Liberation Convoy to recreate wartime route from Norway to UK for VE Day events
Fishing boats and a merchant ship were used to smuggle special forces soldiers and secret agents from Shetland to Nazi-occupied Norway.
A flotilla of “Shetland Bus” vessels used for secret operations during the Second World War will cross from Norway to Scotland to remember unsung heroes ahead of VE Day commemorations.
The fishing boats and merchant ship were used to smuggle special forces soldiers and secret agents from Shetland to Nazi-occupied Norway.
They also carried weapons, explosives and radios for the resistance movement and on their return journeys brought refugees and soldiers escaping from the Nazis.
Vessels travelling the route, dubbed the “Shetland Bus”, were at constant risk of discovery by German submarines and planes.
Some of the boats used during the war are now being reunited to take part in a Liberation Convoy which will travel from Norway to Lerwick in Shetland next month, arriving in time for events commemorating the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8.
They include MK Andholmen, which was used for missions to Shetland, as well as Orkney and mainland Scotland.
Per Ola Holm, current skipper of MK Andholmen, said: “Ordinary Norwegians were trained as special forces soldiers in both England and Scotland.
