The Gladiator holds the distinction of being the last biplane fighter to enter RAF and Fleet Air Arm service

A 20 year old New Zealander, Pilot Officer James Leon Wilkie, took off from Bardufoss at 14:30 along with N5681 (P/O Jacobsen) on patrol in the Narvik/Bjørnfjell area. He was attacked by two Bf 110’s of I./ZG 76 east of Rombaksfjorden and shot down by the German ace Lt H Lent to become one of the seven daylight kills of the total 110 claimed by the ace up to his death on 7 October 1944. 

The Gladiator held by Jet Age Museum is the one shot down on 2 June 1940 and the wreckage remained on Lille Haugefjellet until the end of 1998 it was recovered for restoration.

Above members of Jet Age recovering the wreckage and below right the airframe under restoration by Jet Age members. 

Read the full story of Wilkie’s Gladiator and Jet Age Museum’s rebuilds of Gladiator wreckage recovered from Norway at History Journal