Back in 2014,  the Norwegian Navy visited Scotland to pay tribute to a Saint Bernard naval mascot and war hero, “Bamse” (pronounced Bum-sa), who became a legend by saving the lives of two Norwegian sailors while stationed in Tayside during World War II.

Bamse grew up on the North Cape island of Mageroy at the northern tip of Norway where he was owned by Captain Hafto of the Norwegian Navy. He went to sea with Hafto on the minesweeper, “Thorodd,” when the vessel was drafted into the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1940, and was enlisted as an official crew member. The ship became part of the naval opposition to the Nazis after the fall of Norway that summer, and was stationed at Dundee and Montrose.

In 2005, Reidar Pedersen, a submariner in the Royal Norwegian Navy between 1942 and 1946, gave a statement about Bamse: 

“A member or the crew had fallen overboard, and nobody had seen this happen.  It was suggested that he was drunk, and he was soon in difficulties, as the tide was high. Bamse had seen this and raised the alarm with his barking and jumped in after the man.  He struggled to keep him afloat, continuing to bark until the crew were drawn to see what had happened.  But after a while Bamse was in trouble himself, because of the weight of the water in his heavy coat.  Eventually the crew managed to get them to the side of the ship and to pull them safely up on board, although this must have been difficult to do, and they must have been in the water for some time.  I am willing to give this statement because I, Reidar Pedersen, am sure that Bamse saved the man’s life, by raising the alarm and by keeping him afloat in the high water.”

In another account given a year later, Dr. Willie Jarl Nilsen, Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychiatric Center for South-Troms, HHF Harstad, Norway wrote:

“My father had gone on an evening walk along the quayside with Bamse following on, some distance behind him. Aman suddenly appeared and attacked my father. His motive was probably robbery, and he closed in to attack my father with a knife. Bamse saw what was happening, and bounded up the quayside to the rescue. Rising up onto his hind legs he used his momentum and his great weight to push the man away from my father.  Continuing to push him, Bamse steered the staggering man to the edge of the quay, and propelled him into the water below. What later happened with this man is unknown to me… My mother has informed me that my father’s life was in real danger, and that he had been saved without doubt by the quick action of Bamse.” 

There were more. So many more that space doesn’t permit us to share them all here, but you can read them here.

After his death, Bamse was buried with full military honors at the dockside in Montrose in 1944. The life-size statue of the 14-stone dog facing out towards Norway was unveiled by the Duke of York, Prince Andrew in 2006.  Every 10 years, the Norwegian Navy sends a ship to Scotland to hold a commemorative ceremony for Bamse. There is even a “Bamse” walk through the Montrose Docks Area from Bamse’s Statue to Bamse’s Grave Site that visits some of Bamse’s favorite pubs.