Shetland Islands During Ww2

Shetland was between scotland and norway and acted as a good base for british soldiers to attack enemy planes and warships coming from.

Shetland islands during ww2. Radar array at sumburgh head image by charles feacham sumburgh head posesses a fascinating wartime military history that had a potentially significant influence on the outcome of world war ii. It is compiled from raf faa and luftwaffe records with extracts from the shetland times and shetland life. Norway s only hope during world war ii by matt fratus august 29 2019 in the early weeks of april 1940 the first combat air assault in history saw german paratroopers or fallschirmjägers leap from junkers ju 52s onto aalborg airport in denmark and the sola air station in norway. During the twentieth century shetland played a crucially important role in the defence of britain during both world wars due to its strategic military location on the northern periphery of britain and europe.

Shetland was an important place in britain during wwii. From mid 1942 the group s official name was the norwegian naval independent unit. Today the scapa flow visitor centre at lyness on hoy relives this momentous period of british history with its captivating archive of video photographs and artefacts. Shetland in 1939 shetland was flooded with more than 20 000 servicemen to garrison the islands.

About 30 fishing vessels used by norwegian refugees were gathered in shetland. Shetland islands also called zetland or shetland group of about 100 islands fewer than 20 of them inhabited in scotland 130 miles 210 km north of the scottish mainland at the northern extremity of the united kingdom. During world war ii a norwegian naval unit nicknamed the shetland bus was established by the special operations executive norwegian section in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at lunna and later in scalloway in order to conduct operations on the coast of norway. The unit was operated initially by a large number of small f.

The first bomb to fall on shetland although there was no intensive bombing of britain by the german airforce in the early months of the war shetland was paid a visit by six heinkel bombers in november 1939. Their target was the shipping in the harbour. In october 1943 it became an official part of the royal norwegian navy and was renamed the royal norwegian naval special unit. It also includes aircraft which came down in the sea within ten miles of land.

They constitute the shetland islands council area and the historic county of shetland. Home of the british home fleet during both world wars it was here in 1918 that the german high seas fleet was interned after the armistice and then scuttled at midsummer 1919. The bombers flying at low altitude were over lerwick before the air raid warning had sounded.