The Shetland Bus

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These torpedo-type boats were 110 ft long and very fast, allowing journey times between Shetland and Norway to be greatly reduced and carried out in greater safety. The story of the Shetland Bus would be nothing without the individuals involved, both the sailors of the boats and the agents who were carried between the two countries. These were very brave individuals who helped maintain an important lifeline to the beleaguered Norwegians.

In 1943, Larsen and some of his crew escaped after German aircraft bombed his boat by rowing for several to reach the Norwegian coastline. 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. The toll on boats and crew – 44 men had been lost by early 1943 – led to the fishing boats being replaced by ‘sub-chasers’, fast armed patrol boats borrowed from the US navy. They carried out hundreds more missions with no loss of life, right to the end of the war.Because of the need to travel at night in the winter, crews and passengers were in constant danger from storms. The risk of discovery by German patrols at sea and in the air was great. Irvine, James W. (1991). The Giving Years: Shetland and Shetlanders, 1939–1945 (Shetland Publishing) ISBN 978-0906736159 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.

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. Following the war, Larsen received multiple medals in both Norway and Britain. According to Scalloway Museum, no other non-Brit has received more British medals.Films portraying the Shetland Bus include Shetlandsgjengen (1954; released as Suicide Mission in the United States) [14] in which Leif Larsen played himself. The 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. Kåre Iversen was another notable member of the gang. Discovered to be a member of the resistance, Iversen escaped capture to Shetland in the early days of the war. He then joined 57 trips across the North Sea. Following the war, he married a Scalloway girl and fathered three daughters. Remembering the Shetland Bus