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In 1940, after the Germans invaded Norway, the King of Norway, Haakon 7, led a govenment in exile and escaped to Britain. Shortly after, arrangements were made to set up a training camp in Canada just outside of Toronto. This camp, called Little Norway, was set up for the sole purpose of training Norwegian flight crew to fly planes to fight against the Germans. The graduates of this flight school went on to Britain where most of them ended up in Norwegian designated units of the RAF. During its existence, from 1940 until shut down in 1952, 2500 men were trained at Little Norway. In total, the RNAF, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, in Britain lost 335 men during the course of the war. Here are some links to this topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Norwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Norwegian_Air_Forcehttp://www.arkivverket.no/eng/Themes/World-War-II/Norway-in-exile/The-Air-ForceThere were two training camps in Canada that made up Little Norway, the camp on the outskirts of Toronto and another camp, established in 1942 in the Muskokas, north of Toronto. This northern camp was also knows as 'Vesle Skaugum'. Over the next while, I will post for you a neat collection that I just acquired with a Little Norway theme. There will be no method to my postings, as I figure out what is what, they will appear here. First up is an RNAF veteran pin. It is tamped in the back as NO 456. John
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As stated before, Vesle Skaugum was the name given to the training and sports facility set up north of Toronto in the Muskokas.
Here is a patch from there.
Last edited by JohnZ; 10/26/2012 06:59 PM. Reason: sp
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I also picked up a letter mailed from Little Norway with this stamped on the cover as well as the censor stamp. From 1943, this is a neat addition to the Little Norway collection that I managed to score off e-ban.
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These two items are stampings used at Little Norway.
I have reversed the shot of the stamps so that you can see what each says.
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Until 1944, there were actually two official groups training in Little Norway, the Army and the Navy each had their own Air Forces.
Here is an Army grouping.
Last edited by JohnZ; 10/26/2012 07:08 PM.
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Here is a Navy Grouping.
In 1944, the two Air Forces were merged officially into the Royal Norwegain Air Force, although they were really operating as such even before then.
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Here is a series of pilot's badges.
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These badges were sold to raise money for fallen members of the RNAF.
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Here is the night bell plaque for the RNAF
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Here is a sweetheart pin.
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This is a cigarette case dated 1942 and Little Norway.
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That is a nice box John, what is the size?
War is when your government tells you who the enemy is. Revolution is when you figure it out for yourself.
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Landser:
The case measures in inches 6.5 x 4.5 x 1.5 (or in cm 17 x 11.5 x 4).
Here are a couple of shots of the proofmarks on the side of the case.
John
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This grouping belonged to one graduate of the Little Norway training school.
It consists of a coat button, an H7 badge (to indicate resistance to the Quisling government and the German occupying forces.. private purchase item), Norway shoulder patch, pilot breast eagle, shoulder strap and pilot's badge.
John
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This is a key tag for the attic space at Little Norway.
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And these are some kind of sports awards given out at Little Norway.
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John, based on the measurements and interior, are you certain this is a cigarette case and not a cigar box.
Absolutely beautiful box. Would fit in any collection.
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Unusual, certainly museum worthy!
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Nice and interesting items/grouping. I have not seen such before. could be a cigar box Jim...my superkings are not that big!
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And, here are some more pins that were sold to raise money for the families of fallen RNAF soldiers.
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This is an RNAF Police Badge.
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Here are some misc items and pins and badges
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Interesting item from 1943 Christmas.
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Here are some shoulder insignia and arm patches
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Two more RNAF items in cloth
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And, last, for now, are these two rank insignia for the RNAF.
Signing off for now... good hunting to you all.
John
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Quite a collection Very Nice.
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Here they are together.
John
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Nice stuff,John. Didn't know about Little Norway.Thanks for sharing.
Gerd
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Just in from the SOS, I found this cased and very neat RAF Sweetheart pin. While strictly speaking not quite Little Norway, still goes well with the other sweetheart pin above.
John
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Little Norway and the free Norwegians were supported by many countries in the world. There was a program called Wings for Norway that raised money in many countries of the Americas. This money was used to buy trainer aircraft for the training camp called Little Norway.
On June 13, 1942, there was a special recital at Carnegie Hall featuring Norwegian artists and whose purpose was to raise money for the Wings for Norway program.
Here is the official concert program for that day.
John
Last edited by JohnZ; 04/03/2013 10:08 PM.
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I was in Norway recently and my brother-in-law found this item for me.
While not period, it sure is a tasty addition to my Little Norway collection.
John
Last edited by JohnZ; 05/03/2014 04:40 PM.
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Once more, I have just returned from a trip to Norway with quite a bag of goodies.
Two RNAF / Little Norway items came home with me.
The first is a small songbook used by the RNAF and printed in Little Norway, Canada.
The second is a stylized lion that we think was a private pruchase item made in England and used to generate funds and support for the Norwegian war effort. The neat thing about this is that it comes in its original case.
John
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The Little Norway camp in Toronto and Muskoka had their own little newspaper-magazine.
I managed to get 6 of them dated from April, 1944 to February, 1945. This last one was the final magazine issued and it celebrated the closing of the camp and the transfer of the personnel to England.
They are:
April September October November December, 1944 February, 1945
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