A day on Shetland
Lerwick Harbour
Shopping street in Lerwick
Since we arrived in Lerwick at six o’clock in the morning, we had the hole day ahead of us. Our plan for the day, starting with breakfast onboard. Then Lars was going to check us into the country, while the others try to get hold of a rental car for the day. One of our goals was to drive down to a place where Bent, Catrine and Atle visited when they sailed a 36-foot wooden sailboat to Lerwick from Norway 26 years ago (more about that trip in the next post).
We got checked in and got our rental car and started on the drive southwest from Lerwick to Scalloway, which has an interesting history, at least as an Norwegian.
Colurfull streets in Scalloway
The Shetland Bus
Converted fishing boat used for the mission
Memorial for the 44 men who lost their life during the mission
On the night to 9th of April 1940 Germany launched an unprovoked attack on Norway. With its long history of neutrality, Norway wasn’t ready for the invasion, and help from Allies came too little too late. On 7th June king Haakon and the government decided that further resistance was no longer possible and moved their operations to Britain to continue the fight from there.
Then the Shetland bus was created by converting fishing boats to carry people to and from Shetland. The fishing boats carried out almost 100 crossings. The operation could only be executed during the darkest and stormiest time of the year, trying to blend into the existing fishing fleet. But the mission was dangerous and by 1943 due to bad winter storms and increased German surveillance, 10 ships and 44 crewmen were lost. To continue the mission, they had to get bigger and better ships, and they were gifted with three American submarine chasers. With does three ships they successfully accomplished 116 round trips between Norway and Shetland.
A well deseved snackbreak by a castle wall
Later that day Siri and Atle drove south to visit a lighthouse where it's also a colony of Puffins.
Puffins
