14 Facts About Leif Larsen

Leif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar, popularly known as "Shetlands Larsen", was a highly decorated Norwegian sailor.

Leif Larsen was arguably the most famous of the men who operated the Shetland bus escape route during the war.

Leif Larsen participated as a volunteer on the Finnish side during the Winter War and was a soldier in the defence of Norway following the German invasion at Kongsvinger Fortress.

Leif Larsen had excellent leadership skills; one of the British officers at the Shetland base, David Howarth, described him as "one of the most remarkable personalities of the entire Second World War".

Leif Larsen dramatically escaped Norway in February 1941 in the fishing boat MOTIG 1, a voyage he recounted in his autobiography.

Leif Larsen then joined the "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit", an unwieldy cover title far better known as the Shetland bus.

Leif Larsen was the skipper of the fishing vessel Arthur during an attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz in the Trondheimsfjord in the fall of 1942.

Boat skippers were initially given the nominal rank of petty officer, but Leif Larsen was later, without a great deal of enthusiasm, given a formal commission as a Sub-lieutenant in the Royal Norwegian Navy.

The commanders of these three vessels were required to be commissioned officers and Leif Larsen became the captain of the HNoMS Vigra.

Leif Larsen was one of only eleven people to receive this honour "The War Cross with Two Swords".

Leif Larsen's medals are on display in The North Sea Traffic Museum in Telavag.

In 1954 Leif Larsen played himself in the movie Shetlandsgjengen.

Leif Larsen died from a stroke at the age of 84 in Bergen, Norway, on 12 October 1990.

Leif Larsen was survived by his wife and three daughters.