Was the iPhone 2g 4gb shipped outside of the US?

Hello,

This is the first time ever that I ask a question here. So I hope that all the tags and everything are correct.

I was wondering if Apple shipped the iPhone 2g 4gb outside of the US since they discontinued it September 5th and iPhones weren't available in Europe until November 9th. The back case and the model numbers would be different for the US and the EU version. I have read people talking about their iPhone 2g 4gb being locked to O2, but how would that even be possible? So in short, does anybody know whether Apple released the iPhone 2g 4gb in Europe and if not, how come these phones exist?

Thank you in advance,

Arthur