[wyclif]

Another reason that I don't think anyone's commented on is that it wasn't until the very late 1960's that the Stratocaster really took off. That was because of Jimi Hendrix adopting it. Before that, the Jazzmaster was Fender's top-of-the-line guitar; the Strat was an afterthought. After Hendrix died, players like Eric Clapton were inspired to make the Strat their #1 guitar. Because of all that, Fender didn't think they needed to license the body shape.

[TrackerFF]

At least in Europe, The Shadows were HUGE in the late 50s and early 60s. Like Beatles levels huge. In many European countries Fender weren't sold / distributed until the early-to-mid 60s, so genuine Fenders were rare and expensive - often sold second-hand from someone who bought them in the US (merchant sailors for example). It is said that Hank Marvin was the first strat-player in Europe.

So back then the Stratocaster was synonymous with Hank Marvin, and many stores here even advertised Strats as "The Shadows guitars" as a marketing gimmick when they started selling them (I've searched through old news papers in looking for old Fender/Gibson advertisements).

Hank Marvin was also the leading reason for Fiesta Red being such a popular color here. Many stores selling distributing Fender offered the custom colors (Sunburst was the standard color) where they'd repaint your Strat in red.

Then Beatless came, along with the other big bands (Stones, etc.) and artists (Hendrix), which made guitar music very common and popular.

[wyclif]

Yes, Hank Marvin was the first Stratocaster player in England as far as I know. Also, professional English players could sometimes get a coveted Fender guitar by buying secondhand in the US or swapping and trades with American musicians while on tour. That's how Jeff Beck got his Fender Esquire (he bought it from one of the Walker Brothers on tour) and I think it's also how Jimmy Page got his famous 1959 Les Paul (from Joe Walsh).