At the end of this pier, you’ll meet Officer Leif Andreas Larsen, better known as Shetland Larsen, a key figure in the Shetland Bus operation. If you’ve never heard of it, the Shetland Bus was a Norwegian naval unit during the Second World War that carried out covert missions between the Shetland Islands in Scotland and Nazi-occupied Norway. The operation transported refugees, resistance fighters, intelligence agents, weapons, and supplies, often in the dead of winter. Around thirty Norwegian fishing boats were used, completing over 200 missions across the North Sea. The unit even laid mines to target German ships. Leif Larsen, the man you see before you, took part in 52 Shetland Bus missions. He was even given the daunting task of sinking the Tirpitz, Hitler’s prized battleship launched in 1939. Although the mission failed, he was awarded a bravery medal for his extraordinary courage during what was essentially a suicide mission. Leif Larsen went on to become the most decorated naval officer of all the Allied Forces during World War II, regardless of nationality. This statue was unveiled in 1995, with the Crown Prince in attendance, and the pier was officially renamed Shetland Larsen Pier in his honour. Want to know more? His story was made into a film in 1954, in which Larsen played himself.