Muskoka - Little Norway

 

Location:  Muskoka  N 44° 58.103 W 079° 18.442
Beside the terminal at Muskoka Airport, off Airport Road.

Little Norway was the Second World War training centre for several thousand Norwegian airmen at the current Muskoka Airport near Gravenhurst. Before relocation to this site the camp was originally established on Toronto Island.  A number of casualties resulted from training accidents in the skies over Muskoka, for more info on this please go to these links: http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/upload/wiki.asp?entry=5558 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Norway
Today two plaques mark the location and pay tribute to the brave airmen, and the bond between our two countries.

Marker text:
National Historic Site Plaque:
 Located near here, Little Norway, one of the Norwegian armed forces training centres in Canada during the Second World War, was officially opened by Crown Prince Olav in May 1942. It embodies for Canadians the importance of the alliance of nations fighting for freedom. Between 1940 and 1945 more than 3,000 Norwegian airmen, sailors and soldiers and up to 3,000 merchant seamen and civilians trained in Canada for the struggle to liberate their occupied homeland. The strong bond between the two countries, forged in the experience of those years, has become a symbol of Canada's continuing friendship with its wartime allies.

Dedication Plaque:
DEDICATED TO THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED
WITH THE ROYAL NORWEGIAN AIRFORCE AT CAMP
LITTLE NORWAY MUSKOKA 1942-1945.
THEIR DEDICATION AND RESOLVE IS LONG REMEMBERED
BY THE CITIZENS OF MUSKOKA.