Norway Monument

Halifax Waterfront

Along the Halifax waterfront stands a monument "in memory of members of the Norwegian Merchant Navy, Royal Norwegian Navy, and Royal Norwegian Army who were lost at sea or were buried in Nova Scotia during the Second World War -- We Will Remember Them".

When Nazi Germany invaded Norway in the spring of 1940, and the word 'quisling' entered the English language even as the Norwegian resistance began, many brave Norwegians were stranded in Nova Scotian ports or at sea in Canadian waters.  Among them were two Norwegian whaling fleets steaming north from a whaling season in the Antarctic.  Each fleet consisted of a large factory ship which had ample storage capacity for conversion to oil tankers.  The fast whalers were refitted for work as minesweepers.  Norwegian naval officers arrived and the crews were fitted in Norwegian naval uniforms.  They travelled down the Nova Scotia coast to train at "Camp Norway" near the village of Chester.