Faroe Islands with the foundation of political parties of the Faroe Islands. In the first year of World War II, on 12 April 1940, British troops occupied the Faroe Islands, shortly after the Operation Weserübung with the Nazi German invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940. In 1942–1943 the British Royal Engineers, under the leadership of Lt. Col. William Law MC, built the only airport in the Faroe Islands, Vágar Airport. Control of the islands reverted to Denmark following the war, but Danish rule had been undermined, and Iceland's independence served as a precedent for many Faroese. The Faroese independence referendum, 1946
Flora of the Faroe Islands Flora of the Faroe Islands The flora of the Faroe Islands consists of over 400 different plant species. Most of the lowland area is grassland and some is heather mainly "Calluna vulgaris". The Faroese nature is characterized by the lack of trees, and resembles that of Connemara and Dingle in Ireland. Among the numerous herbaceous flora that occur in the Faroe Islands is the marsh thistle, "Cirsium palustre". There are no native forests in the Faroe Islands, and only a few woody plants occur. Findings of "Betula pubescens" trunks and branches in the soil, dated to c. 2300 BC, and