In August 1941, the netlayer HMS Guardian landed Royal Navy construction crews on Addu Atoll in the Maldives Islands to begin work on a secret naval base for Britain's Eastern Fleet.

Though in public British leaders continued to point to Singapore as the lynchpin of the Far Eastern defenses, they had already grown concerned that the “Malay Barrier” of Malaya, Sumatra and Java could not be held in the event of a Japanese attack.

But Admiral James Somerville, the fleet commander, found the port inadequate and doubted that it could be defended from determined attack.

The Royal Navy selected the southernmost island, Gan (pronounced "Yahn") for their airfield and began construction of three crushed-coral airstrips for the Fleet Air Arm.

The FAA airfield on Gan in theory could handle all aircraft in the British inventory, but it had short runways and larger bombers often crashed on landing.

The airfield's most important facilities were the big oil tanks built on Gan and on Hitaddu Island on the western edge of the atoll.

The 1st Royal Marine Coast Defence Regiment provided the garrison troops, manning shore batteries and anti-aircraft guns on all six of the atoll's major islands.

A pair of Australian refrigerator ships were requisitioned in Sydney, loaded with canned foods, several tons of American-made cigarettes and 5,200 gallons of rum, and stationed in the lagoon to re-supply British warships.

The Japanese were not aware of the base's existence during the April 1942 carrier raids in the Indian Ocean, and Somerville's fleet used it extensively.

Later in the war, submarine reconnaissance established the base's existence, but by this point the Imperial Navy had no designs for a large-scale offensive in the Indian Ocean.

The German submarine U-183 did torpedo the tanker British Loyalty in March 1944, making a long-range shot from outside the atoll through a gap in the anti-torpedo nets.

Despite public pronouncements to the contrary, the official view was that the main base at Singapore would be untenable if the Japanese made serious headway in Malaya and Java – which, in the event, is what happened in 1942.

Upon inspection, however, the naval commander-in-chief, Admiral James Somerville found the port inadequate, vulnerable to a determined attack and open to spying.

Royal Navy engineers landed in August 1941 from HMS Guardian to clear and construct airstrips on Gan for the Fleet Air Arm.

Large oil tanks were built on Gan, and on Hitaddu Island on the western edge of the atoll; vital elements for a naval base.

Several large Second Australian Imperial Force troop convoys also refueled at Addu on their way from Aden to Fremantle, Western Australia.

The six major islands were garrisoned by the 1st Royal Marine Coast Defense Regiment, manning shore batteries and anti-aircraft guns.

The Japanese remained unaware of the base's existence until their plans for expansion in south-east Asia had come to nothing, even during their carrier raids in the Indian Ocean in April 1942.

As a result, there was an influx of Addu people to Malé seeking employment in the nearby resorts and also looking for education to their children.

Moreover, Nasheed argued that establishing a nationwide transport network was the government's policy on population consolidation, as outlined in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) manifesto, as opposed to “taking a population and settling them in another island.” While the referendum revealed that small islands did not want to “lose their identity”, Nasheed said that a secret ballot was needed to determine the views of the electorate as he routinely received petitions from islanders requesting relocation.

Traditionally all educated islanders from the three different atolls of the south adopted the Addu dialect as lingua franca.

The men who make the boats (Maavadi meehaa) were respected craftsmen; the fishermen's lives, and thus the well-being of the community, depended upon their skill.

[citation needed] The sharp division of labor not only reflects the exigencies of island life, but the injunctions of traditional Islam.

The White tern primarily feed on smaller fish which it catches by plunge diving down on the surface, but it does not submerge fully.

However, terns are vulnerable to strong winds and the chicks have sophisticated sharp clawed feet to cling on fragile branches.

The biggest influence on Addu's modern history has been the British bases, first established on the island of Gan during WWII, as part of the Indian Ocean defences.

In 1976, the British pulled out of the islands, leaving many of their now English-speaking employees well qualified for jobs in the soon-to-be booming tourist industry.

Tourist development in Addu itself has been slow to start, but a resort has been established in the old RAF buildings on Gan and there are now reliable connections to the capital via Maldivian, Mega Maldives and Flyme.

It was specially built for the seventeenth SAARC summit which was held in November 2011 in Addu City and nearby Fuvahmulah island.

Since its construction, a number of fatal accidents have occurred on the Addu Link Road, which local news sources have ascribed to high speeds and reckless driving.