The roofs of Helgoland

Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.
Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located
in the Heligoland Bight. In 1890 Britain traded it for Zanzibar.

During WW2 Helgoland island was a German submarine base which was repeatedly
bombed by the Allies. The last raid (969 aircraft) occurred in April 1945,
days before the 8 May 1945 German surrender and led to the evacuation
of the local population.

From 1945 until 1952 it was used by the Royal Air Force as a bombing range.
The destruction of the former German naval facilities is said to
have been the largest voluntary non-nuclear explosion (6000 tons TNT) ever.


Area: 420 acres (170 ha)