Shetland bus boats The Shetland bus was the name given to a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland , Scotland , and German - occupied Norway . From mid - 1941 until the end of the war it operated a number of vessels , mostly Norwegian fishing boats . Background . Germany launched their invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940 , and despite the efforts of the Norwegians and the British , the Germans controlled most of the country by the beginning of May . The occupation of Norway and the oppression which followed immediately prompted a number of Norwegians to escape and make landfall in the Orkney and Shetland Islands . Only a few weeks after the occupation began , the first boats of an " armada " of fishing vessels and other boats began to arrive in Shetland . Many of these boats made several journeys across the North Sea carrying refugees . The boats were of many types and shapes , but most of those later used as the " Shetland Bus " , were from 50 to , with two masts and equipped with a 30 to single - cylinder semi - diesel engine , which made the characteristic ' tonk - tonk ' sound . They had a maximum speed of . These engines were very unusual , and spare parts were not available in Britain , but that was easily solved . Norway ' s largest engine factory , Wichmann Diesel , at the time under German control , was located at Bømlo , near Bergen . The agents in the area received messages about which parts were needed , workers in the factory , many of them active members of the Resistance Movement , smuggled them out , and the parts were sent to Shetland with the next " Bus " . There were " Hardanger Cutters " , with a straight bow and long stern from the Bergen area , and 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 . Most of their crossings were done in the dark winter months with storms and heavy seas . Although these crossings were , by their nature , carried out in a manner to avoid enemy contact . The crews managed to equip the boats with several concealed weapons . David Howarth , who was with Special Operations Executive and Norwegian seaman , Per Blystad ( 1911 - 1942 ) invented many of these constructions . The most ingenious of these was a concrete - lined oil drum bolted to the deck . When the removable lid was lifted , a pair of ready loaded Lewis Gun s were telescoped into firing position , with the aid of a counterweight below decks . A steel shield came automatically up to protect the gunner . Oil drums were a natural thing to carry on a fishing boat ' s deck . Once in the North Sea , one of the boats was inspected by a suspicious British Navy ship , all other weapons were confiscated , but they did not find the two twin machine guns mounted on deck ! Special low mountings for twin 0 . 50 " Colt machine guns were mounted in the netroom , at the aft of the boat . These were not totally hidden , but with the use of folding handles , triggers , aims and shields they managed to keep them just above the edge of the gunwale , and they were easy to camouflage with a net . A similar construction was mounted in the bow , with a tarpaulin over , of the same shape as the covering of the whaling harpoons many of the Norwegian fishing boats had in the bow . At last all of the Bus boats carried seven or eight mounted , ready armed machine guns , and were able to protect themselves against enemy aircraft attacks . In October 1943 three American submarine chasers , , " Vigra " and " Hessa " , were delivered , which made the journeys across the North Sea much safer . The submarine chasers made more than 100 crossings with no losses of ships or men . The only damage that occurred on the boats was when the " Hessa " was attacked by an Allied aircraft . Boats used in the Shetland Bus operation . M / B " Aksel " ( M40G ) . " Aksel " of Giske , long , the first " Shetland Bus " boat , arrived Shetland on 5 May 1941 with 20 refugees . Skipper Anders Nærøy chose the " Aksel " on the first official " Shetland Bus " mission , on 30 August 1941 . " Aksel " later made several journeys to Norway with different skippers . On 8 December 1942 , " Aksel " , on its way from Kristiansund , skippered by Bård Grotle , sent out a SOS signal north of Shetland . A Catalina flying boat and an MTB were sent out to search for the vessel . The next day the Catalina found the lifeboat with the crew , and the " Aksel " nearly sunk nearby . The sea was too rough for the aircraft to land , and the MTB had to return to Lerwick before they reached the lifeboat because of lack of fuel . The crew were never found again . Several aircraft and boats searched for days , but the crew of six were lost . M / K " Heland " ( M5V ) . Owned by Sevrin Roald , Arne Roald and Olav Røsvik , of Vigra . Built by Einar Helland , Vestnes 1937 . long , with Haahjem engine . On its first voyage in November 1941 the " Heland " was skippered by one of the owners , Sevrin Roald , and made for Shetland , with two " Company Linge " agents Karl Johan Aarsæter and Åsmund Wisløff aboard . Using the false name M / K " Per " , it managed to get undamaged through the same storm in which the " Blia " disappeared , and returned to Norway with supplies to other agents . Another agent transport was made in January 1942 . On 27 February 1942 , the " Heland " arrived at Lunna with 23 refugees , among them , Milorg ' s district leader in the Ålesund area , Trygve Rypdal and family . Sevrin Roald brought his wife , Inga , with him and they both became part of the land crew in the " Shetland Bus " operation in Scalloway . As a " Shetland Bus " , the " Heland " made several tours to Norway , mostly skippered by August Nerø , but with other skippers too . There were many narrow escapes , but the vessel always returned safely to Shetland . In 1943 , when the submarine chasers arrived , the " Heland " became a reserve vessel and made transport voyages to Scotland . When the war ended , the " Heland " returned to Norway and became fishing vessel again . In 1971 , it was donated to Sunnmøre Museum . The " Heland " is now preserved as a typical representative fishing vessel of the " Shetland Bus " fleet . M / B " Vita " ( H95B ) . Built by Lindestøl Shipyard , Risør , in 1939 for Lorenz Knudsen a . o . , Brandanes . The " Vita " had a Wickmann engine . The " Vita " arrived at Shetland on 9 May 1940 with four Norwegian Navy officers and two other refugees aboard . The " Vita " started as a " Bus " boat before the " Shetland Bus " was officially established . Her first voyage to Norway was on 22 December 1940 , skippered by Hilmar Langøy . The next was on 27 March 1942 , this time skippered by Ingvald Johansen , who became her skipper for the rest of her missions . Johansen ' s crew were ; Åge Sandvik , H . W . Olsen , Jens Haldorsen and J . Hermansen . In May 1941 , they picked up the twelve refugees from M / B " Signal " ( M331A ) , which had suffered an engine failure and was drifting off the Norwegian coast . In mid - September 1941 , the " Vita " made a journey to North Trøndelag . Johansen did not always follow the security rules . Once he posted a letter in Norway to his fiancée . He told her when and where he would be back , and asked her to meet him and come with him to Shetland . The girl got the letter , met him , and followed . In Shetland they got married , and Johansen was not punished . " Vita " made seven successful voyages to Norway before her last . On 22 September 1941 , she journeyed again to North Trøndelag , this time to Rekøy , to pick up some refugees . A traitor had told the Germans about the transport , and the " Vita " was seized and the crew arrested . The crew spent the rest of the war in prison , while the Germans used the " Vita " as a watch boat . After the war she became fishing boat in the North Sea again , until she was donated to the " Trondhjems Sjøfartsmuseum " ( a maritime museum in Trondheim ) in 1990 . In 1995 she was taken over by " Kystmuseet i Sør - Trøndelag " ( Sør - Trøndelag Coastal Museum ) at Hitra . She is currently being renovated by local craftsman Per Johnson . M / B " Olaf " ( M73V ) . Owned by Ansgar Sønderland and Johan O . Rørvik , Vigra . 52 feet long and with a June - Munktell engine . The owners gave their approval to use the " Olaf " in a refugee transport . It arrived at Lerwick on 30 September 1941 with seventeen refugees . The vessel was handed over to the " Shetland Bus " operation and Per Blystad from Fana became skipper . In the winter of 1942 , the ' Olaf ' made five voyages to Norway with agents and supplies , and returning with refugees . The crew on these tours were ; Olai Hillersøy , Arne Nipen , Leif Kinn and Olav Kinn . On 17 April 1942 , the " Olaf " went to Telavåg with the " Company Linge " agents Arne Værum and Emil Hvaal . The agents were discovered by the Germans , and that led to the " Telavåg Tragedy " , were the whole population were jailed or put into concentration camps , and all the houses burned in revenge for two German Gestapo officers deaths . The " Olaf " was attacked and damaged by German aircraft several times , but it always managed to get back to Shetland . The worst damage occurred on 12 May 1942 . Three crew from the wrecked " Frøya " , along with some others , went out with the " Olaf " to search for a raft with four of the " Frøya " crew . They were attacked five times by a German Dornier bomber . The vessel was severely damaged , and some of the crew wounded . One of the three men from the " Frøya " , Hans Johansen , later died of his wounds . The " Olaf " made no more journeys and after the war it was returned to the owners who sold it in 1948 . Boats Lost . Those boats are the ten " Shetland Bus " boats that were lost from the base in Scalloway . For different reasons , there were some boats that started out from a base in Peterhead , and some of them were also lost .