Shetland's Larsen

Here, at Shetlands-Larsen's wharf, you can look at Shetlands-Larsen, which in turn looks down on the Nordstjernen. The half-star in front of the sculpture has engraved the names of all 513 Norwegian sailors who lost their lives during the Second World War. Leif Andreas Larsen, or "Shetlands-Larsen" as he was called, is a real Norwegian war hero. Using fishing boats, he crossed the North Sea 52 times with agents, loads of weapons and refugees, and survived two shipwrecks in the foaming sea. He became one of the most highly decorated Allied soldiers and was twice awarded the War Cross with sword, Norway's highest award. He was born in Bergen in 1906 and served as a sailor already at the age of 16 on all the world's seas. When the war came to Norway, he participated in the defense forces before enlisting in the English Navy. Here he became central to the Shetlands gang, a Norwegian naval unit under British command that transported refugees and agents back and forth between Norway and Shetland, hence the name Shetlands-Larsen. Leif Andreas fell asleep at Haukeland Hospital in 1990, aged 84.