Following the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, 263 Sqn was sent to Norway on HMS Glorious and landed southwest of Trondheim. It was a cold spring and the the RAF used the frozen Lake Lesjaskog to operate from. However the frozen surface thawed during the day, and disregarding advice from the Norwegian liaison officer, the RAF left the aircraft unattended overnight and when the Luftwaffe He 111s attacked in the early morning, the Gladiators were frozen into the ice and most of 263 Sqd was obliterated. The remains of the aircraft were sold to a local scrap merchant. N5641 was dismantled and placed in a shed where it remained until the mid-1970s when it was moved to Rygge for restoration. It is now on display in Bodø.

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