The Shetland Bus

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By then, the original museum had outgrown its old premises on Main Street, and so the Society instigated a six-year project to fund and create the current museum in larger premises adjacent to the castle. The Vita arrived at Shetland on 9 May 1940 with four Norwegian Navy officers and two other refugees aboard. The Vita started as a "Bus" boat before the "Shetland Bus" was officially established. Her first voyage to Norway was on 22 December 1940, skippered by Hilmar Langøy. The next was on 27 March 1941, this time skippered by Ingvald Johansen, who became her skipper for the rest of her missions. Johansen's crew were; Åge Sandvik, H.W. Olsen, Jens Haldorsen and J. Hermansen. Much of what we know today about the operation is thanks to the 1951 book, The Shetland Bus. Subtitled A classic story of secret wartime missions across the North Sea, the book chronicles the period through the perspective of junior naval officer David Howarth who helped set up the base. At the onset of World War II, the Kingdom of Norway was not allied with the Axis or Allied Powers, leading both factions to consider invading the country due to its strategic position in the North Sea. While the British in particular drew plans to mine Norwegian waters and prevent Axis ships from transiting these waters, Nazi Germany actually invaded and occupied the country in 1940. Odd Strand (1987) Hitra: Med Ingvald Eidsheim og hans menn pa krigstokt løpet Nordsjøen (J.W. Eide) ( (in Norwegian))

James W. Irvine (1988) The Waves Are Free: Shetland Norway Links, 1940 To 1945 (The Shetland Publishing Co) Sælen, Frithjof (1973). None But the Brave: Story of "Shetlands" Larsen (HarperCollins) ISBN 978-0583121286The M/K. Blia left Norway on 14 November 1941, en route to Shetland. Captain of the vessel was 21-year-old Ingvald Leroy, and along with his six crew members, he had on board thirty-five Norwegian refugees. On the night of the journey, the weather was particularly bad, with a strong possibility of storms forecast. The smaller, more agile 50- to 70-foot fishing boats provided a fitting disguise. David Howarth, another British SOE officer who joined Mitchell in June 1941 and authored the book “The Shetland Bus: A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival, and Adventure,” described their design.

But all was not death and destruction for the Shetland Bus. Flemington House has a distinction that, if not unique, certainly ranks as a rarity in the history of special operations. We armed the ships as best we ocould against chance encounters, always bearing in mind that to appear as innocent fishing boats might often be their best chance of survival, so that the armament had to be invisible except as close quarters”– The Shetland Bus by David Howarth. After the War he designed and built boats before turning to writing full time. He wrote an account of the Shetland Bus operation, as well as many other books of history, bringing to his many of his books an immense practical knowledge of ships and the sea.

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At the beginning of the war, small Norwegian fishing boats were used to transport intelligence and supplies, and offer Norwegian refugees passage to Britain. The operation was under British command, but later it became a joint effort. One of the highlights of the book was a scheme to destroy the German battleship Tirpitz while it sat in a Norwegian fjord. The unit made extensive preparations and nearly succeeded. The plan was to use a vessel called a chariot, kind of like a two-man torpedo. The chariot would be launched at night from a fishing boat, guided by two men, and taken right to their target. Then they would unscrew the warhead, attach it to the Tirpitz with magnets, set a timer, and be on their way across the Norwegian frontier into neutral Sweden. They practiced, prepared, got through a German control point where their boat was searched, and nearly made it to the Tirpitz before the two chariots (being towed behind the ship so they wouldn’t be noticed during inspection) disappeared—somehow the lines broke. When Germany launched Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, French and 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, HMS Glasgow left the devastated city of Molde 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. A few weeks after the occupation began, the first boats of an "armada" of fishing vessels and other boats began to arrive in Shetland. Some boats made several journeys across the North Sea carrying refugees. [3] When the war ended, the Heland returned to Norway and became fishing vessel again. In 1971, it was donated to Sunnmøre Museum. The Heland is now preserved as a typical representative fishing vessel of the "Shetland Bus" fleet. The castle is typical of Scottish castles of the time. There were four storeys and an attic, but the most impressive space is undoubtedly the great hall, which occupies the first floor and was apparently richly decorated in its day.

The crews of the Shetland Bus ( Shetlandsgjengen) were men of the coast, fishermen and sailors with detailed local knowledge. Most 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 stranded in Norway after the Norwegian Campaign and other British citizens living in Norway. [8] Leif Larsen [ edit ] Shetlands Larsen, Norwegian leader of the "Bus" operations in World War II

The first official journey was carried out by the Norwegian fishing vessel the Aksel, which left Luna Ness on 30 August 1941 on route to Bremen in Norway. This book examines that first journey, as well later ones, and discusses the agents and operations which members of the Shetland Bus were involved in throughout the war. It also looks at the donation of 3 submarine chasers to the operation, made in October 1943, by the United States Navy. I can assure you and Dwight that the Shetland Bus is far from forgotten in the village of Scalloway where it was based. There are people still living in the village who remeber it well. Several Shetland Bus personnel married local women and the descendants of some of them still live here. A mission on the horizon in 1942 to target the German battleship Tirpitz was given to the only skipper bold enough to carry it out. The Tirpitz looked like a skyscraper on its side, outfitted with the biggest guns the German Navy had ever built. To say it was enormous would be an understatement. Strategically placed at the Trondheim fjord, British destroyers and aircraft carriers were occupied in its surveillance but were desperately needed elsewhere. The Shetland “Bus” was a crucial connection for the resistance, as well as the arrival of Norwegian refugees to Shetland, formed by Norwegian fishing ships that would make trips between Norway and Shetland communities like Kergord and Lunna. Scalloway would go on to become the main base for the Bus from 1942 onwards. It now holds most of the memorials and tributes dedicated to the operation.