13.30
 
Lord Lieutenant’s Party and Colours assemble in Town Hall Meeting Room

14.00

Transport departs for Scalloway from Victoria Pier and Town Hall
 
14.20
 
Lord Lieutenant’s Party and Scalloway wreath layers assemble at Scalloway Hotel

1430
 
Road Closure commences after service bus passes through
 
14.35

Pipe Band leads Colours to the Shetland Bus Memorial
Lord Lieutenant’s Party and wreath layers follow

14.45

Welcome and Introduction
Chairman, Shetland Bus Friendship Society
 
15.00

Act of Remembrance begins
 
Call to Remembrance
 Prayers and Exhortation by Minster“They shall not grow old as we that are left ..............”
All Say:   “WE WILL REMEMBER THEM”
 
Last Posts (Norway and UK)
The “Sunset” Ceremony.
Traditionally played at the graveside at military funerals.
The “Colours” are lowered at this point as a mark of respect
 
Two Minutes Silence

Reveilles (Norway and UK)Traditionally played at sunrise to wake the troops
The “Colours” are recovered
 
Minster calls for Wreaths to be laid
Norway Ambassador leads the wreath laying ceremony
Piper’s Lament“The piper weeps for the world and for what it has become.  He stares at the gates of dawn of a new beginning, foretelling its coming”.
 
Prayers and Dedication
“When you go home tell them of us .........”

The National AnthemsNorwegian National Anthem
UK National Anthem
The “Colours” are lowered, ‘in salute’, during the Anthems

 Benediction
The Minister “Blesses” the Colours and Congregation
 
The Chairman, Shetland Bus Friendly Society
 invites the Ambassador to address the congregation
 
The Minister leads the “Wreath Laying Party” back towards the Scalloway Hotel
followed by the Colour Parties
 
After the Ceremony transport will be available to take participants to the Scalloway Museum for refreshments.

Order for Laying of Wreaths
Norwegian Ambassador
Lord Lieutenant
Norwegian Military Attaché
Shetland Islands Council Convener
Shetland Bus Representative
Scalloway Royal British Legion
Scalloway Community Council
Scalloway Primary School
                                                                                                                                                   
Colours

Owing to constrained space only the Colours will parade

Order of March
 
Norwegian National Flag
 
Union Flag
 
Royal British Legion Standard
 
RAFA Ensign
 
Merchant navy Ensign
 
Army Cadet Force Flag

During the Ceremony a “Road Closure” will be in place between 14.30 and 15.30 hrs

 13.30
 
Lord Lieutenant’s Party and Colours assemble in Town Hall Meeting Room

14.00

Transport departs for Scalloway from Victoria Pier and Town HallVictoria Pier transport drops off passengers at the Scalloway Church

14.20
 
Lord Lieutenant’s Party, Colours and Scalloway wreath layers assemble
in the side room of the Scalloway Church.

1430
 
Road Closure commences after service bus passes through
 
14.35
 
Scalloway wreath layers and veterans enter the Church taking their seats,
(second row (left)

Congregation invited to stand
Lord Lieutenant’s Party enter and take their seats,
(front row (left)

The Colours are received by the Minister
Colour bearers take their seats, (front row right)

14.45

Welcome and Introduction
Chairman, Shetland Bus Friendship Society

15.00

Act of Remembrance begins

Prayers and Exhortation by Minster“They shall not grow old as we that are left ..............”
All Say:   “WE WILL REMEMBER THEM”

Last Posts (Norway and UK)
The “Sunset” Ceremony.
Traditionally played at the graveside at funerals.

Two Minutes Silence

Reveilles (Norway and UK)Traditionally played at the break of day

Prayers and Dedication“When you go home tell them of us .........”
 
The National Anthems (Norway and UK)Norwegian National Anthem
UK National Anthem

BenedictionThe Minister “Blesses” the Colours and Congregation

The Chairman, Shetland Bus Friendly Society
 invites the Ambassador to address the congregation

The Colours are returned and retire, followed by the Lord lieutenants Party
and wreath layers, to the side room of the Church

The Minister invites the congregation members wishing to witness the wreath laying to gather opposite the Memorial.

The Colours take post in front of the Memorial
(On the centre line)

The Minister leads the wreath laying party into position

Minster calls for Wreaths to be laid
Norway Ambassador leads the wreath laying ceremony

Piper’s Lament“The piper weeps for the world and for what it has become.  He stares at the gates of dawn of a new beginning, foretelling its coming”.

Benediction

The Minister “Blesses” the Colours and Congregation

The Minister leads the wreath laying party back to the Church
followed by the Colours

After the Ceremony transport will be available to take participants to the Scalloway Museum for refreshments.

Order for Laying of Wreaths

Norwegian Ambassador
Lord Lieutenant
Norwegian Military Attaché
Shetland Islands Council Convener
Scalloway Community Council
Royal British Legion Scalloway
Shetland Bus Friendship Society
Scalloway Primary School                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Colours

Owing to constrained space only the Colours will parade
 
Order of March

Norwegian National Flag
Union Flag
Royal British Legion Standard
RAFA Ensign
Merchant navy Ensign
Army Cadet Force Flag
 
During the service the Brass Band and Bugler to be seated upstairs, (centre)
 
During the Ceremony a “Road Closure” will be in place between 14.30 and 15.30 hrs

📢 Scalloway Museum AGM – All Members Welcome! 📢

Scalloway Museum will hold its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 25th March 2025, at 7 PM at the museum.

We encourage all members to attend and have their say. Please take a moment to review the SBFS annual report and accounts for 2023/2024 below.

Your support is invaluable—we look forward to seeing you there!
​
Scalloway Museum

Scalloway Museum recently welcomed a group of cadets from Norwegian sail training vessel Statsraad Lehmkuhl for a wreath laying ceremony at the Shetland Bus Memorial and a tour of the Prince Olav Slipway and museum.

During the service at the Memorial, trustee Stephen Leask paid tribute to the strong bonds between Shetland and Norway, saying that:

“The brave men remembered here fought for the freedom of their nation, and this gathering today celebrates the commitment made by our young Norwegian visitors who continue to cherish and honour that freedom.

"The strong bond between Shetland and Norway were forged in these times of hardship and danger and continue to this day, as these words from Captain Anderson of Oygarten, one of our regular visitors, verify.

"'It is a fact that the events of World War Two took place many years ago and some of those who remember this period are growing old and will pass away. In my opinion, it is our duty to maintain and develop the strong bonds and good relations these people established between Shetland and Norway. It is great to see that younger generations are now taking over and want to continue this relationship.’"

Scalloway was a crucial base for the Shetland Bus Operation and cadets had the opportunity to visit the Prince Olav Slipway which was recently restored by the museum with funding from both Shetland and Norway.

Cadets then enjoyed a tour of the museum from Bill Moore where they had the opportunity to learn more about the Shetland Bus Operation.

Scalloway Museum has extensive displays related to the Shetland Bus Operation, and visitors can learn more about this wartime operation during visits.

Scalloway Museum reopens for the season on 1st May.

Scalloway Museum recently welcomed the Head of the Norwegian Department of Cultural Heritage & Ministry of Culture, Steinar Lien and the Head of War Norwegian War Graves Service, Haakon Vinje. Per Blystad from Stravanger who is the nephew of the Shetland Busman of the same name accompanied the tour. They visited the Scalloway Museum on the morning of Saturday 20th May and had a tour of the museum and Scalloway waterfront by Chairman Charlie Grant and trustee Jim Young. Here they are pictured at the Shetland Bus Memorial on Scalloway's waterfront.

The Shetland Bus Friendship Society (SBFS) and Scalloway Museum are pleased to announce that the Prince Olav Slipway Project is now 100 per cent funded. Getting to this stage has been a lot of work for the museum trustees, and we’re excited to share a little background to the project.
 
The slipway and cradle, originally constructed in 1942, are set to be reconstructed as a wartime exhibit for locals and visitors to enjoy as they uncover the Shetland Bus story in Scalloway.
 
At a meeting last week with local ship repair company Malakoff Ltd, SBFS instructed them to proceed with the reconstruction of the cradle and the refurbishment of the slipway. It has taken a lot of hard work to raise the money to fund the project. Almost half the sum was raised by our 'Friends in Norway', and the remainder has been wholly raised in Shetland, with the exception of a donation from The Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Trust.  
 
The reconstructed cradle and slipway refurbishment will capture a unique moment in the history of Shetland and Norway, and further strengthen the friendship between the two countries. It will also inform future generations of the endeavours of a wartime generation who did whatever was necessary to defend freedom. ​

Background
Following the relocation of the Shetland Bus operating base from Lunna to Scalloway in the summer of 1942, William Moore & Sons’ engineers and Norwegian shipwrights constructed a slipway.
 
The Admiralty were asked if they would build the slipway. When they received no response, Sub-Lieutenant David Howarth and Jack Moore, owner of Wiliam Moore & Sons, decided to build it themselves. The Admiralty provided £750 towards the cost, and second-hand materials were sought from all over Shetland. The main part of the cradle construction was long lengths of 9”x 9” Oregon pine, and the slipway used second hand railway rails sourced in Aberdeen. Crown Prince Olav of Norway visited Scalloway in October 1942 and gave permission for the slipway to be named after him.
 
The slipway was needed during the Second World War to carry out essential repairs on the Norwegian fishing boats used on the dangerous SOE-operated missions to occupied Norway during the winter months. Later the slipway was used to repair the three sub-chasers, Hessa, Hitra and Vigra which replaced the fishing boats in late 1943.
 
Project inception
The first inkling of the project to reconstruct and refurbish the slipway started a few years ago. During an unrelated museum project in 2017 carried out with the help of the late Jacky Priest, a retired William Moore & Sons carpenter, discussions arose regarding the Prince Olav Slipway. As Jacky was one of the last people familiar with the slipway, it was decided out of historical interest to document the construction of the cradle and slipway. Many hours were spent extracting information from Jacky’s memory, and a set of preliminary drawings were produced. At this time several interpretation boards were sited at the slipway telling its story. Images of the drawings were included, and visitors took great interest in the site and slipway story.
 
The three mayors
Scalloway Community Council had for some years been twinned with the Sund Kommune on Sotra, an island west of Bergen. In 2018 Scalloway received a visit by the three mayors of the kommunene on Sotra – Sund, Øygarden and Fjell. The kommunene were later to be amalgamated into one – Øygarden.
 
During the visit, the then mayor of Øygarden, Børge Haugetun, viewed the slipway and became aware of the drawings on the interpretation boards. The idea to reconstruct the cradle and refurbish the slipway began to form in Børge’s mind, sowing the initial seeds of the project.
 
Bergen 2019  
In September 2019, museum trustees visited Bergen to attend a music concert in Håkonshallen given by Jenna and Bethany Reid from their record, Escape. Jim Young and Charlie Grant were approached by Børge, who more or less instructed that the Shetland Bus Friendship Society (Scalloway Museum) should carry out a project to refurbish the cradle and slipway. There was no arguing with him, and the Øygarden Kommune made the first generous donation to the project fund! 

Research
To achieve authenticity, it was crucial that the reconstructed slipway was as close as possible to the original wartime structure. There were reservations about the existing slipway drawings, and it was important to speak to more people who had worked on the site to ensure a high level of accuracy.

The museum was fortunate to have the assistance of retired engineers, George and Raymond Sinclair who had operated the slipway in the years following the war when it was used for repairing fishing boats.
 
Their detailed memory of the wartime cradle and slipway was remarkable, and over many months a revised set of drawings were painstakingly produced. With accurate drawings reflecting exactly how they believed the slipway looked in 1942, the museum was confident that the project was viable. 
 
Funding
Reaching this stage could not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of museum trustee, Jim Young who carried the project forward, right from its early conception. Almost half the sum raised came from 'Friends in Norway', and the remaining money has been wholly raised in Shetland, along with a donation from The Gerry Holdsworth Special Forces Charitable Trust.  Community Councils throughout Shetland have contributed, indicating the level of support the project has within Shetland. Local ship repair company, Malakoff Ltd, is in the process of reconstructing the cradle and refurbishing the slipway.
 
There are four people without whom the project would not have happened - Børge Haugetun the former Mayor of Øygarden whose idea it was to restore and refurbish the cradle and slipway, George and Raymond Sinclair, two retired engineers whose detailed memories of the slipway were invaluable, and Jim Young.
 
The reconstructed cradle and refurbished slipway will capture a unique moment in the history of Shetland and Norway, and further strengthen the friendship between the two countries. It will also inform future generations of the endeavours of a wartime generation who did whatever was necessary to defend freedom. 

We look forward to sharing the progress of this important project with you.

Scalloway Museum was delighted to receive a new donation recently from Keith Henderson.

The find is believed to be a limpet pick, used for prising limpet shells from the rocks to use as bait.