On 9 April 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Denmark and the British Minister, Charles Smith, who had been appointed only six months previously,[1] and his staff were expelled.

To prevent the emergence of a pro-Nazi government in Reykjavík, and help fight the Battle of the Atlantic, the United Kingdom occupied Iceland on 10 May 1940.

With the British troops, Charles Howard Smith arrived as envoy to the Icelandic government.

Although the diplomatic mission in Iceland is not a large one, nor particularly prestigious, its importance during the Cold War was disproportionate, due to its strategic location in the North Atlantic.

More crucial to British interests was the string of diplomatic and economic disputes related to fishing rights, which culminated in the Cod Wars.