Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

 
 
Saturday, 6th September 2008

Free Capercaillie CD

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Sign In
Register

Martyn McLaughlin: A voyage of remembrance for Shetland's wartime 'bus' service



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 23 July 2008
By Martyn McLaughlin
ONLY a handful of people bore witness to the MK Andholmen's gentle putter into Scalloway harbour, as she recently completed a journey last made more than six decades ago. The attentive among them, however, knew the significance of the flags fluttering upon her mast; one a saltire, the other bearing the cross of Norway.
Having visited my girlfriend's homeland of Shetland earlier this summer, we made a point of visiting a small but poignant memorial that looks out on the ancient capital's bay. Atop a pile of rocks and a plaque bearing the names of 44 men, a small scu...



The full article contains 786 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 22 July 2008 10:15 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Mark Burgess,

Scalloway, Shetland 24/07/2008 12:04:43
An excellent article, but i feel obliged to point out a small discrepancy or two. The Andholmen bore the Shetland flag on her rigging, not a Saltire, as the more attentive may have noticed. Out of interest, the Andholmen first returned to Shetland in 2003, however, storm damage forced her to seek coastguard assistance and call into the port of Lerwick on the east coast rather than her wartime home port of Scalloway. The MK Heland, was the first Shetland Bus fishing boat to return to Shetland when she came with a cargo of stones from the 24 Norwegian districts that were home to the 44 men lost during Bus operations and it was these stones that were used to construct the memorial. She returned in 2003. After 1942 Sub-Chaser fast launches were used in the continued Shetland Bus effort, these were gifted to the Norwegians by the American Navy. One of these, the fully restored "Hitra", came to Scalloway in 1987 and has returned several times since. Queen Sonja of Norway visited Scalloway in 2007 to lay a wreath at the Scalloway memorial, which serves as a clear indication of the historical emphasis which Norway places on these efforts and the ongoing connection with Shetland. There is an organisation that co-ordinates all of these visits, greets and plays host to the related visitors and dignitaries, The Shetland Bus Friendship Society, who welcome new membership and donations toward remembrance of these heroic wartime efforts. There is also a good display of artefacts and photographs on the subject in the Scalloway Museum.

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.