We commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first Shetland Bus Mission
Alex Corlett commemorates the 80th anniversary of the first Shetland Bus mission.
WHEN Germany invaded Norway in 1940, the country was unprepared. The King fled to London with the rest of the royal family and the government, while Norwegian citizens were left occupied or seeking their own means of escape.
For much of coastal Norway, the closest unoccupied land was the Shetland Islands, and many fled to the welcome of the islanders – whilst others travelled as far as Iceland and England.
Ties between the Scottish isles and the Scandinavian countries had always been strong, with the Shetland Islands in particular having a strong Norse heritage.
The events of World War II only served to cement that bond.
It’s thought around 300 vessels and hundreds of passengers left the Norwegian coast in fishing craft, risking the turbulent North Sea in a bid for freedom.
After the relative success of this escape, it occurred to the Allied Forces that perhaps the journey could work both ways.
Norway was full of determined but underequipped resistance fighters, and it was believed that munitions and other supplies could be smuggled back into the country across the sea.
Winston Churchill tasked the Special Operations Executive with maximising this opportunity, and a base for the “Shetland Bus” was set up – originally in Kergord before moving to Scalloway.
It’s here that a memorial was unveiled in 2003 in honour of the bravery of the soldiers, which was later visited in 2007 by Queen Sonia of Norway.
Operations began in 1941 – 80 years ago – and continued until the end of the war in 1945.
The main reason the missions were so dangerous was that Hitler genuinely believed the Norwegian coast could be a possible site of an attempted Allied attack.
Therefore, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were deployed to watch over and patrol the mountainous Norwegian coastline.
As a result, Shetland Bus ships had to choose the stormiest nights to make the crossing and evade German ships – maximising their chances, but also the risks.
For the first two years of operations, regular fishing boats made the trip, crewed mainly by volunteer fishermen.
Despite the expertise of the captains and crew, wild weather and German defences led to the loss of 10 boats and 44 men over the course of 100 missions.
An incident in a small island village called Telavåg highlighted the risks.
Two British agents were discovered hiding in the village in 1942.
A Norwegian informer and two Gestapo officers were killed to protect them, but the German forces retaliated by burning down the village.
The elderly and the women of the area were imprisoned, while the men were sent to concentration camps – half of them never to return.
In 1943, the Americans loaned the operation several boats called submarine-chasers.
These speedy little vessels were sturdy and designed to be able to fight back against both subs and aircraft.
On-board weapons were hidden as best as was possible, in the hopes that even the sub-chasers would be passed off as regular fishing vessels.
As a result of their use, an incredible 115 further missions were completed without any loss of life.
There is a memorial at Scalloway to the men who lost their lives in the operations.
It is built from different stones collected from the place each man was from.
Barbara Melkevik, a Shetland woman who had married a Norwegian during the war, officially unveiled it in 2003, for ever commemorating the friendship between two nations that saved so many lives. ■