Iceland was neutral , for the first portion of the war and wished to remain that way . However Churchill worried about the nazis taking Iceland and having a UBoat stronghold in the north Atlantic . So Churchill ordered the allies Canadian troops to land in Iceland and occupy them . They arrived in Reykjavik after sending a scout plane ahead , which woke the whole town as they had no airport . When the Canadian troops arrived and landed on a dock , a local Icelander put a cigarette in one of the soldiers guns . Local police and politicians conceded to being occupied and told locals to chill out . Canadian troops built an airport which is still in use today . They were eventually replaced by other allied troops so the Canadians could be used to battle the Germans in France .