to Sri Lanka. Possibly for local defense?

Would anyone have any info on 145 Repair and Salvage Unit? Or any idea why a Gladiator would be in Sri Lanka?

Alex