Little Norway
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Little Norway ( no, Lille Norge), officially (FTL, "Air Force Training Camp"), was a
Norwegian Army Air Service The Norwegian Army Air Service (NoAAS) ( no, Hærens flyvåpen) was established in 1914.Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteHistory of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Its main base and aircraft factory was at Kjeller. On 10 November 1944, the ...
/
Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
training camp in
southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Origins

When Nazi Germany attacked Norway on 9 April 1940, with only a small number of modern aircraft, the
Norwegian Army Air Service The Norwegian Army Air Service (NoAAS) ( no, Hærens flyvåpen) was established in 1914.Official Norwegian Defence Force websiteHistory of the Royal Norwegian Air Force Its main base and aircraft factory was at Kjeller. On 10 November 1944, the ...
and Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service were unable to mount a sustained defence. Following the defeat of the Norwegian forces, the King, key members of the government and military left Norway in June 1940 aboard . After arriving in England, the Norwegian government-in-exile began the process of setting up a new base of operations. A decision was swiftly made to keep the existing Norwegian pilots that had escaped to England as an independent unit. Consequently, none were allowed to participate in the
Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. Arrangements were made to transfer Norwegian pilots to a North American headquarters. Various locations were considered, and a base around the
Toronto Island Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
was chosen. Once the base was established, young Norwegians migrated to the site to enroll in the Royal Norwegian Air Forces (RNAF). In 1939,
Bernt Balchen Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Distingu ...
, a Norwegian aviator enlisted with the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, made his way to the United States on a crucial mission to negotiate "matters pertaining to aircraft ordnance and ammunition with the question of the Norwegian Government's possible purchase of such materials in the United States of America."Glines 1999, p. 127. With his status of holding dual Norwegian and U.S. citizenship and his extensive contacts in the aviation industry, his instruction from the Norwegian Government-in-exile in London changed to a new directive: to set up a training camp and school for expatriate Norwegian airmen and soldiers in Canada."Bernt Balchen".
''National Aviation Hall of Fame''. Retrieved: 9 September 2010.
Balchen negotiated directly with Canadian government officials to obtain an agreement to use available airport facilities at the
Toronto Island The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...
airport on Lake Ontario known as "Little Norway".


Training

After construction of new facilities had started, other Norwegian military staff took over with Col. Oscar Klingenberg chosen to head the training schools and Georg Unger Vetlesen and Thor Solberg able to deal with US aircraft manufacturers handling the procurement orders for military equipment.Glines 1999, p. 128. The greatest need revolved around the requirement for more combat pilots, necessitating placing orders in summer 1940 for 36
Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, RAF and RCAF during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it was a contempora ...
s as a basic training aircraft. The first of the order began to arrive on 23 November 1940, being ferried in by American pilots.Wiig 2009, p. 54. The initial batch of 10 PT-19s were supplemented by 26 PT-19As with a more powerful Ranger engine fitted. All of the series were retro-fitted in 1941 with canopies, converting the trainers into a PT-26 standard. Other operational aircraft, 24
Northrop N-3PB The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engined American floatplane of the 1940s. Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered until af ...
s and 35 Curtiss Hawk 75-A8s already on order (only five of the original order of 19 P-36s were undelivered, and were sent to Canada along with a further order for 36 new aircraftBaugher, Joe
"Hawk 75A-6/75A-8 for Norway."
''/USAF Fighter and Pursuit Aircraft'', 16 August 2001. Retrieved: 4 October 2009.
) were utilized as advanced trainers. Air defence forces were divided between Army and Naval Air Corps, with both services retaining their own commanding officers. The "Little Norway" camp was officially opened on 10 November 1940, located in the bay area of Toronto, on the shores of
Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...
. Its first commander was
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (7 June 1890 – 3 June 1965) was a Norwegian aviation pioneer, military officer, polar explorer and businessman. Among his achievements, he is generally regarded a founder of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Background Riis ...
.
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Ole Reistad took over early 1941. The earliest considerations for Norwegian pilots were to have a separate air force operating out of England, but by late 1940, the Norwegian government-in-exile mandated that all the "Little Norway" student pilots were ultimately destined for Norwegian-staffed RAF squadrons. Although basic training took place in "Little Norway", by 1941, students selected as fighter pilots began to receive advance training at the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...
base in
Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
on the NA Harvard.Wiig 2009, pp. 55–56. In 1943, the 30 surviving A-8 fighter trainers were sold back to the United States as P-36Gs. Initially, 36 Douglas DB-8A-5/A-33s (company numbers 715/750) on order from the United States were turned over in late 1940 for use as an advanced trainer. A decision to standardize on British types that would be used in operations led to arrangements being made later in 1941 for the flight training of Norwegian pilots to be carried out in RAF and RCAF schools.Wiig 2009, p. 55. Consequently, the Model 8A-5s were declared surplus to Norwegian requirements and disposed of in sales abroad.


A new home

With the Norwegian Navy and Army pilot training operating as individual courses, there were inevitable commonalities and for the benefit of efficiency, the Norwegian government-in-exile consolidated both services into a unified force, renamed as the
Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
. The official declaration was made on 11 November 1944, although combined training operations were already taking place. In May 1942, the training camp was moved to a site at
Muskoka Airport Muskoka Airport is a small regional airport located south of Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis. CBSA off ...
, about north of Toronto. Under the auspices of a
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
agreement, an additional order of 50 Fairchild PT-26/PT-26B Cornells was placed with the first deliveries being received by 1942. The training continued at Muskoka until February 1945, when the camp was moved to the air base at
Winkleigh Winkleigh is a civil parish and small village in Devon, England. It is part of the local government area of Torridge District Council. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,305, compared to 1,079 in 1901. The population of the el ...
in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.


Further moves

After the move to England, the "Norwegian Training Base" as it was then known, was reconstituted under
No. 23 Group RAF No. 23 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force, first established in 1918, and finally disbanded in 1975. The group was reformed as No 23 (Training) Group in RAF Inland Area on 12 April 1926, at RAF Spitalgate, by re-numbering No. 3 Group RA ...
. The order for new Cornells was redirected to England, with many of the aircraft arriving by sea, still in their shipping crates. Additionally, nine
Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...
s and 27 Harvard advanced trainers were obtained. By 22 November 1945, the training was transferred to a base at
Gardermoen Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atlan ...
, near
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, concentrating on primary training with the remaining 74 Cornells. The final move of the air training operation was to
Rygge Rygge was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. It was merged into Moss municipality on January 1, 2020. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rygge. Rygge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see ...
, where flight training continued until the end of hostilities and into the postwar period, being wound up in 1952, when all military training was transferred back to new training units in Norway.


Accidents and incidents

During flight training, there were several accidents with the loss of students and instructors. On 20 June 1941, while taking off, a Northrop N-3PB collided with the ferry ''
Sam McBride Sam (Samuel) McBride (July 13, 1866 – November 14, 1936) was a two-time Mayor of Toronto serving his first term from 1928 to 1929 and his second term in 1936 which ended prematurely due to his death. He was also a member of the Orange Order ...
'' in Port Race, Toronto Harbour, killing both the student pilot, Tron Harsvik, and instructor, Lt. Finn Strand Kjos. The ''Toronto Star'' newspaper wrote that it was "a matter of time before one of the Norwegian aircraft crashes in the city itself." This fear, along with it being impractical to have flight training in the same place as the current civil aviation operations, precipitated a move to a new camp in Muskoka. At the new location, both ab-initio and advanced level training could take place, while advanced flight training continued at Island Airport. The first fatal accident in Muskoka, and the last one recorded by the FTL in Canada, took place August 1944 when a
Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, RAF and RCAF during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it was a contempora ...
Cornell trainer with pilot and student aboard lost its wing and crashed into the ground, south of Gravenhurst; both on board died. The bodies were recovered from the dense undergrowth and a wing section was found, but no wreckage was recovered. Not long after, another Fairchild crashed for the same reason, but both occupants escaped by parachute. Fairchild aircraft were temporarily grounded, but after the cause of the accidents were determined and other aircraft repaired, Fairchilds were again in service. The FTL lost three N-3PBs in Canada in fatal crashes, two near Vancouver (
Jericho Beach Jericho Beach, known originally as ''iy'a'l'mexw'' in Squamish, a Vancouver beach, is located west of the seaside neighbourhood of Kitsilano. It is surrounded by Jericho Beach Park, a grassy area with a pond, which is a picnic destination. Je ...
and
Patricia Bay Patricia Bay ("Pat Bay" to locals) is a body of salt water that extends east from Saanich Inlet and forms part of the shoreline of North Saanich, British Columbia. It lies due west of Victoria International Airport. A municipal park covers most of ...
), when the harbour in Toronto was frozen, along with the aircraft involved in the ferry boat accident. Other training accidents included fatal crashes in the Curtiss P-36s, one near Toronto in April 1941, another near Port Credit in July 1941 and a final loss into Lake Ontario in January 1942. In all, 23 people at the Air Force training camp died in flying accidents, in addition to the seven who died of disease, car accidents or by drowning.


Legacy

In total during the war, over 2,500 Norwegian airmen of all categories (pilots, navigators and mechanics) were trained in the various bases of "Little Norway".Wiig 2009, p. 57. In 1986 the city of Toronto established
Little Norway Park Little Norway Park is a small park in the Harbourfront area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the southwest corner of Bathurst Street and Queens Quay West. The park is just north of the Western Channel into Toronto Harbour.
where the people of Norway have erected a plaque "Little Norway: ''Lille Norge''" to commemorate the site of the original camp.Miler, Richard E
"Little Norway/Lille Norge."
''HMdb.org. The Historical Marker database,'' 21 July 2009. Retrieved: 4 October 2009.
In 2007 the governments of Norway and Canada made a memorial inside the
Muskoka Airport Muskoka Airport is a small regional airport located south of Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis. CBSA off ...
terminal building to commemorate the Muskoka site.


Aircraft used in "Little Norway"

Army * Fairchild M-62/ PT-19 and PT-26 Cornell * Douglas 8A-5/A-33 * Curtiss Hawk 75-A8 Navy *
Noorduyn Norseman The Noorduyn Norseman, also known as the C-64 Norseman, is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. Distinctive stubby landing gear protrusions from the lower fuselage make it easily recognizable. Intro ...
* Stinson SR-9 Reliant *
Northrop N-3PB The Northrop N-3PB Nomad was a single-engined American floatplane of the 1940s. Northrop developed the N-3PB as an export model based on the earlier Northrop A-17 design. A total of 24 were purchased by Norway, but were not delivered until af ...


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Glines, Carroll V. ''Bernt Balchen: Polar Aviator''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 1999. . * Hansen, Per Conradi. ''Little Norway: A Message of Liberty to the Hills of Home.'' Oslo, Norway: Military Historical Foundation of Eastern Norway, 2007, First edition 1985. . * Henriksen, Vera. ''Luftforsvarets historie bind 2'' (in Norwegian) Oslo: Aschehoug, 1996. . * ''Little Norway in Pictures: With Supplement, Norway – Yesterday and Today'' (Also on cover, ''R.N.A.F. in Canada''). Toronto: S. J. R. Saunders, 1944. * Wiig, Erling. "Message of Liberty." ''Flypast'', No. 338, September 2009.


External links


Complete list of personnel in Little NorwayEmbassy of Norway in Canada about Little NorwayLittle Norway Memorial in Muskoka
{{Royal Norwegian Air Force Military installations of Canada Military training facilities Military installations established in 1940 Military installations closed in 1945 Royal Norwegian Air Force Military history of Norway during World War II District Municipality of Muskoka Canada–Norway relations