British military legacy of the Faroe Islands, Part 2 - Eggjarnar LORAN 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. But in 1943, when the military force was already preparing to evacuate the islands, a request was received for the siting of a LORAN navigation station on the Faroes. Pragmatism suggested this would be constructed near the existing concentration of facilities, either on Vágar or near Tórshavn, but neither were deemed suitable. LORAN or Long-Range Navigation was an American invention of the Second World War, much like the British GEE system, initially intended for naval navigation but later adapted for air navigation.  It was a high-frequency (HF) radio system consisting of a “chain” of land-based transmitters. The other two stations were in Iceland and on Stornoway. The most suitable location for the middle transmitter in this chain was on the southern Faroese island of Sydero. Four antennas, two technical and one domestic buildings were constructed, along with an anti-aircraft emplacement. It was manned by R.A.F. personnel. Much of this site, minus the antennas, remains and can be visited.