How the secret ‘Shetland Bus’ Norway helped during the Second World War

It sounds like it could be the plot of a espionage broman, but the ‘Shetland bus’ was a real undercover operation that was performed to help the resistance in Nazi-occupied Norway during the Second World War.

In the depths of winter and under the coverage of darkness, convoys of small fishing boats left the safety of the northernmost islands of Scotland to deliver valuable freight and special agents to bays and fishing ports from 200 miles away along the coast of Norway.

On the dangerous return trips, refugees who fled the occupation were hidden in the Gorduian of the fishing boats, while looking for a sanctuary on the British islands.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in Europe (VE) day, six of the historic ships that were part of the Shetland -Buskon vooages will once again sail from Bergen in Norway to replicate the trip back to Shetland.

They are planning to arrive in Lerwick on Tuesday for the VE Day commemorations.

Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany on 8 April 1940, a few months before the full occupation of France.

The Norwegian government and its royal family, including King Haakon VII, were forced into exile in London and thousands of Norwegian people followed in fishing boats and other small ships, who crossed the North Sea to seek refuge in the UK.

In July 1940, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill founded a clandestine organization called the Special Operations Executive (SOE) with the sole purpose of carrying out spy and sabotage emissions in the Europe occupied by German.

The Buscun Evoys from Shetland were part of the Norwegian branch of the SOE, to support the resistance movement in Norway.

Between 1940 and 1945 they made 200 intersections in the North Sea, transported hundreds of resistance agents, Ton weapons and supplies and saved more than 300 Norwegian refugees who flee the occupation.

The 200-Mile crossings took place in the winter to get the best of the hours of darkness and to prevent them from being seen by German patrols.

But this meant that the sea was often treacherous.

The crews and passengers on board not only had to endure heavy North Sea conditions, but also the constant risk of discovery by German planes or patrol boats.

On September 27, 1941, the MK Arnefjord left the small island of Hernar, northwest of Bergen, with 20 refugees.

Although the weather started calmly, they soon came across a furious storm. Everyone on board was seasick and some discussed the turning back.

Eventually the Arnefjord came across safely and supplied crews and passengers to the island of Mousa in Shetland.

But others were not lucky. Of the six boats that crossed the North Sea that weekend with the Arnefjord, only four made it.

A total of 10 fishing boats were lost during the Shetland -Buskon voyages and 44 men lost their lives.

The current skipper of the MK Arnefjord, Morten Neset, will make the return trip back to Shetland as part of the commemorations of the VE Day.

He told BBC Scotland News that the boats had to make the crossing in the winter or late fall to prevent the Germans from being detected.

“If they cross a clear summer day, they would be seen immediately,” he said.

“The Shetland bus was really important for the general population of Norway, because he demonstrated that someone ‘stood up for them’ in their resistance against the occupation.”

Bill Moore, from the Shetland Bus Friendship Society, said that, although it was difficult to say what impact it had on the war, it was an important part of the resistance movement that gave optimism and hope to the people in Norway.

People said they “took the Shetland bus” as a code to escape from the occupation.

Residents of Shetland organized soldiers and refugees from Norway during the war and formed a close bond between the two locations that exist to this day.

The Liberation Leave Bergen at 19:00 on Sunday in Norway and is planned to arrive in Lerwick on the morning of Tuesday 6 May, where it participates in a number of VE Day commemorations.