Although it had been displaced for the most part from home defence of the British isles, a need to defend Britain's trade routes throughout the overseas territories of the British Empire had been recognised, thus the RAF redeployed many of its Gladiators to the Middle East to defend the theatre and the crucial Suez Canal.[18] The Gladiator would see considerable action during early stages of the war, including participating in the action in the French and Norwegian campaigns, in addition to various peripheral campaigns.[18]