Invasion of Iceland

Invasion of Iceland
Part of World War II
Initial British aims were to destroy landing grounds (blue) and secure key harbours (red).
Date 10 May 1940 Location Iceland Result British occupation of Iceland
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Kingdom of Iceland
Commanders and leaders
Robert Sturges	Hermann Jónasson Einar Arnalds
Strength
British: 746 Royal Marines 4 Royal Navy warships	60 police officers 300 untrained reservists
Casualties and losses
1 killed (suicide en route)	none
A small number of German citizens were arrested

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The invasion of Iceland, codenamed Operation Fork, was a British military operation conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines during World War II to occupy and deny Iceland to Germany. At the start of the war, Britain imposed strict export controls on Icelandic goods, preventing profitable shipments to Germany, as part of its naval blockade. Britain offered assistance to Iceland, seeking cooperation "as a belligerent and an ally", but Reykjavik declined and reaffirmed its neutrality. The German diplomatic presence in Iceland, along with the island's strategic importance, alarmed the British.^[1] After failing to persuade the Icelandic government to join the Allies, the British invaded on the morning of 10 May 1940. The initial force of 746 British Royal Marines commanded by Colonel Robert Sturges disembarked at the capital Reykjavík. Meeting no resistance, the troops moved quickly to disable communication networks, secure strategic locations, and arrest German citizens. Requisitioning local transport, the troops moved to Hvalfjörður, Kaldaðarnes, Sandskeið, and Akranes to secure landing areas against the possibility of a German counterattack.

Invasion

Background

In 1918, after a long period of Danish rule, Iceland had become an independent state in personal union with Denmark and with common handling of foreign affairs.^[2] The newly born Kingdom of Iceland declared itself a neutral country without a defence force.^[2] The treaty of union allowed for a revision to begin in 1941 and for unilateral termination three years after that, if no agreement was reached.^[2] By 1928, all Icelandic political parties were in agreement that the union treaty would be terminated as soon as possible.^[3]

King Christian X was said by Time to be "less unpopular in Iceland than any other Danish sovereign has ever been".^[4] Nevertheless, the great majority of Icelanders were eager to establish a republic.

On 9 April 1940, German forces launched Operation Weserübung, invading both Norway and Denmark. Denmark was subdued within a day and occupied. On the same day, the British government sent a message to the Icelandic government, stating that Britain was willing to assist Iceland in maintaining her independence but would require facilities in Iceland to do so. Iceland was invited to join Britain in the war "as a belligerent and an ally." The Icelandic government rejected the offer.^[5] On the next day, 10 April, the Icelandic parliament, the Alþingi (or Althing), declared Danish King Christian X unable to perform his constitutional duties and assigned them to the government of Iceland, along with all other responsibilities previously carried out by Denmark on behalf of Iceland.^[6] On 12 April, in Operation Valentine, the British took over the Faroe Islands. Following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, the British government became increasingly concerned that Germany would soon try to establish a military presence in Iceland. They felt that this would constitute an intolerable threat to British control of the North Atlantic. Just as importantly, the British were eager to obtain bases in Iceland for themselves to strengthen their Northern Patrol.^[7]

Planning

Home 8. Dined and worked. Planning conquest of Iceland for next week. Shall probably be too late! Saw several broods of ducklings.

— Alexander Cadogan, British Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, diary entry for 4 May 1940.^[8]

As the military situation in Norway deteriorated, the Admiralty came to the conclusion that Britain could no longer do without bases in Iceland. On 6 May, Winston Churchill presented the case to the War Cabinet. Churchill maintained that if further negotiations with the Icelandic government were attempted, the Germans might learn of them and act first. A surer and more effective solution was to land troops unannounced and present the Icelandic government with a fait accompli. The War Cabinet approved the plan.^[9]

The expedition was organized hastily and haphazardly.^[10] Much of the operational planning was conducted en route. The force was supplied with few maps, most of poor quality, with one of them having been drawn from memory. No one in the expedition was fully fluent in the Icelandic language.^[11]

The British planned to land all of their forces at Reykjavík. There, they would overcome any resistance and defeat local Germans. To guard against a German counterattack by sea, they would secure the harbour and send troops by land to nearby Hvalfjörður. The British were also worried that the Germans might airlift troops, as they had done with great success in their Norwegian Campaign. To guard against this, troops would drive east to the landing grounds at Sandskeið and Kaldaðarnes. Lastly, troops would be sent by land to the harbour at Akureyri and the landing ground at Melgerði in the north of the country.^[12]

The Naval Intelligence Division (NID) expected resistance from three possible sources. Local Germans, who were thought to have some arms, could be expected to resist or even attempt some sort of coup. In addition, a German invasion force might already be under way or launched immediately following the British landings. The NID also expected resistance from the Reykjavík police, consisting of some 60 men under arms. If by chance a Danish patrol vessel were present in Reykjavík, the Danish sailors might assist the defenders.^[13] This concern was needless, as the only Danish naval vessels abroad were in Greenland.^[14]

Operation Fork

Force Sturges

On 3 May 1940, the 2nd Royal Marine Battalion in Bisley, Surrey received orders from London to be ready to move at two hours' notice for an unknown destination. The battalion had only been activated the month before. Though there was a nucleus of active service officers, the troops were new recruits and only partially trained.^[15] There was a shortage of weapons, which consisted only of rifles, pistols, and bayonets, while 50 of the marines had only just received their rifles and had not had a chance to fire them. On 4 May, the battalion received some modest additional equipment in the form of Bren light machine guns, anti-tank guns, and 2-inch mortars. With no time to spare, zeroing of the weapons and initial familiarisation firing would have to be conducted at sea.^[16]

Supporting arms provided to the force consisted of two 3.7 inch mountain howitzers, four QF 2 pounder naval guns, and two 4-inch coastal defence guns.^[16] The guns were manned by troops from the artillery divisions of the Navy and the marines, none of whom had ever fired them.^[16] They lacked searchlights, communication equipment, and gun directors.^[17]

Colonel Robert Sturges was assigned to command the force. Aged 49, he was a highly regarded veteran of World War I, having fought in the Battle of Gallipoli and the Battle of Jutland.^[18] He was accompanied by a small intelligence detachment under Major Humphrey Quill and a diplomatic mission headed by Charles Howard Smith.^[15] Excluding those, the invasion force consisted of 746 troops.^[19]

Journey to Iceland

HMS Berwick was the command ship of the operation.

On 6 May, Force Sturges boarded trains for Greenock on the Clyde. In order to avoid drawing attention to itself, the force was divided into two different trains for the journey,^[20] but due to delays in rail travel, the troops arrived at the railway station in Greenock around the same time, losing the small degree of anonymity desired.^[20] Additionally, security had been compromised by a dispatch in the clear and by the time the troops arrived in Greenock, everyone knew that the destination was Iceland.^[15]

In the morning of 7 May, the force headed to the harbour in Greenock, where they found the cruisers Berwick and Glasgow, intended to take them to Iceland. Boarding commenced, but was fraught with problems and delays. Departure was delayed until 8 May, and even then a large amount of equipment and supplies had to be left on the piers.^[21]

At 04:00 on 8 May, the cruisers departed for Iceland. They were accompanied by an anti-submarine escort consisting of the destroyers Fearless and Fortune. The cruisers were not designed to transport a force of the size assigned to them, and conditions were cramped.^[11] Despite reasonably good weather, many of the marines developed severe seasickness. The voyage was used as planned for calibration and familiarization with the newly acquired weapons.^[22]

One of the newly recruited marines committed suicide en route.^[23] The voyage was otherwise uneventful.^[17]

In May 1940 we transported Royal Marines to Iceland and the island was occupied on the 10th May to prevent the occupation by a German force. A number of German civilians and technicians were made prisoners and transported back to the United Kingdom. Very rough seas were encountered on passage to Iceland and the majority of the marines cluttered gangways and mess-decks throughout the ship, prostrate with seasickness. One unfortunate marine committed suicide.

— Stan Foreman, petty officer of HMS Berwick^[24]

Surprise is lost

The Supermarine Walrus, though it proved ultimately unsuitable for operations in Iceland, had the advantage that it could land almost anywhere.^[25]

At 01:47, Icelandic time, on 10 May, HMS Berwick used its catapult to launch a Supermarine Walrus reconnaissance aircraft.^[26] The principal aim of the flight was to scout the vicinity of Reykjavík for enemy submarines, which the Naval Intelligence Division had convinced itself were operating out of Icelandic harbours.^[26] The Walrus was given orders not to fly over Reykjavík but – either accidentally or as the result of a miscommunication – it flew several circles over the town, making considerable noise.^[27] At this time, Iceland possessed no aeroplanes of its own, so this unusual event woke up and alerted a number of people.^[28] Icelandic Prime Minister Hermann Jónasson was alerted to the aircraft,^[29] as were the Icelandic Police. The acting chief of police, Einar Arnalds, surmised that it most likely originated from a British warship bringing the expected new ambassador.^[29] This was correct, though it was not the whole story.

Werner Gerlach, the German consul, was also alerted to the aircraft. Suspecting what was about to happen, he drove down to the harbour with a German associate.^[30] With the use of binoculars, he confirmed his fears and then hurried back.^[31] At home, he arranged for the burning of his documents and tried unsuccessfully to reach the Icelandic foreign minister by telephone.^[32]

Down at the harbour

At 03:40, an Icelandic policeman saw a small fleet of warships approaching the harbour, but could not discern their nationality. He notified his superior, who notified Einar Arnalds, the acting chief of police.^[33] The laws of neutrality to which Iceland had committed forbade more than three warships from a belligerent nation from making use of a neutral harbour at the same time. Any aeroplanes from such ships were forbidden from flying over neutral territorial waters.^[29] Seeing that the approaching fleet was about to violate Icelandic neutrality in two ways, Arnalds set out to investigate.^[29] Down at the harbour, he viewed the ships for himself and decided they were probably British. He contacted the foreign ministry, which confirmed that he should go out to the fleet and announce to its commander that he was in violation of Icelandic neutrality.^[34] Customs officers were ordered to prepare a boat.^[34]

Meanwhile, marines on Berwick were being ordered aboard Fearless, which would take them to the harbour. The seasickness and inexperience of the troops were causing delays and the officers were becoming frustrated.^[35] Just before five o'clock in the morning, Fearless, loaded with around 400 marines, set out for the harbour.^[36] A small crowd had assembled, including several policemen still waiting for the customs boat. The British consul had received advance notice of the invasion and was waiting with his associates to assist the troops when they arrived. Uncomfortable with the crowd, Consul Shepherd turned to the Icelandic police. "Would you mind ... getting the crowd to stand back a bit, so that the soldiers can get off the destroyer?" he asked. "Certainly," came the reply.^[36]

The Fearless started disembarking immediately once it docked.^[37] Arnalds asked to speak with the captain of the destroyer, but was refused.^[38] He then hastened to report to the Prime Minister, who ordered him not to interfere with the British troops and to try to prevent conflicts between them and Icelanders.^[38]

Down at the harbour, some of the locals protested against the arrival of the British. One Icelander snatched a rifle from a marine and stuffed a cigarette in it. He then threw it back to the marine and told him to be careful with it. An officer arrived to scold the marine.^[39]

Operations in Reykjavík

The British forces began their operations in Reykjavík by posting a guard at the post office and attaching a flier to the door.^[40] The flier explained in broken Icelandic that British forces were occupying the city and asked for cooperation in dealing with local Germans.^[41] The offices of Síminn (telecommunication service), RÚV (broadcasting service), and the Meteorological Office were quickly put under British control to prevent news of the invasion from reaching Berlin.^[42]

Meanwhile, high priority was assigned to the capture of the German consulate. Arriving at the consulate, the British troops were relieved to find no sign of resistance and simply knocked on the door. Consul Gerlach opened, protested against the invasion, and reminded the British that Iceland was a neutral country. He was reminded, in turn, that Denmark had also been a neutral country.^[43] The British discovered a fire upstairs in the building and found a pile of documents burning in the consul's bathtub. They extinguished the fire and salvaged a substantial number of records.^[44]

The British had also expected resistance from the crew of Bahia Blanca, a German freighter which had hit an iceberg in the Denmark Strait and whose 62-man crew had been rescued by an Icelandic trawler. The Naval Intelligence Division believed the Germans were actually reserve crews for the German submarines they thought were operating out of Iceland.^[45] The unarmed Germans were captured without incident.^[46]

British Forces

Outcome

Icelandic police officers undergoing firearms instruction in 1940

On the evening of 10 May, the government of Iceland issued a protest, charging that its neutrality had been "flagrantly violated" and "its independence infringed", noting that compensation would be expected for all damage done. The British promised compensation, favourable business agreements, non-interference in Icelandic affairs, and the withdrawal of all forces at the end of the war. Resigning themselves to the situation, the Icelandic authorities provided the invasion force with de facto cooperation, though formally maintaining a policy of neutrality. In the following days air defence equipment was deployed in Reykjavík and a detachment of troops sent to Akureyri. However, the initial invasion force was ill-equipped, only partially trained^[15] and insufficient to the task of occupation and defence of the island. On 17 May 4,000 additional troops of the British Army arrived to relieve the marines. In July elements of the 2nd Canadian Division and 3rd Canadian Division were landed. Commonwealth occupation forces eventually totalled 25,000 infantry with support elements from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy.^[47] One year after the invasion, forces from the still officially neutral United States were stationed on the island by agreement with the Icelandic government, relieving the bulk of British ground forces. US forces grew considerably after the US entered the war on 7 December 1941, reaching up to 30,000 army, navy and air force personnel at any one time. The RAF and RCAF continued to operate from two Royal Air Force stations through to the end of the war.

Britain invaded to forestall a German occupation, to provide a base for naval and air patrols, and to protect merchant shipping lanes from North America to Europe. In this the invasion was successful. However, the presence of British, Canadian, and US troops had a lasting impact on the country. Foreign troop numbers in some years equaled 25% of the population or almost 50% of the native male population. Icelanders were and remain sharply divided about the war and occupation – what is sometimes referred to as "blessað stríðið" or "the Lovely War". Some point to the subsequent economic revival, others to loss of sovereignty and social upheaval. The occupation required the building of a network of roads, hospitals, harbours, airfields and bridges across the country, and this did have enormous positive economic impact. However, social interaction between troops and local women (and men) was severely censured and caused considerable controversy and political turmoil. Women were often accused of prostitution and of being traitors. 255 children were born from these liaisons, the ástandsbörn (children of the situation). In 1941, the Icelandic Minister of the Judiciary investigated “The Situation”, and the police tracked 500+ women who had been consorting with the soldiers. Many were upset that the foreign troops were "taking away" women, friends, and family. In 1942 two facilities opened to house these "girls". Both closed within a year, after investigations determined that most liaisons were consensual. About 332 Icelandic women married foreign soldiers.

During the occupation, on 17 June 1944, Iceland declared itself a republic, and while continuing to cooperate with the British, Canadian, and American military they remained officially neutral throughout the war. As the war drew to a close, the Keflavík Agreement signed in 1948 between the US and the Republic of Iceland stipulated that the American army would leave the country within six months, and Iceland would take possession of the Keflavík Airport. This did not happen for many decades, and a substantial US military presence remained in Iceland until 30 September 2006.^[48] At the end of hostilities most British facilities were turned over to the Icelandic government.

Although the British action was to forestall any risk of a German invasion, there is no evidence that the Germans had an invasion planned. There was, however, German interest in seizing Iceland. In a postwar interview with an American, Walter Warlimont claimed, "Hitler definitely was interested in occupying Iceland prior to [British] occupation. In the first place, he wanted to prevent "anyone else" from coming there; and, in the second place, he also wanted to use Iceland as an air base for the protection of our submarines operating in that area".^[49] After the British invasion, the Germans drew up a report to examine the feasibility of seizing Iceland, Operation Ikarus. The report found that while an invasion could be successful, maintaining supply lines would be too costly and the benefits of holding Iceland would not outweigh the costs (there was, for instance, insufficient infrastructure for aircraft in Iceland).^[50]

See also

• Ástandið
• Occupation of Iceland
• Iceland in World War II
• British occupation of the Faroe Islands
• Expansion operations and planning of the Axis Powers
• Battle of the Atlantic

Notes

References

• Bittner, Donald F. (1983). The Lion and the White Falcon: Britain and Iceland in the World War II Era. Hamden: Archon Books. ISBN 0-208-01956-1. 
• Cadogan, Sir Alexander George Montagu (1971). Dilks, David, ed. The diaries of Sir Alexander Cadogan, O.M., 1938–1945. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-93737-1. 
• Karlsson, Gunnar (2000). Iceland's 1100 Years: History of a Marginal Society. London: Hurst. ISBN 1-85065-420-4. 
• Magnúss, Gunnar M. (1947). Virkið í norðri: Hernám Íslands: I. bindi [Fortress North: Iceland Occupation: Volume I]. Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja. 
• Miller, James (2003). The North Atlantic Front: Orkney, Shetland, Faroe and Iceland at War. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN 1-84341-011-7. 
• Stacey, C. P. (1970). Arms, Men and Governments: The War Policies of Canada, 1939–1945. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. D2-5569. 
• Stacey, C. P. (1955). Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Vol. I: Six Years of War. Ottawa: Queen's Printer. 
• Whitehead, Þór (1999). Bretarnir koma: Ísland í síðari heimsstyrjöld [The British are coming: Iceland in World War II]. Reykjavík: Vaka-Helgafell. ISBN 9979-2-1435-X. 
• Whitehead, Þór (1995). Milli vonar og ótta: Ísland í síðari heimsstyrjöld [Between hope and fear: Iceland in World War II]. Reykjavík: Vaka-Helgafell. ISBN 9979-2-0317-X. 

Further reading

• Fairchild, Byron (2000) [1960]. "Decision to Land United States Forces in Iceland, 1941". In Kent Roberts Greenfield. Command Decisions. United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 70-7. 

External links

• Address by Markús Örn Antonsson (Icelandic Ambassador to Canada), 21 October 2006.
• "Franklin D. Roosevelt's message to Congress on the US occupation of Iceland", U.S. State Department (7 July 1941).

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