I have been reading a lot about the allied withdrawal from the European mainland following the German conquests of France & the Low Countries during World War Two. I have read about, for example, the diversion of 229 Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighters to Britain that were initially intended for use by the Armee De L'Air, most of which were put to use in the India-Burma Theatre by a few RAF squadrons there (despite the British initially evaluating & opting not to procure the Hawk), the Royal Indian Air Force & the South African Air Force.
This made me wonder at how many different aircraft types that weren't in British service managed to find their way into British hands from occupied allied nations. I am sure that the P-36 Hawk is not the sole exception & that surely there must have been many more types that made their way across the channel to the United Kingdom VIA retreating allied airmen from place such as Holland, Belgium, France, Norway, etc.
Additionally, I was curious as to whether any of these types not initially operated by the RAF found roles - slight or significant - within the RAF or throughout the British Empire in other theatres of war.
Thank you!
As Europe frantically re-armed in the late 1930s large contracts were placed for American aircraft, primarily by France (including Curtiss Hawk fighters, and Douglas DB-7 and Martin 167 bombers); the UK also ordered Lockheed Hudson maritime patrol aircraft and North American trainers. The outbreak of war saw the UK and France co-ordinate their efforts through a joint Allied Purchasing Commission and place further substantial orders.
Relatively few aircraft had actually entered service by the Battle of France; French Hawks, DB-7s and Martin 167s fought during the campaign, remaining aircraft mostly evacuating to North Africa and coming under Vichy control. After the fall of France the British Purchasing Commission took on all the joint orders, as well assorted other existing European orders, resulting in the RAF service of various types including the Brewster Buffalo (originally ordered by Belgium), Curtiss Mohawk, Vought Chesapeake and Vultee Vengeance; though some of these types had been in French service the British aircraft came from US factories, fitted out to RAF requirements (British weapons, radios etc.)
By the end of 1940 results were disappointing in both quality and quantity; "Deliveries of aircraft from the United States are disappointing in scale and limited in their value for the purposes of combat", as the Minister of Aircraft Production put it. Nevertheless orders were important not just due to the immediate need for aircraft but to tie the UK and US more closely together with longer term economic, and ideally military, aid being a crucial goal. The aforementioned types served overseas or in training roles; others (such as the Curtiss Tomahawk/Kittyhawk, Douglas Boston/Havoc, Martin Maryland/Baltimore) were more successful, particularly in North Africa, but it really took until 1942 and lend-lease for proportions to become significant. See Gavin J. Bailey's The Arsenal of Democracy: Aircraft Supply and the Anglo-American Alliance, 1938-1942 for really thorough coverage of the subject.
There were a few aircraft flown to the UK that did enter RAF service in exile squadrons; No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron operated Fokker T.VIIIW seaplanes flown over from the Netherlands for a few months, and a handful of Heinkel He 115 seaplanes of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service made it to the UK, subsequently used in covert operations. Norwegian aviators of No. 330 (Norwegian) Squadron also operated Northrop N-3PB seaplanes from Iceland, though this was another early 1940 order fulfilled after the invasion of Norway.