Do You Know Your Wwii History?

[IMA_FARANG]

I just thought I would put this question to the Brits in particular...but on second thought I'll open it to anyone on the forum.

The question is (honest answers please) did any of you ever hear of the British armed forces occupying Iceland and the Faroe Islands during WWII?

I'm an American...and that sublect was never mentioned in my school. I would just like to know if the subject was mentioned at all in British schools as part of WWII history. I only became aware of it because I happened to work for 5 years in Iceland for a U.S. contractor maintaining part of a NATO communications system...and we actually lived in the buildings originally built by the British navy (refurbished by then) in 1940 to house the British forces.

So the answer is...to prevent the Nazis from possibly moving into Iceland a British force entered Iceland on May 10, 1940. The British said it was "necessary to prevent a possible occupation of Iceland by German forces" at the time. That is probaly true, but what Icelandics there were still living in 1980 when I first went there that remembered the occuaption didn't seem to recall being asked by the British force. But I'm not criticising here, just stating what I saw myself.

Iceland was in fact a critical part of the British and Allied efforts to defend the very vital shipping lanes across the Atlantic. Those shipping lanes kept Britan supplied. It was called the "Battle of the Atlantic" and it was a close thing. The fighter aircraft of those days simply didn't have the range and there was a space in the Atlantic that couldn't be covered by them. The German submarines used to form their "wolfpacks" there, and prey on the British and Allied convoys from that area where there was no aircraft coverage. Being able for the RAF to station fighters on the west coast of Iceland helped close part of that gap. And for other reasons (read about the ULTRA code breakers of Bentchly Park) the weather and radar stations on the east coast of Iceland played a vital role in breaking that code (ULTRA was the code name for the German Navy's top-secret code...read about it in a book called "The ULTRA Secret").

In 1941 the British forces in Iceland were replaced by American troops and their longer range planes. Both groups had the same mission...to try and stop German U-boats getting into the Atlantic to prey on Allied convoys headed for Britan.

As for the Faroe Islands the operation to occupy the Faroes was called "Operation Valentine" and began on 9 April 1940. At that time the Faroe Islands were a part of Denmark which had been occupied by the Nazis. Again the reason was to "protect the Faroes from possible German occupation". Again, I doubt any Faroese were consulted in advance and gave their approval for this occupation. British forces remained in the Faroes until 1945 when with the surrender of German forces in Denamark the Faroes were returned to Denmark. In case you didn't know, the Faroe Islands are today a self-governing autonamous part of Denmark but has it's own legislative assembly and it's own currency (the Faroese Kroner versus the Danish Kroner).

Iceland and the Faroes played another vital part in the WWII in the U.K. Although for morale reasons much of the (rationed of course) fish sold in Britan during WWII as was labeled as "North Sea" fish, it actually came from Iceland and the Faroes. This fact was deliberately kept from most British at the time, but it is a fact. In fact, newsreals in the U.K. deliberately kept up the myth that "our brave British fishermen" were doing the bit to win the war by fishing in the North Sea. In fact it is estamated that between 30 and 50 percent of the fish sold in the U.K. between 1940 and 1943 in the U.K. was actually from Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The actual records were never revealed...and today are probaly lost.

Anyway, my question...Have any of you even heard this before in school?

You can find this info by doing a google or Yahoo search on "British occupation of Iceland and the Faroe Islands during WWII"

P.S. The reason I posted this is in response to another topic, "Are Thais taught anything about Hitler/WWII" and the discussions on that topic.

Edited September 27, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[Semper]

You mentioned a lot of countries, but Thailand was not one of them, so...

[Boater]

yes this is taught in history lessons in the UK, or was in the 90's

[geriatrickid]

The British presence was undertaken with the knowledge and tacit support of the legitimate government in Denmark. As you may know Germany invaded Denmark and Iceland was part of Denmark. On the whole, the Danes were not particularly pleased with the invaders and that is why free Danish military forces joined up with the British and were combined under the Canadian Army Corps I subsequent to D day. The presence of Germans in Iceland presented a clear and imminent threat to Canada. Iceland prospered under the allied protection. Most of Denmark resisted the occupation and many Danes in occupied Denmark suffered.

Edited September 27, 2011 by geriatrickid

[Lite Beer]

Sorry. No relevance to Thailand.