The British invasion of Iceland (codenamed Operation Fork) by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and Royal Marines occurred on 10 May 1940, during World War II. The invasion took place because the British government feared that Iceland would be used militarily by Nazi Germany, which had overrun Denmark a month earlier.
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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.
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Another funny thing about this is the influence foreign soldiers had on Icelandic women
they also couldn’t do anything about it because they had no real army and only a police force
TheHistoryMaster2520 on
Meanwhile the Faroe Islands and Greenland: Come on in!
hobbala911 on
In Norway the British were just a little too late so they played it safe in Iceland.
Jst219 on
Oh I just read about this bit of history! Iceland eventually contacted the United States and set up a deal for the US to protect Iceland from Germany in exchange for the US being able to set up camps in Iceland to do missions for WW2. One of the Icelandic deal requirements was that all of the British people would have to leave (which, iirc, the British were happy to do as they hated it there)
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Iceland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Iceland)
The British invasion of Iceland (codenamed Operation Fork) by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy and Royal Marines occurred on 10 May 1940, during World War II. The invasion took place because the British government feared that Iceland would be used militarily by Nazi Germany, which had overrun Denmark a month earlier.
[…]
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.
Another funny thing about this is the influence foreign soldiers had on Icelandic women
[Ástandið – Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81standi%C3%B0)
they also couldn’t do anything about it because they had no real army and only a police force
Meanwhile the Faroe Islands and Greenland: Come on in!
In Norway the British were just a little too late so they played it safe in Iceland.
Oh I just read about this bit of history! Iceland eventually contacted the United States and set up a deal for the US to protect Iceland from Germany in exchange for the US being able to set up camps in Iceland to do missions for WW2. One of the Icelandic deal requirements was that all of the British people would have to leave (which, iirc, the British were happy to do as they hated it there)