Little Norway - Training

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. The greatest need revolved around the requirement for more combat pilots, necessitating placing orders in summer 1940 for 36 Fairchild PT-19s as a basic training aircraft. The first of the order began to arrive on 23 November 1940, being ferried in by American pilots. 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-3PBs 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 aircraft) 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. Its first commander was Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen. Major Ole Reistad took over early 1941.

The earliest considerations for Norwegian pilots was 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 base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on the NA Harvard. 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. Consequently, the Model 8A-5s were declared surplus to Norwegian requirements and disposed of in sales abroad.