Storia Islandese / Iceland, History Of

It is possible to divide the war in Iceland in two phases: a first one from the 10th of May 1940 to July 1941, when US troops set up and run the bases (7). The second part last for all the rest of the WWII. It would not correct to call the first phase a british one, and the subsequent an american one, as the US troops replaced only the british army, while RAF and Royal Navy continued to operate in Iceland even more actively than before.

The british objectives in the two phases varied: at first, the mission was of logistic nature and defensive, with the army on due to make Iceland a safe base, prevent enemy infiltrations and create military infrastructures; the use of other military forces was marginal. In the second part of the conflict, Navy and Aviation took a more intense role, as the Iceland became a vital point in the battle of North Atlantic; in that period, large part of the british Army was redirected to other war theatres, as a consequence of a trilateral agreement with Iceland and USA; the US, well before officially entering the war, accepted to replace british soldiers in Iceland with a contingent of 44,000 units.