Leif Larsen

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Leif Andreas Larsen
1906-1990
Nickname	Shetlands-Larsen
Place of birth	Norway
Allegiance	Norway
Rank	Kapteinløytnant (Lieutenant Commander)
Unit	Shetland Bus
Commands	MV Arthur MV Bergholm SC Vigra Other small vessels
Awards	Incomplete list. War Cross with two Swords Norwegian St. Olav Medal with oak branch Norwegian Norwegian War Medal with tree stars Norwegian Participation (in WWII) Medal Norwegian King Haakon VII's 70th anniversary Medal Norwegian Conspicuous Gallantry Medal British Distinguished Service Medal and Bar British Distinguished Service Cross British Distinguished Service Order British Participation in the Winter War Medal Finnish

Leif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, DSM and Bar, CGM (9 January 1906 - 12 October 1990), popularly known as Shetlands-Larsen, was probably the most famous of the men that operated the Shetland Bus escape route during World War II. He participated as a volunteer on the Finnish side during the Winter war and was a soldier in the defence of Norway during the German invasion at Kongsvinger Fortress. He 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". Larsen preferred to downplay his own role and instead named his crew as the reason for his achievements.

He dramatically escaped Norway in February 1941 in the fishing boat MOTIG 1, a voyage he has recounted of in an autobiographic book. He trained with the Linge Company, and was elected the first skipper operating the Shetland route.

He was the skipper of the vessel Arthur during an attempt to sink the German ship Tirpitz in the Trondheimsfjord in the fall of 1942 (Operation Title). Despite its failure, Larsen receives a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the first non-Briton to do so. The Admiralty records the operation as "the achievement of penetrating to within 10 miles of the berth occupied by the Tirpitz represents, on the part of the personnel and particularly that of the Norwegians, a fine example of cold-blooded courage."

In all he made 52 trips to Norway. With eleven distinctions he became the most highly decorated naval officer of the Second World War -- no other man, British or foreign, received the same British military honours.

In 1954 he played himself in the movie Shetlandsgjengen[1] (aka. Suicide Mission in the USA).

In 2000 Bergen newspaper Bergens Tidende named Larsen Vestlandet's man of the century. There is a statue of him by the UNESCO site of Bryggen in Bergen.