Saturday 27 August 2011

9:00-10:00 AM Eastern www.veteransradio.net

The Shetland Bus

The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norwayfrom 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. Using modified fishing trawlers and later submarine chasers, and manned by all volunteer crews of Norweigen fishermen and sailors, the Shetland Bus was a joint effort of the Special Operations Executives (SOE), the British Admiraltys Naval Intelligence, and the Military Intelligence Service of Norways government in exile. Its twofold purpose was the transport of Norwegian agents to and from Norway, and the rescue of individuals facing capture and arrest by the Nazis. While all SOE operations were high risk, missions conducted by Shetland Bus were particularly daunting. All were conducted above latitude 60 degrees North in the North Sea, probably the most dangerous waters in Europe. Adding to the risk was the fact that because of the high latitude, all missions had to be conducted in winter, the stormiest time of the year, in order to take advantage of the 18 hours of darkness that helped shield the ships from detection during transit.. From August 1941 until the end of the war in May 1945, the Shetland Bus conducted more than 150 missions, transporting to Norway 192 agents and 383 tons of weapons and supplies, and rescuing 373 Norwegians.The most famous of the Shetland Bus men was Leif Andreas Larsen (popularly known as Shetland Larsen). In all he made 52 trips to Norway, and became the most highly-decorated Allied naval officer of the Second World War. Join host Dale Throneberry and Defense Media Network award winning author Dwight Zimmerman and hear the crucial, but now all but forgotten true story of the SOE/Norwegian special operations program.

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