Operation Valentine, theBritish occupation of the Faroe Islands during theSecond World War, was implemented immediately followingOperation Weserübung, the German invasion of metropolitanDenmark andNorway. It was a small component of the roles ofNordic countries in the war.[1] In April 1940, theUnited Kingdom occupied the strategically importantFaroe Islands (part of Denmark) to forestall a German invasion. British troops left shortly after the end of the war.
At the time of the occupation, the Faroe Islands had the status of anamt (county) of theDanish Realm. Following the invasion andoccupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, British forces launched Operation Valentine to occupy the Faroe Islands. On 11 April,Winston Churchill – thenFirst Lord of the Admiralty – announced to theHouse of Commons that the Faroe Islands would be occupied,
We are also at this moment occupying the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark and which are a strategic point of high importance, and whose people showed every disposition to receive us with warm regard. We shall shield the Faroe Islands from all the severities of war and establish ourselves there conveniently by sea and air until the moment comes when they will be handed back to Denmark liberated from the foul thraldom into which they have been plunged by German aggression.[2]
On the same day the Royal Navy cruiserHMS Suffolk embarked Faroes Force, consisting of 13 officers and 180 men of theRoyal Marines under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel T. B. W. Sandall, at Scapa Flow.[3][4] Faroes Force was also equipped with two3.7" howitzers.[4] By 12 April HMSSuffolk was on passage to the Faroe Islands, escorted by the destroyersHMS Havant andHMS Hesperus.[3]
An announcement was broadcast onBBC radio. An aircraft of theRoyal Air Force (RAF) was seen over the Faroese capitalTórshavn on the same day. On 12 April, the two Royal Navy destroyers arrived in Tórshavn harbour. Following a meeting withCarl Aage Hilbert (the Danish prefect of the islands) and Kristian Djurhuus (president of theLøgting, the Faroese parliament), an emergency meeting of the Løgting was convened the same afternoon. Pro-independence members tried to declare the independence of the Faroe Islands from the Kingdom of Denmark but were outvoted. An official announcement was later made announcing the occupation and ordering a nightblackout in Tórshavn and neighbouringArgir, the censorship of post and telegraphy and the prohibition of the use of motor vehicles during the night without a permit.[2]
On 13 April, HMSSuffolk arrived at Tórshavn. Colonel T. B. W. Sandall (the British military commander) andFrederick Mason (the new British consul to the Faroe Islands) then met with the Danish prefect, Carl Aage Hilbert, who responded with what Sandall took to be a formal protest, although he maintained that owing to the occupation of Denmark he was unable formally to represent the Danish government. He duly accepted the British terms on the basis that they would not seek to interfere with the internal affairs of the islands. A formal protest was made by the Løgting, albeit expressing the wish for friendly relations. Faroes Force was disembarked, to be replaced on 27 May by soldiers of theLovat Scouts, a Scottish regiment.[4] In 1942, the Lovat Scouts were replaced by theCameronians (Scottish Rifles). From 1944, the British garrison was considerably reduced. The authorEric Linklater was part of the British garrison and his 1956 novelThe Dark of Summer was set in the Faroe Islands during the war years.
On 20 June 1940, sixSwedish Navy ships arrived in the Faroe Islands. Four,HSwMS Psilander,Puke,Romulus andRemus, were destroyers bought from Italy and being sailed to Sweden. The fifth, the passenger shipPatricia, had been used to take the destroyer crew to Italy and was bringing civilian passengers back. The sixth, the tankerCastor, had been converted to naval status tobunker the ships. TheRoyal Navy seized all the ships under armed threat and moved them toOrkney. Although Sweden was neutral and not at war, Britain feared Germany would seize the ships if they continued to Sweden. After political negotiations Sweden secured their return. The Royal Navy had stripped equipment and caused damage to the ships, for which Britain later paid compensation. The Swedish commander was criticised by other Swedish officers for conceding the ships without resistance.[citation needed]
A plaque was erected by British veterans inTórshavn Cathedral expressing thanks for the kindness shown to them by the Faroese people during their presence. Approximately 170 marriages took place between British soldiers and Faroese women; the British Consul, Frederick Mason (1913–2008) also married a local woman, Karen Rorholm.
The Faroe Islands suffered occasional attacks byLuftwaffe aircraft but an invasion was never attempted. Drifting sea mines proved to be a considerable problem and resulted in the loss of numerous fishing boats and their crews. The trawlerNýggjaberg was sunk on 7 March 1942 nearIceland; 21 Faroese seamen were killed in the worst loss of Faroese lives in the war. Faroese shipshoisted the Faroese flag and painted FAROES /FØROYAR on the ships' sides for the Royal Navy to identify them as "friendly".
To prevent inflation,Danish krone banknotes in circulation on the islands wereoverstamped with a mark indicating their validity only in the Faroe Islands. TheFaroese króna (technically the Danish krone in the Faroe Islands) was fixed at 22.4 kroner to onepound sterling. Emergency banknotes were issued and Faroese banknotes were later printed byBradbury Wilkinson in England.[5]
During the occupation, the Løgting was given full legislative powers, albeit as an expedient given the occupation of Denmark. Although in the1944 Icelandic constitutional referendum, Iceland became an independent republic, Churchill refused to countenance a change in the constitutional status of the Faroe Islands whilst Denmark was still occupied. Following the liberation of metropolitan Denmark and theend of the Second World War in Europe, the occupation was terminated in May 1945 and the last British soldiers left in September. The experience of wartime self-government left a return to the pre-war status of anamt (county) unrealistic and unpopular. The1946 Faroese independence referendum led to local autonomy within the Danish realm in 1948.
The largest tangible sign of the British presence is the runway ofVágar Airport. Other reminders include the naval guns at the fortress ofSkansin in Tórshavn, which served as the British military headquarters. A continuing reminder is the Faroese love offish and chips and British chocolate such asDairy Milk (which is readily available in shops throughout the islands but not in Denmark).[citation needed] After the occupation, instances ofmultiple sclerosis increased in the Faroe Islands, something which American and German neuroepidemiologists such asJohn F. Kurtzke andKlaus Lauer attribute to the presence of occupying British soldiers who were recuperating from multiple sclerosis on the islands.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
In 1990, the Faroese government organised British Week, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the friendly occupation. The celebration was attended byHMS Brilliant and a Royal Marines band. Sir Frederick Mason, the former wartime British consul to the Faroes, was also present, aged 76.[12]
More than 200 Faroese seamen lost their lives at sea during the Second World War, most due to the war. A monument in their memory stands in Tórshavn's municipal park. Several Faroese vessels were either bombed or sunk by German submarines or by drifting sea mines. Faroese fishing vessels harvested the sea near Iceland and around the Faroe Islands and transported their catch to theUK for sale.[13]
At least one aircraft accident caused British fatalities. Five of a crew of six died in a crash of an RAF aircraft on 9 November 1942.[14]
The only airfield on the Faroe Islands was built in 1942–43 on the island ofVágar by theRoyal Engineers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William E. Law.RAF Vágar was used for refuelling, servicing and as a emergency landing base, on theNorth Atlantic air ferry route. Abandoned after the war, it was reopened as the civilianVágar Airport in 1963.
The majority of British personnel in the Faroes were stationed at Vágar, mostly working on the construction of the airfield.Driving on the left was in force on the roads of the island of Vágar until British troops left the Faroe Islands.
After Germany occupied Denmark, theBritish Admiralty no longer allowed Faroese vessels to fly theDanish flag. This was of considerable significance given the importance of the fishing fleet to the Faroese economy. Following some intensive discussions between the British occupation authorities, the Faroese authorities and the Danish Prefect, as well as discussions between the UKForeign Office and the Danish Embassy in London, on 25 April 1940 the British authorities recognised theFaroese flag –Merkið – as thecivil ensign of the Faroe Islands.[15]
![Grave of F/O H. J. G. Haeusler[a]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNew_zealand_pilot_died_in_the_faroes.jpg)
