Iceland has long held a position of military significance for its location at the top of the North Atlantic Ocean. And that was certainly the case in World War II. Britain invaded Iceland in a military maneuver intended to preempt a German occupation.
Eventually, though, British troops were needed elsewhere. President Roosevelt was persuaded to send troops in to replace the British. It was July 1941. Notably, the U.S. had not yet entered the war against Germany.
Major Richard S. Whitcomb was the first American to set foot on Iceland as a member of the Army Expeditionary Force. His role was to ensure that the landing of nearly five thousand Marines went smoothly. He soon discovered a ruggedly magnificent country of fjords, glaciers and hot springs.
You can read Richard S. Whitcomb’s manuscript describing the U.S. occupation of Iceland in the digital collection at UW’s American Heritage Center.