On Sept. 26, 1941—84 years ago today—Iceland’s first Exchange opened. One of the first—if not the first—PXs under the Army Exchange Service, which was formed in 1941 to bring more control to the Exchange system, the Iceland store served 4,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional). The Marines had been in Iceland, a strategic location during World War II, since July.
Located at Camp Tadcaster (later Camp Pershing) near Reykjavik, the PX also served 6,200 Air Corps units that arrived in August and September. The American forces joined British and Canadian forces that had been in Iceland since May 1940.
Troops began to anticipate the arrival of ships bringing supplies to the Exchange, guessing what merchandise might be on board. The ships’ arrivals provided a morale boost for the troops and sometimes brought unusual items. In 1944, the Exchange provided a unique taste of home when it introduced Iceland’s first popcorn machine (pictured above).
The shipments didn’t always make it. A complete soda fountain, which the PX had waited months to receive, was on a ship sunk by a U-boat. During the war, many other items destined for the PX were sent to the bottom of the North Atlantic by enemy submarines.
In May 1942, three 2½-ton trucks arrived and were converted into mobile Exchanges, adapted for selling drinks and hot food. When forces were reduced, one of the trucks was sold to the Icelandic government, one was used as a general-purpose vehicle and one was donated to the Red Cross, which used it to serve coffee and doughnuts.
By the end of 1942, the Reykjavik-area Exchange, which consisted of an office building and warehouses, operated 63 “sub-exchange” branches on the small island. The branches were accountable to the base Exchange and drew supplies from it once a week. After the war, American forces left Iceland In 1947 and the Exchanges closed.
From 1951 to 1960, with support from the Exchange, the independent Iceland Central Exchange served the Iceland Air Defense Force, a U.S. military command. The Navy Exchange Service then took over, operating a store at the Naval Air Station until 2006, when all U.S. troops left Iceland.
During World War II, troops were also stationed in other North Atlantic outposts such as Newfoundland and Greenland, and the Exchange went where the troops went. The Exchange continues to operate at Pittufik Space Base in Greenland. More than 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the Pittufik BX is the Exchange’s northernmost store.
Sources: One Hundred Years of Service: A History of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service; Exchange Post archives
Leave a Reply