Shetland bus
Encyclopedia
The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland
, and German
-occupied Norway
from 1941 until the German occupation
ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit" (NNIU). In October 1943 it became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy
, and was renamed the "Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit" (RNNSU).
The unit was operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats, and later augmented by three fast and well-armed submarine chaser
s – , and .
Crossings were mostly made during the winter under the cover of darkness. This meant that the crews and passengers had to endure very heavy North Sea
conditions, with no lights, and constant risk of discovery by German aircraft or patrol boats. There was also the possibility of being captured whilst carrying out the mission on the Norwegian coast. However, early on it was decided that camouflage
was the best defence and the boats were disguised as working fishing boats, with the crew as fishermen. The fishing boats were armed with light machine gun
s concealed inside oil drums placed on deck. The operation was under constant threat from German forces, and several missions went awry, of which the Telavåg
tragedy is a prime example. Several fishing boats were lost during the initial operations, but after receiving the three submarine chasers there were no more losses.
Leif Andreas Larsen
(popularly known as Shetland Larsen) was perhaps the most famous of the Shetland Bus men. In all he made 52 trips to Norway, and became the most highly-decorated Allied naval officer of the Second World War.
(SIS) and the Special Operations Executive
s (SOE) Norwegian Naval Independent Unit (not to be confused with another SOE Norwegian unit: the Norwegian Independent Coy. No.1
, or Kompani Linge), established a base in Lerwick
. SIS later moved to Peterhead
.
They asked some of the skippers of the boats that were coming from Norway if they would return to deliver agents, and bring others back to Shetland. This went on throughout the winter of 1940-41. In early 1941 it was decided to formally establish a group of men and boats to assist the SIS and the SOE.
The main purpose of the group was to transfer agents in and out of Norway, and supply them with weapons, radios and other supplies. They would also bring out Norwegians who feared arrest by the Germans. Sometimes the group was involved in special operations, like the failed attack on the German battleship , and the raids on Måløy
and Lofoten
.
The men put in charge of organizing the group were a British Army
officer, Major Leslie H. Mitchell and his assistant, Lieutenant David Howarth
. Upon their arrival in Shetland they commandeered Flemington House, (later named "Kergord"), in Weisdale
, for their headquarters, and they found a perfect location in Lunna Ness
north of Lerwick, from which the boats could operate. Before then the boats had been moored in Cat Firth.
Lunna Ness had a sheltered harbour and a small population that were not too curious about what was going on. Lunna House
was used as accommodation for the boat crews. Whilst Mitchell stayed in Flemington, Howarth set up headquarters in Lunna House. Their whole staff consisted of three British sergeants; Almond, Sherwood and Olsen; Norman Edwards, a stenographer; Harald Albertsen, a Norwegian cook, at Lunna; and two maids in Flemington.
During the first winter Flemington House was used to train saboteurs and house agents, and also accommodate incoming Norwegian refugees. Later all refugees were received in a special camp at the James Sutherland Herring Factory in Lerwick
. The camp was administered by James Adie and his Norwegian-born wife.
, where William Moore & Son had a mechanical workshop, and where a slipway, (named Prince Olav's Slipway) was built. Harald Angeltveit and Johan Haldorsen were the head mechanics and Severin Roald became leader of the carpenters. All repairs on the ships were done there, but Lunna Voe was still used for preparing special operations.
Dinapore House was headquarters for the base in Scalloway
, while Flemington House became quarters for agents awaiting transport to Norway, or for de-brief on return. A former net loft, owned by Nicolson & Co. became accommodation for the boat crews, and was named "Norway House". Sevrin Roald's wife, Inga Roald, was housekeeper there.
Flemington House was also on occasion visited by high-ranking officers like the Commander-in-chief
, Scottish Command
, and the Admiral Commanding Orkney and Shetland. The most prominent guest was HKH Crown Prince Olav of Norway
who visited in October 1942.
Mitchell left the base in Scalloway in December 1942, and Captain Arthur William Sclater, known as "Rogers", became leader of operations, and his Norwegian-born wife, Alice, acted as welfare officer for the crews.
The boats used at the start were ordinary fishing boats, but after some loss of men and boats, it was decided that they needed faster vessels. On 26 October 1943 the US Navy officially transferred three submarine chasers to the Shetland Bus operation. They were the Hitra, Vigra, and Hessa.
These craft were 110 feet long and powered by two 1,200 hp diesel engines. They were capable of a top speed of 22 kn (26.8 mph; 43.1 km/h), with a normal cruising speed of 17 knots. When the submarine chasers arrived, the group became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy
, and was renamed: "Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit" (RNNSU).
They carried out more than 100 tours to Norway, with no loss of men or ships.
On 9 May 1945, Vigra, with Larsen in command, and Hitra with Eidsheim , entered the harbour of Lyngøy near Bergen in free Norway.
The group had made a total of 198 tours to Norway, with fishing boats and submarine chasers, and one man, Leif Larsen, did 52 of them. The "Shetland Bus" had transported 192 agents and 383 tons of weapons and supplies to Norway, and had brought out 73 agents and 373 refugees. Forty-four members of the group had lost their lives.
, and other British citizens living in Norway.
Leif Andreas Larsen
, known as "Shetlands Larsen", (9 January 1906–12 October 1990), was born in Bergen. He joined the Norwegian volunteers during the Finnish Winter War
. Soon after the war in Finland ended, Norway was invaded by Germany. A Swedish officer, Benckert, set up a company of volunteers who made their way to Norway, and fought in eastern Norway until 8 June 1940, until the war was officially over.
Larsen arrived in Shetland with the boat M/B Motig I, on 11 February 1941. After training with Kompani Linge in England and Scotland, Larsen returned to Lerwick in the St Magnus on 19 August 1941. He did his first Shetland Bus tour with M/B Siglaos, skippered by Petter Salen, on 14 September 1941.
After the loss of the minelayer Nordsjøen, where Larsen was second in command, he became a skipper and could choose his own crew. His first crew was Palmer Bjørnøy, Leif Kinn, Arne Kinn, Kåre Iversen, Karsten Sangolt, Nils Nipen and Otto Pletten. His first boat was M/K Arthur, the boat he "requisitioned" and escaped from Norway with after the wrecking of Nordsjøen. On 8 November 1941, Larsen sailed from Shetland on his first tour as skipper. On their return to Shetland, they ran into a storm, and one man, Karsten Sangolt, was blown overboard and drowned.
Larsen made several tours with the Arthur, but he also skippered other boats, like M/B Siglaos, and M/B Feie. In October 1942, he had to scuttle the Arthur in Throndheimsfjord after a failed attempt to attack the German warship Tirpitz. He and the crew escaped to Sweden, but a British agent, A.B. Evans, was arrested and later shot.
On 23 March 1943, returning from Træna, Nordland, with M/K Bergholm, they were attacked by German aircraft. The boat was sunk, but Larsen and the crew, many of them wounded, rowed for several days until they reached the coast of Norway, near Ålesund. One man, Nils Vika, died of his wounds. The other crew were: Andreas Færøy, Johannes Kalvø, Finn Clausen, Gunnar Clausen, Odd Hansen, and William Enoksen. After hiding in different places, they were rescued on 14 April by a MTB
from Lerwick
with Lieut. Broberg in command.
In October 1943, the new submarine chasers arrived and Larsen became commander of Vigra, with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant
. In total he made 52 tours to Norway in fishing vessels and submarine chasers.
British awards:
Norwegian awards:
, Norway. He was the son of a sea pilot
and had joined his father on the pilot boat
. When the Germans attacked Norway he was a fisherman, and soon joined the underground army
. His activities were discovered by the Germans and he had to leave the country.
He and three other men escaped to Shetland in August 1941 with his father's boat, the 42-foot Villa II. From Shetland he was transferred to England were he joined and trained with the Kompani Linge. He was among the men Larsen choose as crew on M/B Arthur and sailed several tours with Larsen. He was crewman on M/B Siglaos, M/B Feie, M/B Harald and M/B Heland. In December 1943, he joined the crew on the submarine chaser Hessa as engineer under command of Petter Salen. When Hessa was under repair, Iversen served as engineer on Vigra, and did one tour on a Norwegian Navy MTB. When Hessa was back again he rejoined the crew, and stayed there until the war ended. Kåre Iversen did 57 tours across the North Sea, most of them as engineer.
On 6 December 1944, he married the Scalloway girl Christine 'Cissie' Slater. They stayed in Scalloway after the war and had three daughters. In 1996, Shetland Times Ltd. published Iverson's memoirs, I Was a Shetland Bus Man. It was reprinted in 2004, with a new introduction and the title Shetland Bus Man.
Nesse was the second Norwegian buried at Lunna Kirk. The first was an unknown sailor buried on 5 February 1940. He was probably from the cargo ship Hop, that had left Bergen on 2 February 1940, and was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. The third man was buried 9 June 1942. He was found drifting in the sea by a local crofter, John Johnson from Lunna. The "Shetland/Norwegian Friendship Society" has set up a plaque on the churchyard wall in remembrance to these two unknown men.
David Howarth
(1912–2 July 1991), requested that his ashes be scattered over the water at Lunna Voe. A memorial plaque is mounted on the churchyard wall at Lunna Kirk.
with King Haakon VII
, Crown Prince Olav
, members of the Norwegian Government and most of the gold
from the Norwegian National Bank. In northern Norway, the fighting lasted for another month. Only a few weeks after the occupation began, the first boats of an "armada" of fishing vessels and other boats began to arrive in Shetland. Many of these boats made several journeys across the North Sea carrying refugees.
Many were "Hardanger Cutters", with a straight bow and long stern from the Bergen area, others the more rounded "Møre Cutters" from the area around Ålesund. It appeared that the "Møre Cutter" was the strongest and best-fitted for the heavy weather in the North Sea. The boats were of many kinds and shapes, but most of those used as a "Shetland Bus", were from 50 to 70 feet in length, with two masts and equipped with a 30 to 70 hp single-cylinder semi-diesel engine, which made the characteristic 'tonk-tonk' sound.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
-occupied Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
from 1941 until the German occupation
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit" (NNIU). In October 1943 it became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
, and was renamed the "Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit" (RNNSU).
The unit was operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats, and later augmented by three fast and well-armed submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
s – , and .
Crossings were mostly made during the winter under the cover of darkness. This meant that the crews and passengers had to endure very heavy North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
conditions, with no lights, and constant risk of discovery by German aircraft or patrol boats. There was also the possibility of being captured whilst carrying out the mission on the Norwegian coast. However, early on it was decided that camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...
was the best defence and the boats were disguised as working fishing boats, with the crew as fishermen. The fishing boats were armed with light machine gun
Light machine gun
A light machine gun is a machine gun designed to be employed by an individual soldier, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. Light machine guns are often used as squad automatic weapons.-Characteristics:...
s concealed inside oil drums placed on deck. The operation was under constant threat from German forces, and several missions went awry, of which the Telavåg
Telavåg
Telavåg is a small village in the municipality of Sund, located 39 km south west of Bergen, Norway, with a population of about 600.-Telavåg tragedy:...
tragedy is a prime example. Several fishing boats were lost during the initial operations, but after receiving the three submarine chasers there were no more losses.
Leif Andreas Larsen
Leif Larsen
Leif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar , popularly known as ShetlandsLarsen, was a Norwegian sailor and the most highly decorated allied naval officer of World War II...
(popularly known as Shetland Larsen) was perhaps the most famous of the Shetland Bus men. In all he made 52 trips to Norway, and became the most highly-decorated Allied naval officer of the Second World War.
History
Establishment of the Shetland bus
In late 1940, both the Secret Intelligence ServiceSecret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(SIS) and the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
s (SOE) Norwegian Naval Independent Unit (not to be confused with another SOE Norwegian unit: the Norwegian Independent Coy. No.1
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
, or Kompani Linge), established a base in Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
. SIS later moved to Peterhead
Peterhead
Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement , with a population of 17,947 at the 2001 Census and estimated to have fallen to 17,330 by 2006....
.
They asked some of the skippers of the boats that were coming from Norway if they would return to deliver agents, and bring others back to Shetland. This went on throughout the winter of 1940-41. In early 1941 it was decided to formally establish a group of men and boats to assist the SIS and the SOE.
The main purpose of the group was to transfer agents in and out of Norway, and supply them with weapons, radios and other supplies. They would also bring out Norwegians who feared arrest by the Germans. Sometimes the group was involved in special operations, like the failed attack on the German battleship , and the raids on Måløy
Operation Archery
Operation Archery, also known as the Vaagso Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid during World War II against German positions on Vaagso Island , Norway, on 27 December 1941....
and Lofoten
Operation Claymore
Operation Claymore was the codename for a British Commandos raid on the Lofoten Islands in Norway during the Second World War. The Lofoten Islands were an important center for the production of fish oil and glycerine, used in the German war industry. The landings were carried out on 4 March 1941,...
.
The men put in charge of organizing the group were a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer, Major Leslie H. Mitchell and his assistant, Lieutenant David Howarth
David Armine Howarth
David Howarth was a British historian and author. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he was a radio war correspondent for the BBC at the start of World War II. Howarth joined the Navy after the fall of France...
. Upon their arrival in Shetland they commandeered Flemington House, (later named "Kergord"), in Weisdale
Weisdale
Weisdale is a bay, hamlet and ancient parish in Shetland. The bay opens near the northern extremity of Scalloway Bay, and strikes four and a half miles to the north north east.The hamlet lies at the bay's head, about twelve miles north west of Lerwick....
, for their headquarters, and they found a perfect location in Lunna Ness
Lunna Ness
Lunna Ness is a peninsula in the north east of Mainland, Shetland, in the parish of Lunnasting near Vidlin. The island of Lunna Holm is nearby. The Shetland Bus operation during WWII used this area as a base....
north of Lerwick, from which the boats could operate. Before then the boats had been moored in Cat Firth.
Lunna Ness had a sheltered harbour and a small population that were not too curious about what was going on. Lunna House
Lunna House
Lunna House is a 17th-century laird's house on Lunna Ness in the Shetland Islands. Lunna House is noted for having "the best historic designed landscape in Shetland"...
was used as accommodation for the boat crews. Whilst Mitchell stayed in Flemington, Howarth set up headquarters in Lunna House. Their whole staff consisted of three British sergeants; Almond, Sherwood and Olsen; Norman Edwards, a stenographer; Harald Albertsen, a Norwegian cook, at Lunna; and two maids in Flemington.
During the first winter Flemington House was used to train saboteurs and house agents, and also accommodate incoming Norwegian refugees. Later all refugees were received in a special camp at the James Sutherland Herring Factory in Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
. The camp was administered by James Adie and his Norwegian-born wife.
Facilities
The lack of a slipway and other repair facilities, meant that at first the boats had to be repaired at Malakoff's in Lerwick. Later they moved the boats and crews to ScallowayScalloway
Scalloway is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic coast of Mainland, Shetland with a population of approximately 812, at the 2001 census...
, where William Moore & Son had a mechanical workshop, and where a slipway, (named Prince Olav's Slipway) was built. Harald Angeltveit and Johan Haldorsen were the head mechanics and Severin Roald became leader of the carpenters. All repairs on the ships were done there, but Lunna Voe was still used for preparing special operations.
Dinapore House was headquarters for the base in Scalloway
Scalloway
Scalloway is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic coast of Mainland, Shetland with a population of approximately 812, at the 2001 census...
, while Flemington House became quarters for agents awaiting transport to Norway, or for de-brief on return. A former net loft, owned by Nicolson & Co. became accommodation for the boat crews, and was named "Norway House". Sevrin Roald's wife, Inga Roald, was housekeeper there.
Flemington House was also on occasion visited by high-ranking officers like the Commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
, Scottish Command
Scottish Command
-History:The Command was established in 1905 at Edinburgh Castle but moved to Craigiehall in the early 1950s.Since 1936 the General Officer Commanding Scottish Command has also always been appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle....
, and the Admiral Commanding Orkney and Shetland. The most prominent guest was HKH Crown Prince Olav of Norway
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
who visited in October 1942.
Mitchell left the base in Scalloway in December 1942, and Captain Arthur William Sclater, known as "Rogers", became leader of operations, and his Norwegian-born wife, Alice, acted as welfare officer for the crews.
Operations of the Shetland bus
In the beginning, there were fourteen fishing boats of various sizes available. The first Shetland Bus boat, the Aksel, skippered by August Nærøy, departed for Bergen, from Hamna Voe, on the west side of Lunna Ness, on 30 August 1941. The other crewmen on this first tour were: Mindor Berge, Ivar Brekke, Andreas Gjertsen and Bård Grotle.The boats used at the start were ordinary fishing boats, but after some loss of men and boats, it was decided that they needed faster vessels. On 26 October 1943 the US Navy officially transferred three submarine chasers to the Shetland Bus operation. They were the Hitra, Vigra, and Hessa.
These craft were 110 feet long and powered by two 1,200 hp diesel engines. They were capable of a top speed of 22 kn (26.8 mph; 43.1 km/h), with a normal cruising speed of 17 knots. When the submarine chasers arrived, the group became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
, and was renamed: "Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit" (RNNSU).
- Hitra was commanded by Ingvald Eidsheim.
- Vigra was commanded by Leif LarsenLeif LarsenLeif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar , popularly known as ShetlandsLarsen, was a Norwegian sailor and the most highly decorated allied naval officer of World War II...
. - Hessa was commanded by Petter Salen.
They carried out more than 100 tours to Norway, with no loss of men or ships.
On 9 May 1945, Vigra, with Larsen in command, and Hitra with Eidsheim , entered the harbour of Lyngøy near Bergen in free Norway.
The group had made a total of 198 tours to Norway, with fishing boats and submarine chasers, and one man, Leif Larsen, did 52 of them. The "Shetland Bus" had transported 192 agents and 383 tons of weapons and supplies to Norway, and had brought out 73 agents and 373 refugees. Forty-four members of the group had lost their lives.
The crews
The crews of the Shetland Bus were men of the coast, fishermen and sailors with detailed local knowledge. They knew who was to be trusted, important when something went wrong. Most of them came over after the occupation, some with their own vessels, others with vessels that were "stolen" with the owner's approval. They were young men, most of them in their twenties, some even younger. Many of them did several tours in the spring and summer of 1940, evacuating British soldiers who had been left in Norway after the battles of April–MayNorwegian Campaign
The Norwegian Campaign was a military campaign that was fought in Norway during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany, after the latter's invasion of the country. In April 1940, the United Kingdom and France came to Norway's aid with an expeditionary force...
, and other British citizens living in Norway.
Leif Larsen
Leif Larsen
Leif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar , popularly known as ShetlandsLarsen, was a Norwegian sailor and the most highly decorated allied naval officer of World War II...
, known as "Shetlands Larsen", (9 January 1906–12 October 1990), was born in Bergen. He joined the Norwegian volunteers during the Finnish Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
. Soon after the war in Finland ended, Norway was invaded by Germany. A Swedish officer, Benckert, set up a company of volunteers who made their way to Norway, and fought in eastern Norway until 8 June 1940, until the war was officially over.
Larsen arrived in Shetland with the boat M/B Motig I, on 11 February 1941. After training with Kompani Linge in England and Scotland, Larsen returned to Lerwick in the St Magnus on 19 August 1941. He did his first Shetland Bus tour with M/B Siglaos, skippered by Petter Salen, on 14 September 1941.
After the loss of the minelayer Nordsjøen, where Larsen was second in command, he became a skipper and could choose his own crew. His first crew was Palmer Bjørnøy, Leif Kinn, Arne Kinn, Kåre Iversen, Karsten Sangolt, Nils Nipen and Otto Pletten. His first boat was M/K Arthur, the boat he "requisitioned" and escaped from Norway with after the wrecking of Nordsjøen. On 8 November 1941, Larsen sailed from Shetland on his first tour as skipper. On their return to Shetland, they ran into a storm, and one man, Karsten Sangolt, was blown overboard and drowned.
Larsen made several tours with the Arthur, but he also skippered other boats, like M/B Siglaos, and M/B Feie. In October 1942, he had to scuttle the Arthur in Throndheimsfjord after a failed attempt to attack the German warship Tirpitz. He and the crew escaped to Sweden, but a British agent, A.B. Evans, was arrested and later shot.
On 23 March 1943, returning from Træna, Nordland, with M/K Bergholm, they were attacked by German aircraft. The boat was sunk, but Larsen and the crew, many of them wounded, rowed for several days until they reached the coast of Norway, near Ålesund. One man, Nils Vika, died of his wounds. The other crew were: Andreas Færøy, Johannes Kalvø, Finn Clausen, Gunnar Clausen, Odd Hansen, and William Enoksen. After hiding in different places, they were rescued on 14 April by a MTB
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
from Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
with Lieut. Broberg in command.
In October 1943, the new submarine chasers arrived and Larsen became commander of Vigra, with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
. In total he made 52 tours to Norway in fishing vessels and submarine chasers.
British awards:
- Conspicuous Gallantry MedalConspicuous Gallantry MedalThe Conspicuous Gallantry Medal was, until 1993, a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Armed Forces and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy at sea...
- Distinguished Service Medal and BarDistinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Service Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy and members of the other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service...
- Distinguished Service CrossDistinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
- Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
Norwegian awards:
- Krigskors med sverd og stjerneWar Cross with swordThe War Cross with Sword is the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. It is awarded for extraordinary brave actions or extraordinary leadership during combat. A recipient deemed worthy of additional citations will receive up to an additional two swords on the medal ribbon in addition to...
- St. Olavsmedaljen med eikegrenSt Olav's medalThe St. Olav's Medal and the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch were instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 17 March 1939. They are awarded in recognition of "outstanding services rendered in connection with the spreading of information about Norway abroad and for strengthening the bonds between...
- KrigsmedaljenNorwegian War MedalThe War Medal is a Norwegian war decoration for service during Second World War.The Norwegian War Medal was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway by Royal Decree on 23 May 1941 with the addition of the Royal Decree of 13 November 1942. It may be awarded to Norwegian and foreign members of the...
- Deltagermedaljen med rosett
Kåre Iversen
Kåre Emil Iversen, (10 October 1918–2001), was born in FlatangerFlatanger
Flatanger is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lauvsnes. Other villages include Jøssund and Vik.-General information:...
, Norway. He was the son of a sea pilot
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
and had joined his father on the pilot boat
Pilot boat
A Pilot Boat is a type of boat used to transport pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting.-History:The origins of the word pilot probably disseminates from the Latin word pilota, a variation of pedota, the plural of pēdón which translates as oar...
. When the Germans attacked Norway he was a fisherman, and soon joined the underground army
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
. His activities were discovered by the Germans and he had to leave the country.
He and three other men escaped to Shetland in August 1941 with his father's boat, the 42-foot Villa II. From Shetland he was transferred to England were he joined and trained with the Kompani Linge. He was among the men Larsen choose as crew on M/B Arthur and sailed several tours with Larsen. He was crewman on M/B Siglaos, M/B Feie, M/B Harald and M/B Heland. In December 1943, he joined the crew on the submarine chaser Hessa as engineer under command of Petter Salen. When Hessa was under repair, Iversen served as engineer on Vigra, and did one tour on a Norwegian Navy MTB. When Hessa was back again he rejoined the crew, and stayed there until the war ended. Kåre Iversen did 57 tours across the North Sea, most of them as engineer.
On 6 December 1944, he married the Scalloway girl Christine 'Cissie' Slater. They stayed in Scalloway after the war and had three daughters. In 1996, Shetland Times Ltd. published Iverson's memoirs, I Was a Shetland Bus Man. It was reprinted in 2004, with a new introduction and the title Shetland Bus Man.
Losses
The first of the Shetland Bus men to lose his life was Nils Nesse, 23, from Bremnes on the island Bømlo south of Bergen. He was killed on 28 October 1941 when German aircraft attacked the Siglaos on its way to Shetland from Norway. Nesse was buried at Lunna Kirk churchyard with a Scottish ceremony, because there was no Norwegian clergyman to conduct the funeral. His body was moved to his home in Norway in 1948, but there is still a cross marking his grave at Lunna.Nesse was the second Norwegian buried at Lunna Kirk. The first was an unknown sailor buried on 5 February 1940. He was probably from the cargo ship Hop, that had left Bergen on 2 February 1940, and was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine. The third man was buried 9 June 1942. He was found drifting in the sea by a local crofter, John Johnson from Lunna. The "Shetland/Norwegian Friendship Society" has set up a plaque on the churchyard wall in remembrance to these two unknown men.
David Howarth
David Armine Howarth
David Howarth was a British historian and author. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he was a radio war correspondent for the BBC at the start of World War II. Howarth joined the Navy after the fall of France...
(1912–2 July 1991), requested that his ashes be scattered over the water at Lunna Voe. A memorial plaque is mounted on the churchyard wall at Lunna Kirk.
The boats
When Germany launched their invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 British troops and ships were sent to help the Norwegians. Several coastal towns were bombed and destroyed by the Germans, and during April and May, the British ships had to retreat from mid-Norway. On 29 April, left a devastated MoldeMolde
is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...
with King Haakon VII
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
, Crown Prince Olav
Olav V of Norway
Olav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud of Norway...
, members of the Norwegian Government and most of the gold
Flight of the Norwegian National Treasury
The National Treasury of Norway consisted of in 1940 value worth of gold weighing around 50 tons. The entire gold deposit was stored at Norges Bank's main vault at their headquarters in Oslo. During the increasing tension of the 1930s, plans were made to make the deposit more mobile...
from the Norwegian National Bank. In northern Norway, the fighting lasted for another month. Only a few weeks after the occupation began, the first boats of an "armada" of fishing vessels and other boats began to arrive in Shetland. Many of these boats made several journeys across the North Sea carrying refugees.
Many were "Hardanger Cutters", with a straight bow and long stern from the Bergen area, others the more rounded "Møre Cutters" from the area around Ålesund. It appeared that the "Møre Cutter" was the strongest and best-fitted for the heavy weather in the North Sea. The boats were of many kinds and shapes, but most of those used as a "Shetland Bus", were from 50 to 70 feet in length, with two masts and equipped with a 30 to 70 hp single-cylinder semi-diesel engine, which made the characteristic 'tonk-tonk' sound.
Further reading
- Sigurd Evensmo, Englandsfarere (1945) (English: "A Boat for England" (1947))
- David HowarthDavid Armine HowarthDavid Howarth was a British historian and author. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he was a radio war correspondent for the BBC at the start of World War II. Howarth joined the Navy after the fall of France...
, The Shetland Bus (1951) (Norwegian: "Nordsjøbussen") - David Howarth, We Die Alone (1955) (Norwegian: "Ni liv")
- James W. Irvine, The Waves are Free (1988) (Norwegian: "Men bølgene er jo fri")
- James W. Irvine, The Giving Years (1991)
- James W. Irvine, Final Curtain (2004)
- Kåre Iversen, I Was a Shetland Bus Man (1996), (reprinted 2004 as Shetland Bus Man)
- Erling Jensen & Ragnar Ulstein, Company Linge' (1948)
- John MacRae, Kergord House (1982)
- George Mikes, The Epic of Lofoten. London: Hutchinson, [194-]
- James R. Nicolson, Memories of The Shetland Bus (1984)
- James R. Nicolson, The Shetland Bus (1987)
- L. K. Schei & G. Moberg, The Shetland Story (1988)
- Willie Smith, Willie's War and Other Stories, Shetland Times Ltd. (2003) ISBN 978-1898852971
- Odd StrandOdd StrandOdd Strand was a Norwegian civil servant.He was born in Aure, but grew up in Trondheim. During the German occupation of Norway he was a member of Milorg. He later studied at the University of Oslo, graduating as cand.philol...
, Hitra (1987) - Fritjof Sælen, Shetlands Larsen (1947) (English: "None But the Brave - The Story of 'Shetlands Larsen'" (1955))
- Trygve Sørvaag, Shetland Bus: Faces and Places 60 Years On (2002)
- Ragnar UlsteinRagnar Ulstein-Early life and World War II:Ulstein was born in Ulstein, Sunnmøre, as the son of Johannes Olsson Ulstein and Borghild Strand . He finished his secondary education at Volda in June 1940. Later that year he fled to the United Kingdom due to World War II and the German occupation of Norway...
, Englandsfarten (1965/67) (English: "The North Sea Traffic" (1992))
External links
- Shetlopedia.com - The Shetland Bus - Detailed information about the Shetland Bus operation, including information on boats and people lost
- Shetland Bus
- Shetland Bus - Pictures of the ships
- Splinter Fleet - 1st section is about Hitra
- HNoMS Hitra - the Norwegian Naval museum's site on Hitra
- http://www.shetland-heritage.co.uk/shetlandbus/
- http://www.warsailors.com/shetlandbus/index.html
- http://www.andholmen.no/
- The North Sea Museum
- http://lofotenkrigmus.no/hovengelsk.htm
- Hitra
- http://www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/Shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=17580
- War Memorials in Lunna (mostly in )
- Scotland on Sunday - The Nazi bid to poison Shetland
- Splinter Fleet Website - The Wooden Sub Chasers of WWII