A day of remembrance

SOME of Norway’s most senior military figures have been in Shetland on Friday to commemorate the end of World War Two 70 years ago.

The commander of Norwegian Special Forces, Rear Admiral Nils Johan Holte, led a squad of six military men from the country’s elite navy and army operations at a ceremony in Scalloway at noon.

Unfortunately poor weather and a six metre swell put paid to plans for four rigid inflatable boats to cross the North Sea to join the celebrations by taking the same route as the famous Shetland Bus operation that helped so many Scandinavians escape Nazi control seven decades ago.

Speaking after a visit to the Scalloway Museum and Lunna House, where so much of the Shetland Bus operation was based, Holte said it was “a very special occasion” to be in Shetland at this time.

So significant is the VE Day event for Norway that its state broadcaster devoted 10 hours of coverage on Friday to ceremonies around the country, including live reporting from Scalloway.

“There is a very special bond between Norway and Shetland that people can see in their homes back in my country,” he said.

Holte also pointed out that the Norwegian Special Forces that he now leads were born out of the Shetland Bus operation in the war, when it was first set up by Britain’s Special Operations Executive.

He said they were abandoned after the war, but reinstated during the 1950s and ’60s as separate navy and army units that were amalgamated under a single command last year.

He said he was particularly impressed with Scalloway museum. “It is fantastic to see how they take care of the memory of the servicemen who stayed here for so many years and also to the many that perished,” he said.