Complacent Europe to blame for the rot

AN AIR of stomach-churning chaos hung over the makeshift British force as it ploughed through the turbulent waters of the North Atlantic in early May 1940.

- Leo McKinstry

Aboard the two Royal Navy cruis ers that carried the troops on their mission, the foul-smelling decks were packed with the groaning, prostrate figures of the seasick. One young marine found the ordeal so unbearable he committed suicide.

After the long, inactive months of the so-called Phoney War, the European conflict had suddenly exploded with a savage intensity when Hitler launched successful invasions of Denmark and Norway in April 1940, followed by his devastating onslaught against France and the Low Countries.

In this crisis, one of Britain’s priorities was to prevent the strategically crucial Iceland from falling to the Nazi regime. So the Cabinet decided to seize the territory by unilateral military action.