British military legacy of the Faroe Islands, Part 3 - Nolsoy Radar Station

In April 1940 a peaceful occupation force of British Soldiers were deployed to the Faroe Islands. After mainland Denmark capitulated to German forces, the fall of the Faroes would help Germany cut off vital cross-atlantic shipping routes and isolate Britain and Western Europe even further. Up to 5,000 British troops would see this remote archipelago as their home until the end of the war, and the construction of artillery batteries, radar stations, barracks and an airfield would forever change the landscape. In this series of 4 videos, I travel to the North Atlantic islands and document some of the more significant sites that remain. Early air defence plans called for a network of seven Air Ministry Experimental Station (A.M.E.S.) Radio Direction Finding (R.D.F.) or radar stations (although the term RADAR wasn’t adopted from the Americans until 1943). It had been recognised that the conventional Chain Home stations would not be suitable due to the size of antennas required. Each of the proposed A.M.E.S. stations would, because of the geography of the country, be required to be constructed on seven different islands. They would provide a comprehensive early warning shield of around 30 miles, just long enough to sound the alarm and man the anti-aircraft guns. The logistical challenge of this would have been too great, so a reduced network of only four stations would go on to be constructed. In a series of 1942 operational documents relating to the air defence of the Faeroes detailed the requirements for the comprehensive defence of the islands from air attack. Much like the lessons learned from the Dowding system of ground-controlled air defence deployed across the skies of the U.K. the Faroes would work a layered approach. Four Radio Direction Finding (R.D.F.) stations of A.M.E.S. No. 6 Light Warning Sets would be based at Nolso (east), Akraberg (south), Eiði (north) and Mykinnes (west) would provide early warning to the A.A. defences as well as air raid warning and interception capabilities for fighter aircraft. These stations would give all-round cover to the islands out to 50 miles in favourable conditions, the reality being much less than this.