Norway could reasonably regard an amphibious invasion as difficult, but that difficulty depended on defenders holding their ports and maintaining effective fortifications. Forces already mobilized in the north because of the Winter War gave Norway another reason to assemble its new Curtiss P-36 fighters promptly. Deliveries began only in March 1940, shortly before the April invasion. The delivery figures given here do not reconcile: fifteen arrivals in March and another ten in April are followed by nineteen aircraft in Norway when Germany attacked and five sent to Britain. Some of the nineteen were only partly assembled, and even twenty-five fighters would probably have had limited effect. The captured aircraft were later sold by Germany to Finland. Budget limits and an emphasis on aviation could help explain spending choices in the 1920s, but they did not explain the failure to sustain defence investment in the 1930s.
Chapter · 41:26-44:24
Curtiss fighters reached Norway before they were ready to fight
Late Curtiss deliveries left nineteen aircraft in Norway, some partially assembled, when Germany invaded, despite an existing need to support the northern forces.