Shetland-Larsen was in charge of an undercover operation to help the resistance in Nazi-occupied Norway during World War II. Learn more about Shetland Busman – a Norwegian War Hero.
The Shetland Bus (Shetlandsbussene), was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Mainland Shetland in Scotland and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the surrender of Nazi Germany on 8 May 1945. This link transferred agents in and out of Norway, providing them with weapons, radios, and other supplies. From mid-1942, the group’s official name was the 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 many small fishing boats and later augmented by three fast and well-armed submarine chasers – Vigra, Hessa, and Hitra.
Most Norwegians knew that small boats were shuttling people and weapons between Shetland and the west coast of Norway. In the depths of winter and under the cover of darkness, convoys of these small fishing boats left the safety of Scotland’s most northerly islands to deliver valuable cargo and special agents to coves and fishing ports 200 miles away along the coast of Norway.
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Crossings were mainly made during the winter under the cover of darkness. This meant the crews and passengers had to endure burdensome 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.
First informally and then as a formal part of the war effort, the Shetland Bus operated more than 200 trips. Soldiers, intelligence personnel, and military supplies were transported along with those fleeing capture. In total, 10 fishing boats were lost during the Shetland Bus convoys, and 44 men lost their lives.
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 vessels, others with ships 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.
Popularly known as Shetland Larsen, Leif Larsen was a highly decorated Norwegian sailor and arguably the most famous of all who operated the route. Of the 198 trips to Norway, Larsen completed 52 of them.
Leif Larsen (9 January 1906 – 12 October 1990) became the most highly decorated Allied naval officer of the Second World War. Larsen was born in Bergen, Norway, and 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 went to Norway and fought in eastern Norway until 8 June 1940, until the end of the war.
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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 losing the minelayer Nordsjøen, where Larsen was second in command, he became a skipper and could choose his crew.
His first boat was M/K Arthur, the boat that he had “requisitioned” on his escape from Norway, after the wrecking of Nordsjøen. On 8 November 1941, Larsen sailed from Shetland on his first tour as skipper. Larsen made several tours with the Arthur but also skippered other boats, like M/B Siglaos and M/B Feie. In October 1942, he had to scuttle the Arthur in Trondheimsfjord 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.
Shetland residents hosted soldiers and refugees from Norway throughout the war, forming a close bond between the two locations that endures to this day.
Shetland Busman – A Norwegian War Hero, written by Tor Kjolberg.
Feature image (top) © Minnemerkekommiteen