Brockworth, in Gloucestershire, England is situated on the old Roman road that connects the City of Gloucester with Barnwood, Hucclecote and Cirencester. Brockworth was originally known for its World War II aircraft factory where the Hurricane was produced. The factory had a legacy of producing several famous aircraft including the world's first jet aircraft which took off from its test runway. Brockworth and the surrounding area was bombed by the Luftwaffe in an attempt to halt its production of vital war materials. Due to redistricting its famous airfield is now within the boundary of Hucclecote.

Contents

1 Brockworth's Gloster Aircraft Company 1.1 How Gloucester became known as "Gloster" 1.2 Purchase by Hawker Aircraft 1.3 Hawker Hurricane 1.4 World's first turbo-jet aircraft 1.5 Gloster Javelin 1.6 Demise of the Company 2 External Sources

Brockworth's Gloster Aircraft Company

How Gloucester became known as "Gloster"

Gloster Aircraft Company was formed in 1915 as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company. In 1926 the name of the company was abreviated to Gloster because customers outside of the United Kingdom found the original name too difficult to pronounce.

Purchase by Hawker Aircraft

In 1934 the company was the amalgamated with Hawker Aircraft Ltd. In that same year the company produced the famous Gloster Gladiator biplane.

Hawker Hurricane

In 1939 the company built 1,000 Hurricanes in the first 12 months of World War II and it delivered its last 2,750 Hurricanes in 1942. Production was the switched to building 3,330 Typhoons for the Royal Air Force (RAF).

World's first turbo-jet aircraft

On April 8, 1941 the first test flight of the Gloster Whittle E28/39 with a turbo-jet engined invented by Sir Frank Whittle took off from company airfield at Brockworth. This aircraft was eventually known as the Gloster Meteor and it was the only jet to be used by the Allied Forces during WWII. In 1945 it gained a World Speed Record of 606 mph and it was eventually put into service by 12 nations.

Gloster Javelin

In 1952 the two seat, delta-shaped Gloster Javelin was developed as an all weather fighter that could fly above 50,000 feet and faster than the speed of sound.

Demise of the Company

Gloster Aircraft Company closed in 1962.

External Sources

• History of the Gloster Aircraft Company at Brockworth (http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/brockworthpc/page6.html)