This last June was the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of occupied Europe by Allied forces. By the time of the invasion the world had been at war for almost five years. A key element in the victory over the Nazis was supplying Britain and Russia with the tools they needed to continue the fight. Convoys of ships carried vital war materials from ports in the United States and Canada across the North Atlantic. Some 2,978 ships did not make it to their destination. If you could not make it to a life boat you had two choices. You could burn to death on your sinking ship or go into the water where you would freeze to death in four minutes. Over 30,000 men lost their lives in the North Atlantic. It should be noted that these men were mostly civilian merchant mariners but served with as much bravery as frontline soldiers, sailors and airmen and without the recognition. Hvalfjörður (Whale-fjord) was an important naval base during World War II. Merchant ships from Britain and the United States would gather here before sailing to Britain and Russia. German reconnaissance aircraft often flew near the Icelandic coast. American fighter planes shot down four of them near Hvalfjörður. Knowing what I know I would have preferred to go down with the plane rather than parachute into the North Atlantic. Our guide, Holm, mentioned that during the war there were more Americans and British in Iceland than there were Icelanders. During that time Hvalfjörður was a small city of 250 buildings. Today only the steel pier remains. When I visited I could not help wondering what the young men from Surrey and Dorset, Kansas and Tennessee thought of this place.