Section D and the Cruising Clubs Before Norway was invaded by the Germans, a unit within the
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) called
Section D operated a large section in
Scandinavia. In 1938, it began recruiting from the ranks of the
Royal Navy, and especially from the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). In 1939,
Frank George Griffith Carr, an accomplished
yachtsman and recently recruited member of Section D seconded from the RNVR, created a small reconnaissance group known as the "Cruising Club" with S. August Courtauld and
Gerard Holdsworth. Their mission was to survey the coasts of
Norway,
Denmark,
Holland, and
Belgium to identify potential
landing sites for agents, sabotage equipment, and propaganda material. In 1940, refugee Norwegian
seamen who escaped to Shetland after the
German invasion of Norway in 1940 coordinated with Section D to begin a more regular "bus" to ferry troops into Norway. Frank Carr went on to establish
seaborne smuggling routes into occupied Norway, which formed the direct genesis of the Shetland Bus. Other early participants included
Rubin Langmoe, a Norwegian naval reservist who joined the first Section D expedition with Karl Kronberg, and
Otto Ferdinand Aksdal, who escaped from Norway with
Olav Leirvåg and also took part in these initial missions. Despite Gubbins' ability to control the narrative, he did not invent the idea of the Shetland Bus, nor was it an invention of the SOE. Frank Carr did not go into the SOE, he remained in SIS and worked several operations in Scandinavia, before being assigned the curatorship of the Royal Naval museum.
Norwegian arrival When Germany launched
Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, French and British troops and ships were sent to help the Norwegians. Several coastal towns were bombed and destroyed by the Germans, and during April and May, the British ships had to retreat from mid-Norway. On 29 April, left the devastated city of
Molde with King
Haakon VII, Crown Prince
Olav, members of the Norwegian Government, and most of
the gold from the
Norwegian National Bank. In northern Norway, the fighting lasted for another month. A few weeks after the occupation began, the first boats of an "armada" of fishing vessels and other boats began to arrive in Shetland. Some boats made several journeys across the North Sea carrying refugees. Many of the boats were "Hardanger
Cutters", with a straight bow and long stern from the Bergen area, others the more rounded "Møre Cutters", from the area around Ålesund. It appeared that the "Møre Cutter" was the strongest and best-fitted for the heavy weather in the North Sea. The boats were of many kinds and shapes, but most of those used as a "Shetland Bus", were from long, with two masts and equipped with a 30 to 70 hp single-cylinder
semi-diesel engine, which made the characteristic "tonk-tonk" sound.
Formation in Shetland where operations were coordinated. In late 1940, both the
Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and the
Special Operations Executive (SOE) Norwegian Naval Independent Unit (not to be confused with another SOE Norwegian unit: the
Norwegian Independent Company. No.1 or
Kompani Linge), established a base in
Lerwick (pronounced
Lerrick); SIS later moved to
Peterhead. They asked some of the skippers of the boats that were coming from Norway, if they would return to deliver agents and bring others back to Shetland. This went on throughout the winter of 1940–41. In early 1941 it was decided formally to establish a group of men and boats to assist the SIS and the SOE. The main purpose of the group was to transfer agents in and out of Norway and provide them with weapons, radios and other supplies. They would also bring out Norwegians who feared arrest by the Germans. Sometimes the group was involved in special operations, like the failed attack on the German battleship ,
Operation Archery, the raids on Måløy and
Operation Claymore in the Lofoten Islands. The men put in charge of organising the group were a
British Army officer, Major Leslie Mitchell and his assistant, Lieutenant
David Howarth RNVR. Upon their arrival in
Shetland they commandeered Flemington House, (later named "Kergord"), in
Weisdale, for their headquarters and they found a perfect location in
Lunna Ness north of Lerwick, from which the boats could operate. Before then the boats had been moored in Cat Firth. Lunna Ness had a sheltered harbour and a small population that were not too curious about what was going on and
Lunna House was used as accommodation for the boat crews. Whilst Mitchell stayed in Flemington, Howarth set up headquarters in Lunna House. Their whole staff consisted of three British sergeants; Almond, Sherwood and Olsen; Norman Edwards, a
stenographer; Harald Albertsen, a Norwegian cook at Lunna and two maids in Flemington. During the first winter Flemington House was used to train saboteurs and house agents and to accommodate Norwegian refugees. Later the refugees were received in a special camp at the James Sutherland Herring Factory in
Lerwick, administered by James Adie and his Norwegian-born wife.
Facilities The lack of a slipway and other repair facilities meant that at first the boats had to be repaired at Malakoff's in Lerwick. Later, they moved the boats and crews to
Scalloway, where William Moore & Son had a mechanical workshop and where "Prince Olav's Slipway" was built. Harald Angeltveit and Johan Haldorsen were the head mechanics and Severin Roald became leader of the carpenters. All ship repairs were done there but Lunna Voe was still used for preparing special operations. Dinapore House was headquarters for the base in
Scalloway, while Flemington House became quarters for agents awaiting transport to Norway and for de-brief on return. A former net loft, owned by Nicolson & Co. became accommodation for the boat crews and was named "Norway House". Sevrin Roald's wife, Inga Roald, was the housekeeper. Flemington House was also on occasion visited by high-ranking officers like the
Commander-in-chief,
Scottish Command and the Admiral Commanding Orkney and Shetland. The most prominent guest was
HKH Crown Prince Olav of Norway who visited in October 1942. Mitchell left the base in Scalloway in December 1942 and Captain
Arthur William Sclater, known as "Rogers", became leader of operations; his Norwegian-born wife, Alice, acted as welfare officer for the crews.
Operations At first, there were fourteen fishing boats of various sizes. The original Shetland Bus boat, the
Aksel, skippered by August Nærøy, departed for Bergen from Hamna Voe, on the west side of Lunna Ness, on 30 August 1941. The other crew on this first tour were Mindor Berge, Ivar Brekke, Andreas Gjertsen, and Bård Grotle. Fishing boats were used at first, but after some losses, it was decided that faster vessels were necessary. On 26 October 1943, the
US Navy officially transferred the submarine chasers
Hitra,
Vigra, and
Hessa to the Shetland Bus operation. These craft were long and powered by two 1,200 hp diesel engines, capable of a top speed of , with a normal cruising speed of . When the submarine chasers arrived, the group became an official part of the
Royal Norwegian Navy and was renamed the Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit (RNNSU). •
KNM Hitra was commanded by
Ingvald Eidsheim. •
Vigra was commanded by
Leif Larsen. •
Hessa was commanded by
Petter Salen. They carried out more than 100 tours to Norway, with no loss of men or ships. On 9 May 1945,
Vigra, commanded by Larsen, and
Hitra, by Eidsheim, entered the harbour of Lyngøy near Bergen in free Norway. The group had made 198 trips to Norway in fishing boats and submarine chasers, Leif Larsen completing 52 of them. The "Shetland Bus" had transported 192 agents and of weapons and supplies to Norway and had brought out 73 agents and 373 refugees. Forty-four members of the group were killed. ==Notable members==