Iceland in World War II

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Initial British targets for the 1940 Invasion of Iceland: Reykjavík along with its harbour and seaplane landing site (Vatnagarðar), nearby

landing grounds at Sandskeið and Kaldaðarnes to the east, the nearby anchorage at Hvalfjörður to the north, the harbour at Akureyri in

the far north, and the nearby landing grounds at Melgerði. The harbour at Hafnarfjörður, near Reykjavík, was also secured early on.

Training of Icelandic soldiers in 1940.

At the beginning of World War II, Iceland was a sovereign kingdom in personal union with Denmark, with King

Christian X as head of state. Iceland officially remained neutral throughout World War II. However, the British

invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940.[1] On 7 July 1941, the defence of Iceland was transferred from Britain to the

United States,[2] which was still a neutral country until five months later. On 17 June 1944, Iceland dissolved its

union with Denmark and the Danish monarchy and declared itself a republic, which remains to this day.[2]

Contents

● 1

● Background

○ 1.1

○ Neutrality

○
 ● 2

● Invasion

●
● 3

● Life in occupied Iceland

●
● 4

● Casualties

●
● 5

● Aftermath and legacy

●
● 6

● See also

●
● 7

● References

●
● 8

● Further reading

●
● 9

● External links

Background[edit]

The British government was alarmed by Germany's growing interest in Iceland over the course of the 1930s. The

Third Reich's overtures began with friendly competition between German and Icelandic football teams. [citation

needed] When war began, Denmark and Iceland declared neutrality and limited visits to the island by military

vessels and aircraft of the belligerents.[3]

Neutrality[edit]

During the German occupation of Denmark, contact between the countries was disrupted. Initially, the Kingdom

of Iceland declared itself to be neutral, and limited visits of belligerent warships and imposed a ban on belligerent

aircraft within Icelandic territory.

Following the invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 Iceland opened a legation in New York City.[4] Iceland,

however, unlike Norway, did not closely enforce limitations within its territorial waters and even slashed funding

for the Icelandic Coast Guard.[citation needed] Many Axis merchant vessels seeking shelter within the neutral

waters around Iceland were sunk by Allied warships.[citation needed] The Chief of the Capital Police Forces,
Agnar Kofoed-Hansen, started to train the National Defence forces in early 1940.[citation needed]

Invasion[edit]

Main article: Invasion of Iceland

Footage of Iceland in November 1941 to early spring 1942

The British imposed strict export controls on Icelandic goods, preventing profitable shipments to Germany, as

part of its naval blockade. London offered assistance to Iceland, seeking cooperation "as a belligerent and an

ally", but Reykjavik declined and reaffirmed its neutrality[citation needed]. The German diplomatic presence in

Iceland, along with the island's strategic importance, alarmed the British. [5] After a few failed attempts at

persuading the Icelandic government by diplomatic means to join the Allies and becoming a co-belligerent in the

war against the Axis forces, the British invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940.[1] The initial force of 746 British Royal

Marines commanded by Colonel Robert Sturges was replaced on 17 May by two regular army brigades[citation

needed]. In June the first elements of "Z" Force arrived from Canada to relieve the British, who immediately

returned to the defense of the UK. Three Canadian battalions — the Royal Regiment of Canada, the Cameron

Highlanders and the Fusiliers Mont-Royal — garrisoned the island until drawn down for the defence of the UK in

the spring of 1941, and replaced by British garrison forces.[6]

On 7 July 1941, President Roosevelt announced to the Congress of the United States that the United States had

landed forces in Iceland as a means of preventing German forces from taking control of the country's vital

shipping and air ways.[7] Iceland's strategic position along the North Atlantic sea-lanes, perfect for air and naval

bases, could bring new importance to the island. The 1st Marine Brigade, consisting of approximately 4,100
troops, garrisoned Iceland until early 1942, when they were replaced by U.S. Army troops, so that they could join

their fellow Marines fighting in the Pacific[citation needed].

Iceland cooperated with the British and then the Americans, but officially remained neutral throughout World War

II.[1] Some historians have developed "shelter theory" which states that Iceland and other small countries, in

addition to ordinary alliances, form relationships or "seek shelter" with larger countries and international

institutions to make up for vulnerabilities inherent with small geographic area—vulnerabilities such as

susceptibility to invasion.[8]

Life in occupied Iceland[edit]

Main article: Occupation of Iceland

British troops arrived and many stayed in the city of Reykjavik, causing much social disruption among the

citizens.[9] Women and young girls were thought to have had sexual relationships with the British soldiers. [9]

Reports also showed an increase in prostitution.[9] This interaction also caused some hostility between the

soldiers and Icelandic men[1] The large-scale interaction between young Icelandic women and soldiers came to

be known as Ástandið ("the condition" or "situation") in Icelandic. Many Icelandic women married Allied soldiers

and subsequently gave birth to children, many of whom bore the patronymic Hansson (hans translates as "his" in

Icelandic), which was used because the father was unknown or had left the country. Some children born as a

result of the Ástandið have English surnames[citation needed]

Arrival of US troops in Iceland in January 1942

During the war, drifting mines became a serious problem for Icelanders, as well as the Allied forces. The first
Icelandic Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel were trained in 1942 by the British Royal Navy to help

deal with the problem.[10] The British forces also supplied the Icelandic Coast Guard with weapons and

ammunition, such as depth charges against Axis U-boats. During the war, drifting mines and German U-boats

damaged and sank a number of Icelandic vessels. Iceland's reliance on the sea, to provide nourishment and for

trade, resulted in significant loss of life. In 1944, British Naval Intelligence built a group of five Marconi wireless

direction-finding stations on the coast west of Reykjavík. The stations were part of a ring of similar groups

located around the North Atlantic to locate wireless transmissions from U-boats [citation needed].

On 10 February 1944, German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor from the I./KG 40, stationed in Norway, sank the

British tanker SS El Grillo at Seyðisfjörður.[11]

On 17 June 1944, Iceland dissolved its union with Denmark and the Danish monarchy and declared itself a

republic.

Casualties[edit]

Approximately 230 Icelanders' lives were lost in World War II hostilities.[12] Most were killed on cargo and

fishing vessels sunk by German aircraft, U-boats, and mines.[12]

Aftermath and legacy[edit]

The presence of British and American troops in Iceland had a lasting impact on the country. Engineering

projects, initiated by the occupying forces – especially the building of Reykjavík Airport – brought employment to

many Icelanders. This was the so-called Bretavinna or “Brit labour” . Also, the Icelanders had a source of

revenue by exporting fish to the United Kingdom[citation needed].

A number of newsreels (British Pathe) of the period featured news from Iceland, including a visits by Lord Gort

(https://www.britishpathe.com/video/lord-gort-on-iceland) 1940 and Winston Churchill in 1941. An online archive

of British Pathe newsreels, published and unpublished, can found at

https://www.britishpathe.com/search/query/Iceland.

Atlantic Convoy was a 1942 American film about naval patrols set during the Battle of the Atlantic.
The only other film made in this time period, and about the war, was a musical called Iceland.[13] Iceland was

not filmed in nor particularly about Iceland.[13] Many years later, a two-part documentary was released called

the Occupation Years 1940-1945. This documentary examines how World War II affected Iceland and its

population, using stock footage and interviews to assess the impact. [13] The filmmakers had concern that World

War II would not be a part of the memory of the country and the conflict and its impacts on Iceland would soon

be forgotten.[13] The goal of the film then was to preserve the history of the war and the invasion and

occupation of the British and Americans. [13]

See also[edit]

● Iceland in World War II

○ Operation Ikarus

○ Invasion of Iceland

○ Occupation of Iceland

○ Ástandið

○ Founding of the Republic of Iceland

● British occupation of the Faroe Islands

● Expansion operations and planning of the Axis Powers

● Battle of the Atlantic

References[edit]

● ^

● Jump up to:

a b c d Bittner, Donald F. (December 1975). "A Final Appraisal of the British Occupation of Iceland, 1940–42".
●
The RUSI Journal. 120 (4): 45–53. doi:10.1080/03071847509421214. ISSN 0307-1847.

● ^

● Jump up to:

a b KARLSSON, GUNNAR (2017). ICELAND'S 1100 YEARS : history of a marginal society. C HURST & CO PUB
●
LTD. ISBN 978-1849049115. OCLC 986911706.

● ^ "Iceland in the Second World War". Retrieved 18 April 2010.

● ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1940, General and Europe, Volume II - Office of the
Historian". Retrieved 1 July 2021.

● ^ Stone, Bill (1998). "Iceland in the Second World War". Stone & Stone. Retrieved 2008-06-22.

● ^ Stacey, C P. (1956) Official history of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Vol I The Army in Canada,
Britain and the Pacific, Queen's Printer, Ottawa (Downloadable PDF)

● ^ Stetson Conn; Byron Fairchild (January 2, 2003). "CHAPTER VI From Nonbelligerency to War". Center for
Military History United States Army. Retrieved June 17, 2020.

● ^ Thorhallsson, Baldur (2018), "A theory of shelter", Small States and Shelter Theory, Routledge, pp. 24–58,
doi:10.4324/9780429463167-3, ISBN 9780429463167

● ^

● Jump up to:

a b c KARLSSON, GUNNAR (2017). ICELAND'S 1100 YEARS : history of a marginal society. C HURST & CO
●
 PUB LTD. ISBN 978-1849049115. OCLC 986911706.

● ^ "Brief Introduction to Icelandic EOD". Landhelgisgæsla Íslands. 2005. Archived from the original on 2008-12-26.
Retrieved 2008-06-22.

● ^ Search and Clearance of Explosive Ordnance from SS El Grillo Icelandic Coast Guard website, published: 26
March 2002, accessed: 17 June 2011

● ^

● Jump up to:

a b Karlsson, Gunnar (2000). History of Iceland. pp. 316.

● Jump up to:

a b c d e Hálfdanarson, Guðmundur (2012-11-19). "The Occupation Years – Documenting a forgotten war".

Further reading[edit]

Bittner, D. F. The Lion and the White Falcon: Britain and Iceland in the World War II Era
●
(Hamden: Archon Books, 1983).
Bittner, D. F. "A Final Appraisal of the British Occupation of Iceland, 1940-1942," The RUSI
●
Journal 120 (1975), 45–53.
Deans, Philip W. "The uninvited guests: Britain’s military forces in Iceland, 1940-1942." (2012).
●
online
Fairchild, Byron (2000) [reissue from 1960]. "Decision to Land United States Forces in Iceland,
●
1941". In Kent Roberts Greenfield (ed.). Command Decisions. United States Army Center of
Military History. CMH Pub 70-7.
Hardarson, Sólrun B. Jensdóttir. "The 'Republic of Iceland' 1940-44: Anglo-American attitudes
●
and influences." Journal of Contemporary History 9.4 (1974): 27–56. in JSTOR
Miller, J. The North Atlantic Front: Orkney, Shetland, Faroe, and Iceland at War (Edinburgh:
●
Birlinn, 2003).
Col. Conrad H. Lanza (July 1946). Col. Devere Armstrong (ed.). "Perimeters in Paragraphs -
●
Realities behind the power struggle" (PDF). The Field Artillery Journal. The United States Field
Artillery Association. 36 (7): 436.
Stacey, C P. (1955) Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Vol I Six
●
Years of War, Queen's Printer, Ottawa (Downloadable PDF)

External links[edit]

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● John Crook on Iceland

● Iceland During World War II at Wall Street International

● US Navy photos of Iceland during World War II from page 83 onwards

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● This page was last edited on 14 January 2022, at 12:25 (UTC).