What if Germany took Iceland in World War Two instead of Britain?

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On the 10th May 1940 Britain took Iceland in Operation Fork. What if instead of Britain Germany sends a team out to take Iceland. What would the implication be? Germany would now have a naval base in the far north of Atlantic. Would this mean they are able to land a success invasion of Northern Scotland? Or would they still have difficulty? Might the blockade of Britain be most more fearsome and so Britain might decide to sign a peace treaty before America joins the war? Or would the war end similarly? What would modern Iceland be like? Would a occupation of a aggressor might mean they want to back as a colony of Denmark instead of seeking independence? What you think?
 
The implications? The troops on Iceland get cut off from getting supplies pretty soon (probably still while the actual invasion isn't even finished) and the only question is: will the Allies liberate Iceland as soon as possible or just wait until the occupiers surrender themselves (due to the Gulf stream the winters on Iceland may be not as harsh as in Russia but will still be quite the strain)

As for mounting an invasion of Scotland from there... no. Just no. Nazi Germany wouldn't even be able to supply a regular occupational force, let alone all those extra troops that would be needed to invade somewhere else.
 
It would be a minor footnote in history. It would be taken back quickly as the ability to reinforce or reshoot would be non-existent. Taking it would be possible if they can catch the Royal Navy napping and sneak a force small enough to slip by. Anything bigger mostly likely gets noticed. The bigger the force the more supplies are needed and they still get cut off, either on the bone and surrender or give up without much trouble.
 
On the 10th May 1940 Britain took Iceland in Operation Fork. What if instead of Britain Germany sends a team out to take Iceland. What would the implication be? Germany would now have a naval base in the far north of Atlantic. Would this mean they are able to land a success invasion of Northern Scotland? Or would they still have difficulty? Might the blockade of Britain be most more fearsome and so Britain might decide to sign a peace treaty before America joins the war? Or would the war end similarly? What would modern Iceland be like? Would a occupation of a aggressor might mean they want to back as a colony of Denmark instead of seeking independence? What you think?
What if: German invasion of Iceland (Operation Ikarus)

Operation Ikarus (German: Unternehmen Ikarus or Fall Ikarus) was a World War II German plan to invade Iceland because Germany recognized Iceland’s strategic significance. If the island could somehow be seized, air units based there could wreak havoc on the shipping lanes between Britain and the Western Hemisphere. Naval forces, especially submarines, could also sortie from the island to attack convoy routes.

Getting there would be the problem. The Kriegsmarine had pulled off an extraordinary feat by seizing Norway in the teeth of British naval supremacy. Even then, the German fleet lost many valuable warships. But Fall Weserübung, the invasion of Norway, took place with considerable Air Force assistance. Other than a few long-range reconnaissance squadrons, any air units sent to Iceland would require naval transport to get there. And their entire ground echelon, plus fuel and other supplies, would have to come by ship as well.

Despite these difficulties, the German Navy put together a plan called Fall Ikarus. The planning staff concluded that the operation itself would be feasible, especially if executed late in the year (with long nights to help cover naval movements). However, it saw little advantage to the move. Since re-supply convoys would be difficult if not impossible to bring through to the island, the British would eventually re-capture Iceland and any troops sent there would be lost.

Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-09397,_Bremerhaven,_Schiffe_-Europa-_und_-Bremen-.jpg

Liners Europa (left) and Bremen seen at Bremerhaven in 1930.

Overruling this seemingly crucial objection, Hitler ordered the navy to begin long-term preparations to execute the operation. In this plan, a provisional brigade of mountain troops drawn from the 3rd Mountain Division then stationed in northern Norway would make a quick dash to Reykjavik. The big liners Bremen and Europa had already begun a rapid refit for use as fast troop transports for Operation Naumburg, the reinforcement of 3rd Mountain Division by sea during the struggle for Narvik in the spring of 1940. They had even been fitted to bring a dozen tanks each and unload them by lighter, and these would be available for Ikarus as well.

The two liners would carry the brigade, which would be short of heavy weapons. The jägers would secure the harbor at Reykjavik and that at Hvalfjord nearby, defeating any British forces they found. Whatever heavy warships then available would escort the liners, but the battleships or cruisers would only remain briefly to provide a quick bombardment – the German Navy had no protocol for actual coordinated fire support. Ikarus would depend on surprise and speed.

At the core of the Ikarus force (which apparently never received a designation) would be the 139th Mountain Regiment. The division would add bicycle, engineer and pack artillery elements as well, with a tank company drawn from the 40th Tank Battalion to round out the force. Thus the German brigade would be very similar in strength to the American marine brigade that might have awaited it.

Germany’s sneak attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 – launched on the same day the American Marines arrived in Iceland – brought an end to the unwieldy plan. German attacks on Atlantic convoys would have to depend on bases in Norway and France instead, and Iceland avoided the devastation of ground combat.
 
Their best chance might be just before the Norway operation. The KM slipped Armed Merchant Raiders, supply ships and blockade runners into the Atlantic at about that time, mostly via the Denmark Strait, and disguised as neutral vessels (AMR Atlantis was disguised as a Russian vessel IIRC, still neutral of course in 1940). There would have been little or no armed opposition to a battalion-sized unit carried on one or two merchant vessels seizing Reykjavik by coup-de-main before the British occupation, which took place in response to Norway. Once Norway was secured, Bergen-Reykjavik is 1454 km, not sure how this matches up to ferry ranges of LW aircraft, or supply flights by Ju52.

Of course, re-supply by sea would be more or less impossible, and the threat posed to Atlantic convoys would probably make it a top priority for Britain to take the island. As said, it might also bring the USA into the war. It might though provide a useful diversion to Norway. Still all-in-all, not a very good idea.
 
If Germany can successfully conquer Iceland, then it's only a short sail to Greenland, which was virtually undefended at the time.
 
[QUOTE="lordroel, post: 16613614, member: 2186".]... Thus the German brigade would be very similar in strength to the American marine brigade that might have awaited it. ...[/QUOTE]

True for most of 1940. Amphibious Forces Atlantic Fleet were greatly expanded in 1941. From a reinforced Marine brigade & a few transports, to a Marine division & the addition of a Army infantry division & later a second Army division. While a Marine Expeditionary Brigade was the core of the USN contingent on Iceland, there was a hefty corps size amphib force training for exactly this situation.
 
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[QUOTE="lordroel, post: 16613614, member: 2186".]... Thus the German brigade would be very similar in strength to the American marine brigade that might have awaited it. ...

True for most of 1940. Amphibious Forces Atlantic Fleet were greatly expanded in 1941. From a reinforced Marine brigade & a few transports, to a Marne division & the addition of a Army infantry division & later a second Army division. While a Marine Expeditionary Brigade was the core of the USN contingent on Iceland, there was a hefty corps size amphib force training for exactly this situation.[/QUOTE]
So who would win, the Germans on Iceland ore the US marines.
 
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