Little Norway

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Coordinates: 43 ° 38 ′ 5.9 ″  N , 79 ° 23 ′ 57 ″  W.

Guard outside Little Norway, 1940.

Little Norway , actually Flyvåpnenes Treningsleir (FTL), internally (Norwegian) called Lille Norge , was founded by the Norwegian government-in-exile in Canada during the Second World War to train Norwegian recruits and the Norwegian army-in-exile for military service.

The original plan was to use the armed forces trained there in northern Norway in combat.

prehistory

The attempt to set up a pilot school in Alappmoen, Norway , had failed, as had the later attempt to set up something similar in Finland ( reason of state ). Plans to establish such a school in France also became obsolete with the capitulation of France. Canada ultimately turned out to be the only way to implement the idea.

Canada

The camp was set up in the spring of 1940 on one of the Toronto Islands , but did not officially open until November, although pilot training began in August. It was moved to Muskoka , around 130 km north, in May 1942 . The camp was commanded by Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (1940) and Ole Reistad (1941–1945).

A total of around 2,500 Norwegian soldiers were trained in Lille Norge : pilots, radio operators and technical personnel. The camp was effectively closed at the end of 1944, officially in February 1945, because the training was relocated to Winkleigh , England.

literature

  • Tom Arheim, Bjørn Hafsten, Bjørn Olsen, Sverre Thuve: Fra Spitfire til F-16: Luftforsvaret 50 år 1944–1994 ( Norwegian ). Sem & Stenersen, Oslo 1994, ISBN 82-7046-068-0 . urn : nbn: no-nb_digibok_2008013100044
  • Bjørn Hafsten, Tom Arheim: Marinens flygevåpen 1912–1944 . Tankestreken, 2003, ISBN 82-993535-1-3
  • Jul Haganæs: På vingene for friheten, flygeren Conrad Skjoldhammer . Valdres forlag, 1995, ISBN 82-7562-039-2
  • Per Conradi Hansen: Little Norway, a message of Liberty to the Hills of home . Military Historical Foundation of Eastern Norway, 2007, ISBN 978-82-997663-0-2
  • Vera Henriksen , Svein Duvsete: Luftforsvarets historie . Volume 3. Aschehoug, 1994-2004, ISBN 82-03-22067-3
  • Helge Mehre. Flyvåpnene i the 2nd verdenskrig, jagerflyene . Utgiver ikke angitt, 1986
  • Fredrik Meyer : Hærens og Marinens flyvåpen 1912-1945 . Forsvarets krigshistoriske avdeling, Gyldendal 1973, ISBN 82-05-05608-0
  • Edvard Omholt-Jensen: Ole Reistad - "the spirit of Little Norway", biography . Atheneum, 1986, ISBN 82-7334-142-9
  • Jon Tvedte: Flyvningen, the modern eventyr . Norsk fagliteratur, 1958–60. Volume 2.
  • Ragnar Wold: Slik fikk vi vinger, en beretning om opplæringen av Luftpersonell i Canada 1940–45 . Damm, 1990, ISBN 82-517-9979-1

Web links