What did Norwegian aviation have in April 1940?

Short answer

Mostly biplane equipment, some of it not operational: 11 Gloster Gladiators (7 operational), 25 Fokker C.V-D and 16 C.V-E, 20 M.F.11, 6 Heinkel He 115, 4 Caproni Ca.310 and 29 Tiger Moths; the 6 Curtiss P-36 Hawks were still in final assembly.

Published: November 1, 2026 · Updated: November 1, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What did Norwegian aviation have in April 1940?

Gloster Gladiator IIHugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK (CC BY SA), vía commons

9 April 1940

In the early hours of 9 April 1940 German forces occupied Denmark and invaded Norway. At one of the airfields where German troops landed there were eight aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, under the command of Lieutenant H. Hansen.

Fighters: eleven Gladiators and unused equipment

Norwegian fighter strength comprised 11 Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, of which 7 were operational. There were also 3 Armstrong Whitworth Scimitar biplane fighters, none operational because they were in maintenance, and 6 Curtiss P-36 Hawk monoplane fighters, none operational because they were still in final assembly.

Reconnaissance, bombing and training

Reconnaissance and bombing were handled by 25 Fokker C.V-D biplanes, 24 of them operational, and by 16 Fokker C.V-E, all sixteen operational. To these were added 4 Caproni Ca.310 reconnaissance and bomber monoplanes, with 3 operational. Among the seaplanes were 20 Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11 reconnaissance biplanes, 17 operational and 3 in maintenance, and 6 Heinkel He 115 reconnaissance and torpedo seaplanes, all operational. Training had 29 de Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes, 26 of them operational.