The first runway at Bodø Airport was built during World War II by British troops, after Germany had invaded Norway. On 26 May 1940 three Royal Air Force Gloster Gladiators, led by Flight Lieutenant Caesar Hull, landed and made the first airborne defence for the city. The area was swampland, and the first makeshift runway consisted of wooden planks floating on the water. Soon the German Luftwaffe seized control over the airport, and held it for the duration of the war, among other things upgrading the runway to concrete.