Talk:Invasion of Iceland

message: The article should mention how a German base in Iceland would have threatened North Atlantic convoys, as well as Atlantic air travel along the normal routes of the time (through Gander, Newfoundland) -- and also would have  precluded any possiblity of an Arctic Sea connection with the Soviet Union (which was not important in 1940, but would become very important in 1942).  United States troops took over from the British six months before Pearl Harbor(!), when the U.S. wasn't even at war, because Franklin D. Roosevelt thought that a German Iceland would not be in the interests of the U.S. (since Iceland is closer to North America than any other part of Europe). AnonMoos (talk) 19:00, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: When I was working on this my plan was to make this article narrowly focused on the invasion itself and to treat other aspects in broader articles; Occupation of Iceland and Iceland in World War II. Unfortunately I ran out of steam before I finished even this one... Of course you are quite right that the US occupation of Iceland was a very interesting step. Haukur (talk) 19:37, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Larger strategic considerations

message: I dug up a copy of "The Lion and the White Falcon" by Donald Bittner.  This is the primary source for a great deal of the article.  This is a scholarly work that is well foot noted.  It deserves to be front and center as the back bone of this wiki article.  I will tweak the article to tone down the current existing statement "...the British government became increasingly concerned that Germany would soon try to establish a military presence in Iceland."
The first chapter of the book deals with the various British views on Iceland.  There were numerous scares that Iceland was drifting into the German camp.  These were all dispelled by various government branches.  The conclusion was that Iceland was pro-British.  The Iceland Nazi party was a laughing stock.  There was no fifth column to fear.  Finally, the German population on the island was some concern as a destabilizing element or people who could lay the groundwork for future activities (read next paragraph).  The overall conclusion was that if Germany had any hope of using Iceland, it needed to do so before the outbreak of general hostilities.  The Icelanders were suspicious of German friendship overtures and did not seem to be on the verge of surrendering neutrality.  These are all conclusions coming from various British government reports.
In reference to a report to the Joint Planning staff: "long distances precluded an airborne attack and the Royal Navy's command of the sea precluded any German counter attack."  The section concludes with this assessment from the author "Thus, although rationally denying any German military capability to attack Iceland, the planners feared that somehow a German supported coup on the island could be successfully executed."
So there only 4 possible conclusions:
1.  The Joint Planning Staff (JPS) was oblivious to all the information collected by the rest of the government on the situation.
2.  The JPS choose to ignore or reinterpret the information available to them.
3.  The JPS had access to some information that the author did not.
4.  The JPS fabricated a German invasion for political cover for the British invasion.
Any one of those may be true.  However, you can not come to the conclusion of the current statement from this wiki article "...the British government became increasingly concerned that Germany would soon try to establish a military presence in Iceland," is in anyway a fact, at least not from this source and no other source is provided.
Footnote 8, supports the following sentence " Just as importantly, the British were eager to obtain bases in Iceland for themselves to strengthen their Northern Patrol."  There is nothing on pages 33-34 that supports the rest of the information in that paragraph.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jtgelt (talk • contribs) 18:45, 17 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Actual British Fear of Icelandic Invasion Very Questionable 

message: This article states:
"The Keflavík Agreement signed during 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 decades, and a substantial US military presence remained in Iceland until 30 September 2006."
The article on NAS Keflaviknotes:
"Intended as a temporary wartime base under an agreement with Iceland and the British, US forces withdrew by 1947, but returned in 1951 as the Iceland Defense Force, now operating a NATO base."
It would appear it did happen with re-occupation of the base on signing an agreement for NATO-backed defense. 
One of the two articles is incorrect.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.173.228.60 (talk) 02:05, 16 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Consistency with Naval Air Station Keflavik article 

message: "The invasion was performed because the British government feared that the Iceland would be used by the Germans, who had recently overrun Denmark, Iceland's possessing country."
This is pretty bad. What the hell does "possessing country" mean?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.209.136.122 (talk) 14:16, 20 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possessing country? 

message: The name of the article should be changed to British invasion of Iceland as it gives more context. Rasalghul1711 (talk) 14:42, 5 August 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  The name of the article should be changed to British invasion of Iceland as it gives more context.