Community / ‘We are so grateful to the people of Shetland’ – skippers praise warm welcome from all
THE SKIPPERS of the historic vessels in the Liberation Convoy have praised Shetland for the exceptionally warm welcome they have received during their commemorative visit.
The five boats have been open to the public, giving locals a rare opportunity to step aboard and connect with a living piece of Shetland’s World War Two history.
Per Holm has been the skipper of Andholmen for around 12 years and has been working on the Liberation Convoy project full-time for the last year.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience for us to come to the Shetland Islands and have this warm welcome, it’s been really heartwarming,” he said. “I could go on for hours and hours.”
They spent the day at Lunna House on Wednesday and held a poignant wreath laying memorial at Lunna Kirk.
Holm said: “I was sitting in the bedroom of [highly decorated Shetland Bus sailor] Leif Larsen, together with Astrid Larsen, Leif’s daughter, looking out over Lunna Voe.”
The crew were “overwhelmed with gratitude” at the welcome they received on Tuesday when they sailed in after a two-day trip from Norway.
Holm added: “My heart is about to explode with warm feelings. In springtime when a flower blossoms it starts to explode, and that’s how I feel at this moment.
“We are ever so grateful to all the people in Shetland.
“We came in here yesterday and there was a flotilla out meeting us, everyone was really reaching out to make us feel so welcome.”
The Andholmen, which is the boat featured on Scalloway’s Shetland Bus memorial, will depart there on Friday after visiting the memorial and Scalloway Museum.
Another highlight of the fleet is the S/S Hestmanden, which was built in 1911 and sailed in both World War One and Two as a foreign cargo ship.
During peacetime, it carried cargo and passengers across coastal routes.
After restoration it opened in 2017 as the Norwegian War Sailor Museum, running as a floating memorial to sailors who died in the Second World War.
The museum on board has a variety of artefacts and a cinema that shows video footage of the war.
Downstairs are the historic engines, where boiler engineer Egil Storesund gave an insight into running the more than 100 year old engine.
“This boiler and engine is from 1911. We heat more than 10,000 litres of water up to around 180 degrees,” he said.
“And when it’s running the engine room can be up to 40 degrees by the fire, and 36 degrees by the engine.”
The boat still uses a historic Engine Order Telegraph to relay orders from the bridge to the engine room.
Storesund, who has been working on the ship on a voluntary basis during summertime, added: “I think it’s interesting to explain to people how the engine works. Most people haven’t seen things like this, there are only ten engines like this in Norway.
“It’s important to show people about the war and what happened.”
Over on board the MK Heland, Marie Vermersch spoke of her pride in representing the boat at these historic events.
“The Heland has been on so many adventures, the crew could have died five or six times during the war, and being the skipper on it is amazing,” she said.
“I’m very proud to represent the boat.”
Vermersch has been the skipper on the MK Heland for two years, and discussed the preparations they have done on board to recognise the boat’s history.
“We’ve had to work a lot to get the boats ready for the trip, it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” she said.
“It’s been so interesting for us, making documentations about the boat, and we’ve created a timeline of the boat, so we’ve learned a lot about its history.”
Vermersch added that lots of locals have come to share their own stories relating to the Shetland Bus while the boat has been open to the public.
A leaflet created by the crew highlights the boat’s history from 1936 to the present day, outlining the dates and trips it made between Shetland and Norway during World War Two.
During renovations in 1995 a wartime pistol was discovered behind a tank on the port side just after an event to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
For Vermersch, the trip across from Norway got off to a bad start, she explained: “There were two to three metres high waves, and I’m pregnant so I got quite seasick.
“The first day was a bit rough but luckily it was calm after that.”
The five boats remain open to the public today (Thursday) and tomorrow, before departing Lerwick on Saturday.
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