The enduring bond between two countries, forged in wartime and symbolised by a courageous dog named Bamse, has been celebrated at a ceremony in Angus
To mark the 70th year since the end of the Second World War, a contingent of Norwegian veterans has embarked on a tour of four key Scottish sites.
Hundreds of Norwegian servicemen sailed for Britain after the invasion of their country by Nazi Germany in 1940, and fought alongside British troops on land, sea and air until hostilities ended in 1945.
Hagbard Falk, Rene Grepne, Ole Grevstad, Knut Olsen, Aksel Remoe, Peter Sperre and Jacob Strandheim began the tour at the Dundee International Submarine Memorial on Tuesday.
The cadre, each man accompanied by an adjutant of the Norwegian Navy and the country’s chief of defence Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen, visited Montrose to commemorate a St Bernard who exemplified a period of close cooperation between Norway and the UK.
Bamse sailed with the Montrose and Dundee-based minesweeper Thorodd and became renowned for his exploits, saving the lives of two crewmen, getting sailors back to their bunks when the pub closed, and even playing in football matches, until his death in Montrose in 1944.
Lord Lieutenant of Angus Georgiana Osborne greeted the Norwegian party at a wreath-laying ceremony by the town’s Bamse statue.
She said: “The people of the Norwegian Navy, of the Royal Navy and the people of Montrose hold this dog in the highest esteem.
“I think it is only right and proper that a statue should be here to remember the loyalty and friendship this dog showed in the dark days of the war.”
Angus Provost Helen Oswald said the link between the Scandinavian country and Montrose, which was home to many Norwegians in exile during the war, was still in evidence through the “enduring friendships and even marriages” which remained after the conflict.
Admiral Bruun-Hanssen said the UK became a home to his country’s government, servicemen and royal family until 1945.
He added: “They would have made no difference to the war had it not been for the generosity of its people.”
Mr Strandheim was one of the “Shetland Bus Men” who made 54 trips across the North Sea with weapons for the Norwegian resistance.
“I was prepared to be killed and expected never to return back home to Norway,” he said.